Item #14
“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake.
The great affair is to move.”
-Robert Louis Stevenson
Being in the midst of the current Rhetoric and Civic Life project, the Issues Brief and Advocacy assignment, reminded me of a project I did back in grade school that required similar passion and creativity. Way back when in fifth grade geography, when learning about the different types of land, we were assigned a project that required us to create an island of our own personal interest. This island could be and contain anything we wanted. So, for example, if you were a fan of candy you could create a candy island filled with cotton candy trees and chocolate waterfalls. With this island project everything was up for imagination.
Rather than go the creative route, I chose to base my island on one of my interests. As a result, little fifth grader me decided to create an environmentally-friendly island called “Recycle Island”. The island consisted of nothing but different environment initiatives, such as sustainable housing, wind and solar panel farms, and the most important, a proper recycling system. As you can tell, I was a wild fifth grader. But, honestly, this should come as no surprise since my Civic Issues Blog is also centered around the environment. From when I was little to now, the environment and nature, as a whole, have interested me greatly. It has played a big part of my life for a very long time and because of that many of my bucket list items pertain to it. Much like this one. Similar to visiting the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, number four on my bucket list, I plan on visiting the Amazon Rainforest for item number fourteen on my bucket list.
The Amazon Rainforest in South America, like the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, is also filled with a mosaic of ecosystems and a diverse range of vegetation and animal types. The Amazon Rainforest, which is known for being the largest rainforest on Earth, is estimated to have about 30 percent of the world’s species within its borders. Its biodiversity, or biological richness, is absolutely astounding! It would be a spectacular place to visit to experience all of the wildlife. And that is exactly what I hope to do some day.
From the research I have done the best time to visit the Amazon Rainforest is between the months of May and June. This is because May and June are midway between the rainiest months of the Amazon and the hottest driest ones. The most common way to experience the Amazon is at a ‘jungle lodge’. Most lodges feature private rooms, family-style meals and daily excursions, however, the rates and prices for these rooms vary wildly and seem to be costly. Fortunately, not far from the jungle is the city of Manaus, the region’s largest city and the quickest and easiest route into the jungle. Here, in this city lies many other housing options that are much more reasonable in price, therefore making things easier. As most items on my bucket list, the most convenient and cost-effective way of traveling is by airplane. The average price for a ticket to the Amazon Rainforest by flying into Manaus is about $1,747 dollars. The prices do appear to rise in late May, early June. However, the price is still reasonable at only $2,000 dollars.