Rain forest

Written By Jozelyn Burke:

The rain forest was an experience like no other! We first had to drive a few hours to the rain forest, then once we were there we had to hike in another hour into the rain forest to get to where we would be staying. At first I'm thinking an hour isn't that bad walking, but I guess I forgot about the part when they said "hiking". This included walking up big hills, hot weather, some rain, and sweating like I have never did before. What took an hour seemed like hours! Arriving at our new home felt like a great accomplishment. The next few days we completed service projects for the people in the area. Some of what we did included making the road more even, and filling areas with stones that needed more leveled out. The next day we then built a cement wall to keep water from rising on the road. This was more challenging then what we did in La Carpio because we had to mix the cement by hand. This for me was one of my favorites for some reason, although it was very time consuming and a challenging process, I think thats what made me want to do it both days we worked on the project. We did though have to hike in about 30 minutes to our work area which was a workout before work! The rain forest wasn't all work, some days we also swam in some of the most amazing waterfalls, also played soccer with some of the students in the area as well. The final day that we were in Quebrada Arroyo, we completed the projects we started and also planted some new trees. After working and enjoying some waterfall fun, we all began to get ready to pack up. That night we presented a donation to the community and also talked with some of the leaders of the community. The days spent in the rain forest were some of the most challenging days of my lives but I loved every moment of it! The thought of waking up everyday in the heat, being dirty, and sweaty was a decision I was rethinking but I'm glad I took on! The next morning we said our goodbyes and thank yous and headed to zip lining. My fear for heights was over that day, I'm 5 foot and do not like to be up high but this trip for me was all about trying new things. Once I went on the first line I loved it and was so excited about continuing on. We did end up getting poured on though while we were zip lining and we all were soaking wet, we also had a little bit of a struggle leaving zip lining because the water was up on the road and was pretty high for the vans.