Well first of all being a biological enthusiast I couldn’t pass the opportunity to visit one of few if any places in the world in  which you can still see the rain-forest in its beautiful untouched state. As well as this factor I though it could be a good way to introduce ,my daughter, Julia to Biology. Not to mention that it also counted as a holiday. With the countless masses of different species within Kapawi I believed it to be a truly once in a lifetime spectacle, and I wanted to share this experience with my daughter. Julia enjoyed seeing and exploring the Amazon rain forest as did I. The rain forest in this particular area of Ecuador is in fact so secluded that not only are the animals untouched but there are indigenous tribes which have lived there with there lives unchanged but technological advancements. I thought this to be extraordinary considering how reliant man y people are in technology these days. Julia also enjoyed investigating and learning about the indigenous tribes, also learning their culture. My wife and I wondered  whether it was the right time to go and see Kapawi, but with places like this becoming seldom sights we believed it was our last chance. This is also the reason i brought Julia as I think this will be the only chance she will get to experience and truly immerse herself in to an experience such as this.

Julia’s accident came about as a result of a flash flood which was unforeseen and as a result we were ill prepared. The flash flood happened so quickly it was hard for us to prepare and once it was in full swing there was no chance of avoiding it if you were in a bad position. Unfortunately Julia was, that could of been anyone of us. Julia was swept away almost instantly and out of sight before we could even scream her name, I’m just glad that we had taught her all of those survival skills which was undeniably one of the most important reasons she escaped that incident with her full health. Once she was awake she knew that staying awake was crucial and if she did not then the Jungle would consume her. Earlier she said that she imagined us telling her “to never give up” and “keep fighting”, this helped her morale substantially and carried her all the way to the river bank. Julia survived as a result of the training that we had given her prior to this trip and without it Julia may not have been here  with us today.

The Achuar people are one of a kind and are incredible with their extensive and vast knowledge of the jungle and how it works. We owe them our daughters life.  once we gave the alarm that our daughter was in danger they spread out and searched efficiently and systematically, because of this they were able to find her before any real damage was caused, minor scratches and bites were the only real problem. we were encouraged to take Julia to a hospital which was several hundred miles away it was tempting especially considering that we did not know how bad her condition was. It was almost at the same instance that I had decided to take her to the  real hospital that I seen a young Achuar nurse attending Julia, and in no time I seen the colour return to her face and all the bumps and scratches decrease in size and ferocity dramatically. The young girl had used a concoction of different plants and roots to help revive Julia to consciousness. After this we respected the Achuar people and their way of life relentlessly.