VOLUNTARIOS EN EL PARQUE NACIONAL DEL MANU

How can you describe the captivating beauty of nature? It is very difficult for me to find the right words which justifies its beauty as it is, as my eyes have seen, as my ears have heard and as my whole body has experienced it. Being away from the everyday  "luxuries", such as electricity and hot shower, you would feel more as being part of the nature itself. How can you describe the 8 hour journey from Cusco to Manu on the winding mountain roads, through the forests, rivers, streams and waterfalls? The strength of the wild river, the stream that is joining it, the lodge that is located next to these and the constant pleasant sound of the river and the stream during the daytime and all the way throughout the night. In the hot afternoon, the sensation of letting your body dip into the cold stream. Those dark dark cloudy nights, when without a candle light you could not even see the movements of your hands. Those long and peaceful conversations and playing cards under the dim candle light in the middle of a wild, dark and enormous forest. I am incapable of describing their true beauty. I will only try to write a brief description about my voluntary experience.

I spent 5 days doing voluntary work at Atalaya lodge. I was the only volunteer at the time and that made me more involved with Raul and his family and the culture of the local people. I enjoyed conversations with them and watching the sweet kids playing around. I enjoyed going to the various villages with Raul. As he was a local guy, I could see and experience things from a local person´s aspect and I felt being part of the community.

The  project that I worked on while I was there was to renovate the roof for the look out hut (mirador) for the cock-of-the-rocks birds. It was very interesting and I manged to learn the whole process of building a roof with palm leaves.

First day we had to hike for about an hour through the jungle to reach the area where these types of palm trees grow. We cut the leaves and brought them all the way down. That was a strenuous task as they were quite heavy and the hike down was muddy and slippery. The next day we had to clean the bamboo sticks, removing the outer skins. The 3rd day we attached the palm leaves to the sticks and the final day we carried them up again all the way to the look-out hut and attached them to the roof. We managed to complete one side of the roof within four days. We were both proud of the job. This was a very interesting and rewarding experience for me. An experience that I will treasure forever.

If you would like to Eco-volunteer in the Manu jungle please send us an email to manu@ecologiaperumanu.com with your information and a paragraph informing us of your priorities and expectations as a Manu Eco-volunteer.