As someone who has never left the United States (and not even many places outside of California), when I found out I was put onto the Peruvian Amazon Spring Discovery trip, I was ecstatic. In the months prior to our departure, I scrambled to get a passport, necessary vaccines, medications, and gear I would need for our trip.
I had always been interested in the Amazon Rainforest from hearing about all the wildlife in my science classes and the nature documentaries I’ve watched with my dad. From the cool native plants growing there, to the rare animals, I knew that seeing all of these would be a once in a lifetime experience.
On Saturday, March 28th, our group met up at school bright and early at 2 A.M., and embarked on our hour long bus ride to the airport. An amazing start to our 24 hour plus travel day.
I have never been on a plane for longer than four and a half hours, so I was not thrilled to find out the second flight was almost nine. I told myself I would sleep through it. And sleep through it I did, but at all the wrong times. They served two meals on this flight which I definitely needed. But each time there was a meal served, I was somehow asleep. I would wake up with drool on my face to the smell of a warm cooked meal that the person next to me had already finished. Twice. I was extremely angry getting off of that plane, knowing we had to go on a whole other flight after a few hours.
But my mood completely changed when we stepped off the plane in a small town right next to the rainforest called Iquitos. It was around 5 A.M. and heavy rain was crashing down. The sky glowed a deep purple with flashes of lightning in the distance every few seconds. Warm, humid air wrapped around me when I stepped onto the tarmac. Everything seemed so unfamiliar yet exciting. In that moment, walking slowly in the storm towards the small brightly lit baggage claim, I realized that I was somewhere completely different from anything I had ever known.
Flash forward a few hours, and our small boat racing down the Amazon River began to slow to a gentle stop. As we drifted along, our home for the next few days came into view, tucked deep within the jungle. I had never seen so much green in my life. Towering treetops stretched up above us, thick vines hung from branches, and layers of plants covered every inch of the shoreline. When the boat engine finally died down, the sounds of the rainforest revealed themselves. The air filled with sounds far louder than I had ever imagined,:birds chirping, insects buzzing, and animals moving through the trees. It felt as if the entire forest was alive.
The entire trip was full of once in a lifetime experiences that I could talk about for hours. But the first moments I had, stepping into a place so unfamiliar and alive, are the ones that stay with me most. Being surrounded by something so new and different filled me with a sense of wonder I had never felt before. That trip showed me how incredible it is to step outside of what is familiar and experience the world in a completely new way. I will be forever chasing the feeling I had stepping into that jungle.
