Adventure of a Lifetime, I put the team on my back

Last weekend, I undertook the hardest physical challenge I've ever done, and also an amazing experience to spend time on the biggest river in the world.  My original goal going in had never been to win, I'd said that if our raft held up, I never entered the water against my will, and made it to the finish line, I would be happy.  I can report success on all three fronts.

I can hardly begin to describe the whole experience,  please skype, call, buy me a coffee sometime if you'd like to hear.  But, here are a few pointers and I few things I did during those days:

• Sat next to a lady who was flying for the first time, and I had to calm her nerves.  She still ended up throwing up. 
• Hired a man with a chainsaw in the Amazon rainforest
• Built a raft out of 8 balsa logs, rope and nails
• Put up and took down a little roof twice.  We decided the sunlight wasn´t as bad as the drag from the wind. 
• Saw Amazon river dolphins
• Got passed by boats moving some serious cargo
• Paddled for over 10 hours in one day, coming into the finish line at sunset
• Nightime yoga on the banks of the Amazon, where down dog led to some awesome star sightings. 
• Watching a moonrise over the Amazon
• Twice had to push raft, off the beach into the river, and once when we were stuck in the sand. One time a log rolled over my ankle and the other time I stepped into mud up to my knees.  Both times I ended up getting fired/told to sit the rest of it out. 
• Wore a pink mesh tank top for three days, proudly representing Atlantic Beach, NC
• Spent 24 hours a day with the same 3 people for 4+ days, and we are all still speaking to each other, though there might have been a few moments where we weren´t. Our conversation on the last day consisted mostly in what parts of our bodies hurt the most. 
• Sunburned my lips so badly they were swollen, like I had just injected some collagen. 
  

Overall, I challenged myself, kept going even when I wanted to quit, was overwhelmed by natural beauty, and solidified three solid friendships as we supported each other.  

Inspiring Places

This is a bit of a shameless plus,  but I wrote a little piece on my protected area and sent it into the IUCN for inclusion in their "Inspiring Places" section, and we got published in this Friday's newsletter!

Here's the link to the webpage
IUCN Inspiring Places

And the website for Peru´s park service, highlighting the fact we were highlighted!
SERNANP

Guano

As stated, I work for the Guano Islands National Reserve System in Peru, a system of 33 sites previously (and still) used to produce guano.  I'm sure most of you are wondering what that even is....
Guano is dried bird droppings, and happens to be rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and the nutrients essential for fertilizer. During the 19th century, there was a huge demand for this stuff from the US and Europe and countries such as Peru were the biggest producers, and even fought a war with Chile over the islands because their guano was so valuable.  Peru's geography and climate means that it has lots of nesting seabirds, and the dry climate to preserve their droppings.  The invention of synthetics led to the end of Peru's guano "boom" years, but Peru still produces guano...now mostly for domestic use and for export since it qualifies as organic.  Peru's government has managed the islands for the last 100 years, monitoring the bird populations, and rotating harvest through the islands every 5-10 years.

When my bosses had to head out to some of the islands to supervise the end of the guano harvest (before breeding season starts), I jumped at the chance to see what this operation is actually like.

The process itself is interesting, and uses only human labor and no machines (besides an occasional truck). About 200 men (usually from the Andes) pick and shovel to break up the ground, sift the guano, and then bag it up. The bags will then get loaded on ships, and since the old docks from the boom years are not in conditions, so often they get sent down cables onto waiting barges.

It was interesting, because guano is clearly an important part of Peru's tradition that it wants to continue, but the operation is not particularly efficient or highly productive (they were very behind schedule), using traditional methods and facing a changing climate and declining bird populations.  It was also interesting to see the living and working conditions of the men that do this back-breaking labor.  At the meeting between my agency and Peru's agricultural agency (responsible for harvest), it also illustrated the problems, challenges, and conflicts between production and conservation, and Peru's efforts to show that guano harvesting can be a sustainable natural resource and activity.

Going out to meet the people

So the protected area I work for was created just 3 years ago.  The Reserve actually consists of 33 different sites, and is only the second marine protected area in Peru, so its a bit of a management challenge.

Currently we are in the first stages of writing the master park management plan. As part of that process, the staff needed to go out and meet the different stakeholders in the different communities, both to explain the protected area to them and also hear their concerns.  The park started this process in March and finished this week, holding 22 workshops along the entire coast of Peru, and in my time since I arrived in Peru, I've been able to join four of them.

The workshops usually include different local and regional authorities, NGOs and Universities, and local fishermen and tour operators.  The mix varies, with some mostly made up of local government, and our most recent being almost entirely fishermen.  Sometimes the meetings have been held in larger regional centers, and sometimes in small fishing villages.  We usually work to identify stakeholders, define the vision for the area, and then do some diagnostic activities about biodiversity, fishing, and tourism in the area.

It's been a good opportunity to hear from fishermen about the challenges they are facing, with the principle one being the industrial anchovy fishery.  While the 5 miles closest to the coastline are supposed to be reserved for artisanal fishermen, often the anchovy fleet is there, catching lots of other fish in their large nets and catching large quantities of this important forage fish that other species depend on. The fishermen also complain that local authorities and enforcement are largely absent.  It's frustrating to hear all their concerns and have to remind them that our jurisdiction is only over a small polygon drawn in the ocean.

Now our office is on to the next step, and I've been actively working to write of the workshop summaries and find ways to synthesize all of the data we've collected. 

2 Weeks In

So, I have now completed 2 weeks at my new job with the national parks agency of Peru’s government. The 2 weeks had a slightly different flavor from each other. The first week I was in the office, living the typical big-city office job existence. I have a small office-about 8 people, and we all sit around in one room (our director has his own closet-sized office) in an old house. I currently set up shop with a laptop on a table, but I’ve been told I will get a desk soon.
     This week was somewhat different. I got to go out and see and stay on the northenmost island in the Guano islands system-Lobos de Tierra. This was quite an adventure. Partly the adventure of being on an island 11 hours from port with no plants, just hundreds of thousands of birds, and meeting the guys that have the solitary job of guarding the island. It was also an adventure of sleeping under different circumstances. I will give you the rundown:
Night 1: I take a 16 hour bus ride from Lima to the town in the north of Peru, sleeping on the bus (not bad-these Peruvian buses are pretty nice)
Night 2: I sleep on a boat, en route 12 hours to the island. By that I mean, I laid on the bottom of a small wooden boat under a tarp, crammed shoulder to shoulder with my 4 co-workers. Either way, I tried to tell myself 12 hours wasn’t so bad when compared to crossing the Atlantic.

Night 3: Slept on a cot in a mildewy old room that once held guano miners and workers, with thousands of birds all around

Night 4: repeat boat and we land at 3 am, and Night 5: repeat bus-though at least this time I got to watch Hunger Games and not Norbit.
So, to say, I am pretty tired.
But the trip was still worth it...I got to see penguins for the first time, and some anchoveta fishing boats, and experience the impressive feeling of being surrounded by nothing besides thousands of birds and the ocean

Orientation, and Settling In

I arrived in Lima late Monday night, along with 6 other Response volunteers. Spent the rest of the week in the office for "orientation" to the work and a little bit about Peru. We have a good group, and 2 other people will also be in the city of Lima (the other 4 are going out throughout the country). Of course, Lima is a giant city of 10 million, so its not like you'll "run into" people. Peru is huge, much bigger than Panama. Other volunteers often have 20+ hour bus rides to get to their sites, and Lima is similar to NYC in size, so I have barely explored any of it. But, I have 2 roommates-one Peruvian, one American, so hopefully I can meet people through both of them. I met my future boss briefly on Friday and should arrive at the office on Monday. Sorry this post isn't too interesting, but I did spend the past week sitting in a conference room. Hopefully more interesting updates to come!

Off to new adventures

So, I am rebooting this blog, changing the name, and continuing my Peace Corps and Latin American adventures. I will be arriving in Lima, Peru tomorrow, June 17th, for a 12 month Peace Corps Response assignment working on fisheries and marine protected area management. So, I will try to occasionally post some updates here on this blog for those interested in following my adventures.