Seven Survivors

Um

As soon as I awoke, my eyes landed on the beautiful nature calendar pinned onto my familiar lavender walls, highlighting the fact that it was finally the day I had been anxiously waiting for. Every day for the past six months, I had been crossing down the time until our departure. My suitcase and carry on bag were sitting patiently at the end of my bed, perfectly packed due to my OCD mother. She insisted that I take ten bottles of different types of bug spray, six different swimsuits, five pairs of shoes, a colourful array of T-shirts and rows of different types of shorts. You would think I was moving out instead of going away for ten days! I also have seven bottles of water- 'just in case they forget to supply me with any'- according to my mother.

I have always wanted to go to Brazil since I was a little girl, viewing it as an astounding yet hazardous paradise, and beautifully diverse. I have been saving up for what feels like years to go on this trip! It is not strictly a vacation, classified as an educational trip to learn about the rainforest and culture of Brazil in a fun, interactive way, but Miss Willow (our group leader) is a pretty laidback teacher, and I know she will let us have an abundance of time to enjoy ourselves and explore to our heart's content. It took months of fundraising to reduce the costs of student's fairs, and I knew that most were going to treat it as an extended summer break.

Although I am understandably as excited as someone in England is when the sun finally makes an appearance, I am also exceedingly nervous. I am a bit different to your average teenager, as I am pathetically close to my mom, and I do not like staying away from her. Now this is not because it is just the two of us and I don't have a father in the picture - on the contrary I have a wonderful dad, and three loving siblings; Matt, Eden and Brooke. I have just always been tightly knit to my mom, and I love spending time with her.

As laughable as Abi-Mae Silver deems this to be, my mom is actually one of my best friends. Unlike many of the fake, bitchy girls that go to my school, she actually cares about me and wants the best for me. It will be hard to be without her for two weeks, but I am 17 for goodness sake! I need to stand on my own two feet. Whether being a million miles away from my family is the right time to test the waters of independence though, I am yet to find out.

One thing I am exceptionally excited about is to finally see and witness what I have been studying about in textbooks for years now. The awe-inspiring rainforest and incredible animals that live there have always been number one on my list of places to visit. The world is quite astonishing when you claw your way out of the mire of dysfunction. It will be like stepping into a completely new world, with different treasures to discover under every leaf and through every doorway. Nature sparked my love of photography, a pass-time that enables you to capture the beauty of the world and share it with others. My camera is quite possibly the most important possession I am taking along with me on the trip, so I can collect my memories in pictures and remember my travels for years to come.

For the first few days, we will get to explore the culture of Brazil, meet the local people and focus on learning about this incredible part of the world. After that, it only gets better as we are taking a second journey deeper into the amazon, to the Caiman Ecological Refuge centre in Pantanal. It conducts many different projects, one focusing on the research and conservation of jaguars, an endangered cat because of hunters stealing its beautiful fur and destroying their natural habitat. They offer guests the opportunity to witness the fascinating behaviour of these beautiful animals from a safari vehicle, which I am ecstatically excited about, as Jaguars are my favourite animal.