Clearing the river was a tough job only for the men and Metter because of her amazing work ethic. We lifted trees the size of elephant legs all in the name of team work; up until we came across a mammoth tree, so big we named it... Frank the tank, we had to get and axe to chop it down we took it in turns and in between running away from huge spiders no man could not be scared of. But that did not break our spirits. Half an hour later we cut through Frank, and the manly screams of joy could be heard all the way back at camp.
The sun rose over the tents in the morning which created no need for alarm clocks just people complaining about the heat, the common room people were smug but not for long, they looked down at their arms and had bites from mosquitoes everywhere and they realised they sorely underestimated the jungle bugs a mistake that was not made again. We then split up into groups the first morning mainly consisted of cutting back grass with a machete and raking in the blistering sun which we found very hard, but we eventually cleared the ground with the help of Caveman Alfredo a crazy but amazing Bolivian man.
The other group explored the jungle and cleared a path to dig the foundations of a puma cage with the help of jungle man Keith. The next few days consisted of getting bitten by a lot of mosquitoes and digging the foundations of the clinic and the puma cage. We also had to carry rocks and sand up to the puma enclosure in the blistering heat which took its toll on us all. We all had our parts to play in the team: Femke was in charge of being the chief motivator giving high fives on fellow rock carriers, Mette was the hardest worker who gave it all day after day and was a real trooper, the guys were in charge of supplying the muscle for carrying the stuff harder than rocks up. Laura was in charge of being the person who kept morale up with her cheerful personality. Lisbet, Amy and Celina were the people who attempted to sing classic songs by Britney.As the days went past we all got more tired and bitten but we powered through. The fourth day was a testing day for the guys who had to carry up barbed wires which weighed almost 200 kilos which took its toll on all our shoulders. As the days went by, mucho progress was made and by the last day arrived it was a rush to finish the puma enclosure and we had to get up at 6 and start work without brekky and make head way on the enclosure. The muscle men Rory and Ross were put on the challenging job of bringing up the seriously heavy double door cage with other large volunteers helping us, this was whilst the rest of the group were rushing to erect the wire and make it tight. It was a staring contest against time... but time blinked and we completed our task with two hours to spare in which we went back down and admired the wonderful foundations we had created for the clinic. We then went a packed our bags and tents and waited for our cow truck.
Conclusion
We all learned a lot about ourselves at Jacj Cuisi; how far we can push our limits and how doing hard work can bring everyone together as both a team and as friends. In the end of it all we were in a lot of pain and not sad to leave Jacj Cuisi but we were also happy that we changed the life of a puma and many other animals. Quote jungle man Keith "you changed lives doing the work you did at that park"
Find out about volunteering this summer or next year
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