The Andes to Amazon: Biodiversity, conservation, and sustainability in Peru
This early fall, I had an experience that not many have the opportunity to have. An opportunity not just to further my education and understanding of the natural world, but to also envelop myself in a foreign culture, to take in first hand the connection between people and nature, and most of all, to experience the Amazon Rainforest as unaltered, and authentically as possible. Hello, my name is Harris Nakajima, and I had the opportunity to go on a study abroad trip to Peru, where I spent 2 weeks in the Amazon rainforest, and another 2 weeks experiencing and understanding the culture and practices of this country. A month-long journey to a place I had little to no relation with was a huge jump from my standard way of living, and so I made an effort to document my feelings and experiences throughout the trip in a journal. The contents of such a journal will follow from here, along with some retrospect following every entry. With such being said, please take the time to get comfortable, as this will be a long journey for you, as it was for me.
8/4/19 (A month before the trip)
Hm, how do I explain how I feel at the moment? A fair bit of excitement, a lot of nerves… And the slightest sense of dread? Don’t get me wrong, I am more than excited to go on this trip known as Andes to Amazon: Biodiversity, conservation, and sustainability in Peru, however the change of pace from my normal life will be one of great severity.
So why am I on this trip? To be honest, it was both fluke and ambition. I wanted to find something, a goal for which I could work for and mix up my life. The conclusion that I came to was a study abroad course, and specifically this one. While it is mainly suited for older students, I found myself quite interested in the environment that was Peru. A challenge and an experience that I applied to thinking about how nice it would be to get accepted… And that I did.
There’s been a whole lot of preparation since then, as I have had to do a plethora of readings, researching for a project proposal (more on that later), and packing. So much packing. A good portion of my equipment was rented from the OWL at UWB, however items such as clothes and utensils I would have to update myself. Long sleeves and baggy pants, on Amazon… Bugs are something to fear there, and I am doing my best to mitigate the damage.
Well that’s that, on to final preparations!
Pre-program
2 days before the program begins, I begin traveling to my destination. 3 plane rides and a wild baggage chase later I have finally arrived at my hotel in Cusco, Peru. It is August 24th, 2 days before the program begins… And I am pooped. Lets just say I’m not used to plane rides…
I left home at 12:00pm yesterday and was heading to the SEA airport. My flights were all back to back, resulting in 22 hours worth of travel. SEA→ LAX→ Lima→ Cusco was my flight plan. It’s interesting to watch the actions and mentality of people change as you go form city to city. It just got a lot more relaxed as I left the NA and entered SA.
Somehow before I even got on my first flight at SEA, my baggage tag got ripped off my bag, resulting in having to get called last minute and getting a paper with my baggage code scribbled onto it. For my first flight in years, not a good start. Thankfully this issue was resolved by the time I arrived in Lima. Speaking of Lima, I found myself with 3 others that were on the trip with me, those being Leila K, Leila B, and Ari. While we were on the same flight to Lima→ Cusco, the layover was only 45 minutes, and none of us knew the baggage doors closed one hour before take-off… Needless to say, we needed to get new tickets (which thankfully was only transfer). Let this be a warning to people who take this trip in the future to plan your layovers accordingly.
Ugh, I’ve been writing this as a means to try and avoid falling asleep, as the thin air of Cusco can be hard on your lungs if you fall asleep instantly. You could feel it the moment you stepped out of the aircraft. All that flying and thin air is proving to be a lot on my body. Being dizzy is not helping this either. Here’s hoping I can adjust in the two days before the program…
Harris Nakajima, Early Fall 2019
