"I only got one life, I want it to mean something!"

I

Every night at dinner, we go around the table and say our Pit and Peak of the day (high and low).  In my days with cable TV, I actually got this idea from the Kardashian family - please don't judge. It's awesome to see the students' reliving the memory with the peaks and also struggling to find the pits. That was me today - it was so awesome, there are no pits! (Except the bathroom🙊) 

We started with an optional 6am birding and I am proud to say six students showed up. We've been pushing the kids nonstop and wanted to give them an opportunity to sleep a little if they wanted, but those 6 struggle with FOMO, like myself, and had binocs in hand at dawn! And, they are incredibly happy they set an alarm - 3 different species of monkeys, one fish and 14 species of birds later, we were feeling pretty smug! 

We started the morning with the long anticipated Piranha fishing! We boated into the blue lagoon and became expert Amazon fishermen with a quick lesson from the guides... or so we thought. 🎣  Lets just say, it's a good thing the guides and boat drivers also had fishing poles. 😳 We got to eat our catch for lunch, just like true Amazon locals - this was an awesome bonding experience for the #perucrew and it was the talk of the lunch table for days!

After lunch, we hiked to the ACTS lodge, which is a ten minute walk from the Rainforest Canopy and let me just say, we hiked two feet out the door and saw a Tarantula, an Assassin bug, and a cockroach that has definitely lived here since the dinosaurs! The first reactions are positive, but I'll report back when we hit the 24 hour sin Wifi mark.😳 

We saw Christa in her element! Engaging travelers in rainforest hiking is her speciality - she hooked me last year with the figs and did the same for the kids with social spiders and leaf cutter ants!🐜 (so much cooler than they sound!) I can tell the kids really love and respect her and I'm so grateful she's here for my first student-teacher jungle experience.

Our guest faculty have arrived and are making a huge impact! Randy is an entomologist (bug guy) from the Cincinnati Zoo and Dr. Steve is a professor at Widener University. I met both last summer and made sure they were on the docket for my kids! They opened with an Amazon petting zoo of a Whip Snake, lightening Beetle and a large Caiman! I love that the kids are able to again see two adults so passionate about their careers and life itself! Randy and Steve both donate their time to work with the student and educator travelers in the Amazon. Everyone affiliated with this program is so because of their love for the Jungle, education and awareness. I hope the students see that it is possible to follow your dreams, love what you do and smile every day when you pick a career that is so much more than just a paycheck.💼🐒

And now, what you e all been waiting for - the Canopy! I've been waiting to step foot on it again for almost a year and, it was just as amazing the second time around! Last year, I felt like I was on top of the world on those platforms, like I could do anything - this year, instead of a self driven attitude, I felt immense pride. I got to share something so impactful in my own life with my students, and then watch them live out their own happy on the treetops! It was nothing but smiles and selfies for this brave group who practically ran down the walkways like little spider monkeys. My favorite part occurred right before take off. The guides, Christa and I had a chat with the kids about what a spiritual, memorable and blessed opportunity this can be - and only a handful of people in the world get to experience it. Their faces lit up in anticipation and care for each other, as they realized what an awesome group experience they were about to have! I don't think I even need to say it, instead, can I get a heart eyes emoji por favor! 😍 

We ended with a night hike, led by our new bug experts, and a collection of bug specimens that would definitely earn a reserved spot in the stockroom of Mr. LeBlanc's Biology class! Every day, there are amazing moments that make my heart smile! Here are a few.

Carlos has turned into a full blown explorer and presents bug "gifts" to Randy by the hour. Gabby loved the story of the bioluminescent fungus and showed a much more spiritual side of herself - you'll have to get to the Jungle to hear the full thing! Kallie was smiling from ear to ear while painting with the minis in the service day project. 

Today, these kids did something they will never forget. They made a decision to live out loud and grab hold of life and say, I want it to mean something! I'm so grateful to be here with them, here in this place. 😍💗😍 #perucrew #amazonworkshops

Service Day in the Amazon!

Today was very special, and I had a feeling it would be. We traveled to the Aucacocha Village on the river for a full day of community service. A little background information - The village has about 30 families who all live in a small area. They have a village leader, a primary school and get support through the Conapac program - a division of the Amazon Workshops company. I worked with Conapac last year and love this organization! It's run by an American woman who, like the good doctor and me, fell in love with the magic of the rainforest.💗 They provide school supplies, water filtration systems and community development to the villages along the Amazon River. 

Now on to the best part - the students! We headed over right after breakfast and a gold star day for birding and they literally hit the ground running! They painted the outside structure of the water tower, created classroom signs of the "magic words" in English and Spanish, set up a community recycling system♻️ and created boards for pronunciation of the Spanish alphabet. To become a little bit more Amazon, they practiced Spanish with the ninos, interacted with local teachers, played Futbol with the tribe, toured an inhabited house and asked about a thousand questions in an attempt to immerse themselves in the culture! Just like everything else we've done in the Jungle - the students were all in! A few of them said they'd be perfectly happy repeating this day over and over again. This day was very inspiring for me last year - I love the ecology, but the social service side of this trip is really what opens the heart.💗 Seeing my students interact with the kids, hearing their conversations with the locals, watching their eyes light up when the ninos understand their Spanish, it is magical!😍

*btw - a lot of these photos are credited to Lauren - my camera had a humidity issue but is back in business now they'll be more photos coming if this special day!💗

So many awesome things are happening with our group - Rachel wats to come back here with her a Grandma. The LeVeckes want to make a donation to the clinic. Angel Chavez has been the first to volunteer for anything and everything, including holding a sloth - his biggest fear. Sarah is fearless and makes us laugh all day. Lauren wants to come back next summer as a chaperone. I'll highlight more kids throughout the rest of the trip. They've all been infected with the travel bug and want to plan another group trip within five years to...get this...Africa! Individually, these kids are all headed in awesomely different directions. Together, they're going to see the world! The best part about this is we're only halfway through out adventure - so much more to come!

We're headed to ACTS Lodge, for the big kahuna. The grand finale, the cats meow - the place where i decided to live my life by the following quote, "I only got one life, I want it to mean something!" The Canopy Walkway! Sadly, this lodge doesn't have wifi, so I'll be silent for a few days. Thanks again for reading about our travels - knowing there is an entire support system back home will inspire these kiddos even more to go out and change the world!😍 #ceibatopsorbust #perucrew

Amazon Medicine Man🌱

Like every day from here on out, today started with 6am boat birding and this time - it really is named appropriately. Today, we saw 18 different species of Amazon Teradactyls - many spotted by the #perucrew - I am starting to think some of these kids might be secret birders!🙈 The students have really fastened their explorer hats tight and are embracing their inner Dr. Sattler. (On more than one occasion, they have referred to the Rainforest as Jurassic World - one wrong move and the T-Rex gate opens.)😳

After breakfast, we boarded the boat and set off for Pink Dolphin hunting! One hour later, we had front row seats to a show that rivals the splash zone at Sea World! Our guides beemed ear to ear as they cheered for every siting, took pics for the kids and shared legends and personal stories of The Amazonian Pink Dolphin! It was awesome for the kids to see two adults truly loving their day to day work - and impossible not to smile while watching the kids respond to great examples of people following their hearts!💗🐋

We finally made it to the ExploroNapo lodge - this place holds a special place in my heart as it was the first lodge I visited last summer...and the location of the infamous bathroom Bat siting! This lodge is more primitive than the last - outdoor Bathrooms and showers, no electricity in the rooms and no screens on the windows - it is Jungle living! (The kids have had to make some adjustments with a couple close run ins with Rabies...but overall, they love it!) After lunch, we headed to the Shaman for a dose of traditional medicine. He spoke about medicinal plants, ritual cleanses, ties to modern medicine and everyone's favorite - Iawaska! Then, he performed a cleansing ritual on any willing students.😳 Of course, they jumped right up and wanted to do it all! A lot of them purchased Dragon's Blood - a cure all Amazon mixture that I'm currently using on my Chigger bites (I'll spare you that picture). Our time with the Shaman was incredible. After hearing what limited healthcare Dr. Smith can provide, the students really understood the Shaman's value and started to question our system in the United States. Let me tell you - we are hitting on some heavy issues down here - this trip is not just all monkeys and hammocks (though that is a big part of it).🙈

We then had some free time where I got to see just how brave some of these students are! We're on the Napo River now, which is a tributary of the Amazon and has a weak current...if you get where this is going! I'm proud to say that some of my students can now say they've swam South of the Border...and they have the GoPro videos to prove it! Sorry parents - that's why we got all those shots, right?💉😁

As I sit here in my room listening to the sounds of the Jungle and the kids growing closer and closer every day, I'm going to bed with T-Rex size smile on my face! It's hard to believe it,  but I think tomorrow will be even better with our community service project - one of my favorite days in the Jungle!

Before signing out, I forgot to give a shout out to all of my friends who donated clothes for the Yagua Trading Day - thank you! There are some lovely Amazonian hand made crafts coming back atcha!❤️