Jungle life for a school student in Mexico

Throughout my trip to Calakmul I learned to work successfully with both my survey group and the onsite scientists to carry out surveys. Though life in the jungle was a bit of a shock at first, it didn’t take long for me and my tent mates to adjust to this new and adverse environment.

I usually started my days in the camp with an early morning so that I had enough time to grab some breakfast (my personal favourite being oats, milk, sugar, and cocoa powder) before the daily activities began. The daily surveys we completed took place in an array of transects surrounding the camp. In these surveys we helped in the collection of data that will help contribute to conservation and research regarding the flora and fauna surrounding Calakmul.

Photo by Holly English

Though we completed many surveys over the week such as habitat, mammals, bats, butterflies and birds, my own personal favourite was the herpetology survey. On this walk we traversed down a transect down to an aguada where along the way we saw a variety of different herps such as a coral snake, terrapin, sheep frog and a king toad. I enjoyed getting to process the animals’ size and weight and working up close with the wildlife is an experience I will not soon forget.

Although herps may have been the survey I saw the most on I also found the mammal and habitat surveys especially interesting and engaging. On the habitat survey we created four quadrats to measure the diameter of trees in a specific area of the forest. On the mammal survey we walked along a transect checking for prints and analysing which animal may have left them there, learning the scientific names for animals, and checking camera trap footage getting to see up close images of jaguars, tapirs and white lipped peccaries.

Photo by Ernesto Reyes

However, although I may have enjoyed my time on Calakmul that doesn’t mean that camping in a jungle doesn’t have its own hardships through itchy mosquito bites, broken tent zips and a lack of phone service I developed resilience and problem-solving skills I didn’t know I had before my experience here.

The ups and downs of jungle life had made this journey truly unforgettable and as my teacher described it, “once in a lifetime”. Even though by the end my feet may have been sore and my socks especially wet, I will never take for granted how lucky I have been to get to do this.

Title photo by Ernesto Reyes