By Xavier Counsell
Spending time at the Aquicana Research Center has been a truly life changing event that I can only speak highly of. The area is stunningly beautiful with a mosaic forest, vibrant biodiversity of butterflies, birds, innumerable insects, and even a few monkeys! And that doesn’t even include the Lake San Jose (or Lake Aquicana as it’s originally known) which is not only filled with Caiman, otters, various fish species and the many hunting birds looking for their next meal.
The research center has two fantastic cabins, each with four beds, a mosquito net, a small shelf for personal items, and a personal dresser to store your clothes and other items. The cabins are not small, and given the views of the lake, make it feel even more spacious making for a very comfortable stay in the Amazon Rainforest.
Included in the volunteer package are complementary meals, that are flexible enough to meet most dietary restrictions (gluten free, any and all meat restrictions, diary restrictions, etc) and are mostly vegetarian with the occasional fish or chicken meal every few weeks. The chefs do a fantastic job of keeping the meals varied and tasty, while being conscious of those with salt or sugar sensitivities and given the location, the availability of fresh fruit to have as either a snack between meals, or to add to a meal allows for a healthy, meat minimal diet. The new, central kitchen was built in October, which allows for even more space, a better central dining area and to prep and cook your own meals when needed and you can request a good selection of food to be brought in as well as buy your own things at the vendors and supermarket in town in case you want/need something unique or special.
Given the area, one of the most important questions is of showering and electricity. Mercifully, none of these are issues. There are three bathrooms to use, two of which are outside in the central bathroom, with the last being located in the office. The water pressure is fantastic at all times so there is never any need to worry, and while there isn’t any hot water, the temperature of the water is never freezing cold. It doesn’t seem to fluctuate much with the heat of the day, but it certainly feels better in the heat of the mid afternoon!
Electricity is also rarely a problem. I visited during the end of the dry season into the beginning of the wet, and therefore expected to run into more issues as the rains started, however I had none whatsoever. Since it never rains all day, the solar powered system is up and charging basically all time, allowing mostly consistent charging and device usage of phones, laptops, power banks, and fans all during the day. The few issues regarding power one might run into at the research center are being fixed by the owners, Erik and Sasha, as they work to add more power and install new solar panels. This overall makes the electricity very reliable, which in turn, makes the Wi-Fi very stable and reliable.
Since it’s located in northern Bolivia, the staff members here are all native Spanish speakers with minimal English language, and the volunteers have various levels of Spanish acquisition. Knowing some Spanish is certainly better than none, but the lingua franca at the research center is English. This allows someone who is Spanish-English Bilingual to have a community of people to speak with, and anyone learning either language to have others to practice with.
In addition to language acquisition, there is also a library of various books to read, a small selection of board and card games and plenty of hiking trails to pass the time. You are highly encouraged to bring other card/board games with you that you can teach others and leave here for future volunteers to enjoy.
The two owners, Erik and Sasha go out of their way to help make sure you feel welcomed and taken care of, and are constantly visiting with their family, making the entire operation feel more family friendly and helpful. They have helped me secure items I needed for my research and also invite us to outings in the area on weekends to allow people to visit some of the local attractions in the area. Your stay will be 1000x better by maintaining a positive relationship with them and the people they will no doubt introduce you to.