On January 23, 22 students and two faculty members from New college of Florida embarked on the “trip of a lifetime”. They voyaged to the Amazon, and explored the tropical rain forest. Of particular excitement was the special chance to work in the rain forest canopy, at the study site of “CanopyMeg” Lowman, ecologist at New College who has worked in the Amazon region of Peru for over 10 years. She continues to lead trips for students, local families, and community leaders so that they can understand why conservation of the tropical rain forests is critical to all life on Earth, including all of us in Florida.

Students were encouraged to keep a log of the trip. Writing about their favorite food, view, bird, plant, experience, canopy platform, insect, or thoughts. Here are some of those logs:

Log 1
On the morning we stayed at the Explorama Lodge, we woke up at 5:30 to go birding. Initially, I was a little hesitant about the experience-after all, I hadn’t woken up before dawn in years-but as soon as we saw our first bird, my mind was completely changed. We went in two little wooden motorboats down the creek leading to the lodge, past a small thatched roof village where the locals were already up and laundering, fishing, laughing, and talking. Along the sides of the river, we saw a plethora of birds of every type. We saw king fishers, brilliant parrots, oropendulas with their long nests dangling from the trees, vultures, and tanagers, among many others that I don’t remember the names of. I was proud to be the one to spot a white-eared jacamar. We eventually pulled out of the smaller river and into the Amazon as the sun crested over a cloud. We turned the motor on full speed and sped across the muddy river, wind in our faces. On the other side of the Amazon, I saw my first (and second) sloth, high in a cecropia tree. After we were finished ooh-ing and aah-ing and taking pictures, we turned around to come back to the lodge in time for breakfast. I’m glad I decided to go against my college student’s instinct of grabbing a few extra hours of sleep and instead went on what has been one of my favorite excursions of the trip so far!
~Rita

Log 2
This morning I didn’t go on the sunrise canopy walk, I was greatly in need of sleep and decided to sleep in till 7 rather than wake up at 5:30. The minute I woke up, I was regretting my decision to sleep in. I was thinking about and imagining all the things I would be missing, all the stories I would hear when the rest of the group got back, knowing that I had missed a wonderful experience. However, the moment I walked outside my opinion changed. I was transported into another world, where no one but the birds and the bugs were around me. It was absolutely breath-taking. I could hear the unique call of the oropendulas and the chirps of the crickets all around me, there was not another human in sight. The sun had risen a couple hours earlier and was casting a lovely light over the rainforest. I sat on a ledge of the lodge for awhile taking in the beauty of that morning. After awhile I went inside the lodge for a hot cup of tea and some journal writing in a hammock. Looking back I definitely don’t regret my decision to skip the canopy walk.
~Jess

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