What inspired you to travel abroad?
I spent the majority of the four years of my undergraduate Zoology degree learning about animals through lectures and books. I knew that as soon as I graduated I wanted to travel to see and learn about wildlife first-hand.
I’ve always been interested in travelling to new places, and I thought that signing up for an internship abroad would be a great way to travel with a little bit of organisation and structure. Also, it was a good opportunity to meet people interested in similar things to me.
Why did you choose Hoja Nueva?
I knew I wanted to go somewhere in Central or South America because it was a part of the world that I’d never visited before and is renowned for its unique wildlife. I also knew that I wanted to be involved in scientific research and animal conservation.
Many internships fell within the categories of what I was looking for, and in the end, I was tossing between researching turtles in Costa Rica and the Amazon Ecology internship with Hoja Nueva. I chose the internship with Hoja Nueva because I thought it sounded like a terrifying yet incredible opportunity. To be able to live in such a remote part of the Amazon rainforest was thrilling.
Also, the emphasis on being able to choose to take part in a variety of projects or to start my own research project appealed to me. I was really interested in taking part in the current research that was going on there.
Checking butterfly traps with Maria.
What was your favorite part about Las Piedras, Peru?
I spent ten weeks living in the Las Piedras region of the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. I believe my favourite part was all the amazing rainforest wildlife we saw! Rodents, macaws, monkeys, insects, snakes, frogs, caimans, sloths, capybara—so many animals that I’d never seen before!
I really enjoyed learning how to identify the different species. I also enjoyed getting to live right in the middle of all this great wildlife—even just walking the short trail from the kitchen to the bedrooms we encountered monkeys, a sloth, and a rainbow boa!
What made your experience abroad extraordinary?
Getting to live in one of the most remote and unexplored areas of the Peruvian Amazon rainforest was extraordinary enough! At first, it was difficult to cope with the extreme heat and humidity, the insects that bugged us during fieldwork, and the lingering fear of contracting a parasite.
However, despite this, it was incredible to see and learn about so many animals I’d never seen before! It was also extraordinary to partake in current research projects and help in the conservation of rainforest animals.
For instance, one of the research staff was leading a small mammal trapping project. They were investigating the abundance of prey for wild cats in the area, which Hoja Nueva is trying to conserve. Of course, I also met some extraordinary people—the staff and interns were all very friendly and eager to teach me more.
How did the local program staff support you throughout your program?
All of the staff were very friendly and helpful. They answered my questions and were eager to teach me more. They didn’t hesitate to help when I asked for help with my own butterfly research project.
I was very grateful for their assistance in setting up the butterfly traps and helping me when I was stuck in the statistics section of my research. They were also very helpful in giving me and the other interns tips on how to live in the rainforest when we first arrived—for instance, checking for ticks each day. They helped us settle into a completely new environment and lifestyle.
Howler monkey close-up.
What's one thing you wish you would have done differently during your time abroad?
I wish I’d used my spare time to learn more Spanish. I learned some basic Spanish before I arrived, however, I sometimes still struggled to converse with some of the Spanish-speaking staff and interns.
Most staff and interns spoke English, so this wasn’t a big problem, however, I would have liked to have made more of an effort to speak in Spanish and get to know the local staff and interns a bit better. Despite my lack of Spanish and their limited English, we still managed to be friendly and have fun together, for instance, by playing volleyball or ludo.
Describe what a typical day in your life abroad looked like.
We usually started the day with breakfast at 8 am, made by one of the interns or staff. We all took turns cooking meals.
After breakfast we would go out to do some fieldwork for a few hours, such as checking the small mammal traps, doing a habitat classification survey, or setting up camera traps for larger mammals.
Lunch was typically around 1 pm. After lunch, we often had some free time to read a book or call a friend.
Then at 3 pm, I would go out to check the butterfly traps, usually with a couple of the other interns. My own project investigated butterfly diversity and habitat preferences. I was in charge of checking the butterfly traps and photographing the butterflies inside. Once back at the research station, I would use the photographs and identification guides to determine which species had been caught in the traps that day.
Then it would be time to cook dinner, which was almost always vegetarian because it’s difficult to store meat in the heat.
After dinner, the interns and staff often played card games or ludo and sometimes we would go out on a night walk to search for nocturnal wildlife.
Macaws at clay lick.
What did you enjoy doing in your free time abroad?
I enjoyed getting to know the other interns—we would often play card games or watch TV shows together. Sometimes I would read or draw.
One of my favourite activities during my free time was to play volleyball. I’d never really played volleyball before but there was a small court built near the research station and I enjoyed learning how to play! It was funny watching how competitive some of the staff would get!
What type of accommodation did you have? What did you like best about it?
Our location was so remote, and right within the rainforest, the accommodation was quite basic. All of the buildings were made from wood with mosquito-netted walls. The main building was made up of the kitchen, living area, and the office for research and lab work.
The bedrooms for staff and interns were a little further away. Interns would share a spacious room with bunk beds. I enjoyed sharing a bedroom with the other interns, we all got on well together.
The showers were housed in wooden cubicles and the toilets were compost toilets. Despite how basic it was, it was surprisingly comfortable. I really liked that everything was so open—it made me appreciate that I was in the rainforest surrounded by amazing plants and wildlife. You could see all kinds of interesting things just walking from the bedroom to the toilets.
It was exciting to wake up and fall asleep to the sounds. Since being home, someone asked me “Weren’t you scared that a jaguar would just walk right in at night?” Honestly, no, because a lot of the wild animals we saw didn’t want to be near humans.
I wasn’t at all worried that a large animal would walk into the room; my biggest worry was that a spider would make it past the mosquito net covering my bed!
What is one thing every future participant should know about Hoja Nueva before their program begins?
I’ve been struggling to think of an answer to this one because I felt like the information I read on the website answered pretty much all of the questions I had. On the off chance that it didn’t, Sam and Dylan replied to my emails very quickly.
will say that the pace of life was slower than what I was used to. I’d done several similar wildlife research internships before, in different locations. As these internships were for a much shorter duration, every day was packed with research activities from breakfast to dinner.
The fieldwork in the rainforest is different and it’s tiring. Due to the extreme heat and humidity, and that many of the projects are long-term research, often you may expect to only do a few hours of work per day.
Personally, I wanted to do more fieldwork and research than that, so I decided to start my own research project. Everyone was more than happy to help me with that. So if you feel like you want to get more out of your experience, don’t be afraid to take the initiative to start your own research project.
And one other thing—keep your charging cables out of the reach of the puppies!
Morpho butterfly.
Would you recommend Hoja Nueva to others? Why?
100% yes! It was one of the most incredible experiences of my entire life! I had an amazing time. I saw so many wild animals, most of which I’d never seen before.
Butterflies, rodents, frogs, snakes, squirrels, monkeys, macaws, hummingbirds, turtles, bats, caimans, capybara, and kinkajous are just some of the incredible wildlife I encountered. I learned so much about the rainforest ecosystem and conservation research and met some great people along the way.
It was great to learn from some amazing people who are experts in their field. I really enjoyed getting to take part in real scientific research and developing my fieldwork skills. I also enjoyed living somewhere so remote and completely different from home.
I’ll admit that before leaving home, I think I was more worried than excited about living in the rainforest. Then when I arrived, and heard people’s horror stories of botflies and flesh-eating bacteria, I was convinced I would contract something.
Post a slightly anxious first week, I told myself that I couldn’t keep holding onto the fear of all the bad things that could happen to me. I realised that there was no reason to be afraid of these things, as long as I took the necessary precautions, like wearing insect repellent near the river, for instance.
After letting go of this fear, I started falling in love with the rainforest. So my point is that although it may seem daunting at first, this is such a worthwhile experience that you’ll never forget.
What do you feel the biggest benefit of traveling abroad is?
Personally, I feel like the biggest benefit of travelling abroad, and doing it solo is growing to become more confident and independent. When you travel abroad, you have a completely different experience from the ones you would have at home, you adapt to the local culture and customs.
This can sometimes be a little tricky and scary at first, but once you start trying new things, meeting new people, and making new friends, it’s an amazing experience! You start to realise that you’re so much more capable than you thought you were and also gain new perspectives on the world.
Walking through the rainforest.
Now that you're home, how has your time abroad impacted your life?
The first thing that springs to mind is that it really makes me appreciate a good cup of tea and not being eaten alive by insects! However, in all seriousness, I feel much braver and more confident after having returned home.
I went out of my comfort zone, faced my fears of parasites and spiders, and survived! I feel like if I can live out in the rainforest in the middle of nowhere for ten weeks with people I’ve never met before, then I can do almost anything! After my internship with Hoja Nueva, I went solo travelling around South America.
I think the challenges I faced in the rainforest made me less likely to shy away from challenges and new experiences on my travels afterward, as well as back home. On the more academic side of things, this internship has confirmed to me that I want to have a career involving fieldwork and conservation research.
Seeing the research at Hoja Nueva and looking up to the research staff made me realise that I would love to have a job like theirs. It also made my goal of doing this kind of work for a living seem so much more achievable—especially after getting to know the people doing these jobs, learning from them, and gaining useful skills.
My time abroad also makes me certain that I would like to return to the Amazon rainforest—there’s still so much left to see and learn about! It also makes me want to seek out the next destination to travel to! I’m excited to learn about wildlife in different parts of the world.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
To me, meaningful travel means travel involving meaningful experiences. For instance, a meaningful experience might be seeing a part of the world I’ve never seen before, experiencing a new culture, or making new friends.
I like the idea of returning from travelling feeling like I’ve learned or experienced something new. Or maybe it doesn’t have to be quite as deep as that, I think even just travel involving making new memories could be meaningful.
