No regular gap year: 3 months in the Amazon rain forest

Stijn de Jong Start Date: Jun 21, 2016 - End Date: Dec 20, 2016
  • Tambopata, Peru

My Travel Story

by: Stijn de Jong Start Date: Jun 21, 2016 - End Date: Dec 20, 2016

Hi there. I'm Stijn and I just finished high school. Instead of immediately going to university to continue my education, I wanted to do something different for a year. After some research, I decided that volunteering in wildlife conservation was the ideal way to spend a gap year for me.

Working Abroad is an organization I encountered that offered everything I wanted: a many-sided educational experience in the heart of a huge rain forest. While I'm there, I will be undertaking a lot of meaningful action, all while learning about the versatile ecosystem. This will not only be benificial for the environment there, but also for me, as it prepares me for studying Biology in the following year.

Some things I'll be doing in Peru:

  • Collecting data on mammal, bird, insect and herpetofauna sightings and numbers.
  • Maintaining forest trails and creating new ones.
  • Learning about animal identification techniques.
  • Protecting the forest from illegal activities such as trespassing set boundaries and poaching.
  • Monitoring human activity in the forest.
  • Relationship-building with neighbouring communities.
  • Using photography to expand on existing wildlife identification guides.
  • Photography-based biological research, such as camera traps.
  • Helping professional wildlife photographers in workshops and expeditions.

For more information on the project, please visit Working Abroad's own website.
I'm very excited and thankful to have the privilege to be able to start working in such an exceptional environment.

PS: If possible, I will try to keep the outside world updated on my activities in the form of a blog. Of course, this will depend on internet coverage in the field. More information will follow.

 

  • Tambopata, Peru