Holiday post cards from Y7 Margays

Hi Lindy, This is a picture of the place I stayed in when I went to the Amazon. It is called the Cotococha Amazon Lodge and it is in the upper Amazon basin overlooking the Napo River. It’s got great comfort, great food, a really nice view of the rainforest and great quality tours for the tourists. I really enjoyed it. Abigail Fox

By Angell

Hello lindy I got a holiday in the Amazon it is beautiful everyday I wake up and see the natural Amazon. My holiday home is made out of wood and it is on water. Everyday we have different things to do like we went rowing and another time we went walking around the Amazon. When we went walking around the Amazon we saw all kinds of birds and butterflies just flew onto our hands From Angell

Our tribal guides helped us build our jungle camp just like hunters. They also taught us how to watch for animals and I learnt how to hunt with a spear, and bow and arrow. On our way here we saw a sloth who was really cute, some incredible parrots – their colours are amazing. In the next few days I hope to see the pink dolphins too. They also helped us recognise the different mating sounds of the monkeys. The guides then showed us how to track animal footprints and how to navigate back to the camp without a compass! Tonight we will spend the night in the jungle and listen to the jaguars. By Bradley

Dear mum and dad It is really hot here. The accommodation is great I feel really close to nature. Today we went hunting for food and we caught some fish like I Never seen before we also found some fruit and vegetables in trees and bushes. It was really tasty I'll see you soon Love Callum

The place seems like a very fun place to be, the temperature is nice and cool and the sightseeing looks amazing. If I was there I would go boat riding in the river. I would most likely see lots of birds and lovely animals like hippos. From Darnell Kirwan!

Hi, Having a wonderful time at La Selva jungle lodge in Ecuador. Went for a walk Yesterday and saw lots of birds with funny names, our native tracker Who is a Kich-Wa Indian showed us the jaguar tracks. Tomorrow we're going on a boat trip to see lots of fish. From Joseph

Dear Lindy, How amazing, trips down the river and stay in the city with birds eye views of the rain forest. Celebrate the festival and guided tour of the rain forest. Learn how rubber is grown and study the colourful birds of paradise. A palace of dreams and natures artistry and evolution and history of medicinal plants. Relax and unwind away from suburban life, yet have the captures of modern facilities. I will be avoiding the Amazon female warriors and looking at old, restored architecture. From Paul

Summary The main point to draw from this is that it is quite possible to go to the Amazon and see amazing things. But not many of you commented on the people working to make this happen – the indigenous people that have sustainable work to do – and nor did anyone mentioned the special measures taken to reduce the environmental impact – you talked about going out by canoe or on walks but did not see that this happened deliberately to reduce greenhouse gases and save on resources that are running out. Many of these eco-tourist sites do put a great deal of effort into reducing their impact, e.g. compost toilets, recycling waste, using solar power, local food etc, using local materials for building, rather than importing high-tech stuff from outside that uses lots of energy, like power showers. They don’t use speed boats as this would disturb the environment.

Now we will spend more time on this later, but here is a summary of what you need to know for the exam Fragile environments: The Amazon: – where is it and what are the countries that form part of it? – what is the climate and vegetation like? – what are the reasons that people are cutting it down? – what do we mean by sustainable development? – know the 4 main ways the Amazon can managed sustainably – + one example of how sustainable development works.

Homework this week Be ready to answer question 1 on the exam - the maps question! You need to know The continents and oceans The countries of Europe There are lots of games to play on line - the links on are the homework sheet Once you are sure you know the various bits, go to zondle, click on topics my teacher has set and you will see…. Once you have tried all 4 at least once, upload a WORD document to HWK saying - I have done all 4 Zondle exercises