Meet the Corona crew !
Episode 6 : Zak

After 3 months of helping us out in the jungle, Zak unfortunately had to leave due to obligations at home but since Zak was an important part of the ‘Corona Crew’, we would also like to introduce Zak to you!

Zak is 19 years old and comes from England. Even though he really missed his Guinness and gravy from home, he decided to stay at EV during the Corona pandemic. When we asked him why, he said: “I would be in lockdown without being able to see anyone or do anything. I don’t understand why I would want to be there if I could be in a place with monkeys playing on my roof every morning. It’s such an amazing environment to be in!” 

His co-volunteers will remember him for a lot of things but most importantly how he made breakfast for everyone! Scrambled eggs or pancakes might have been waiting for you when you enter the kitchen in the morning. Of course Zak will also be remembered for his love for Alaya, a baby Howler Monkey, and his favorite extra job, the bananas!

What did you love about being at EV?

What I loved about being there is waking up with monkeys playing on the rooftop every morning, post tea (dinner) games and chats, Cumala saying hello every morning, that wildlife is everywhere and I loved cooking with everyone!

What is your favourite meal?

Curry with something extra like samosas or naan bread “nom nom”.

What was your favourite activity/job at EV?

Bananas! Also loved leaf walks.

What was your favourite thing to do on a day off?

Big brekky with other people off, going to Bello Horizonte or to the waterfall – pretty standard.

What was your favourite animal/species?

Howlers- Alaya <3

What did you miss from home?

Guinness, watching cricket on tv.

What did you learn during your stay?

Finding a use for everything: bottle tops for a homemade game, reusing oil for cleaning and rum bottles as a candle holder. It opened my eyes a bit on how things can be used in many different ways, so you have less waste. Also, I learned cooking with limited ingredients.

What didn’t you expect about EV before going there?

The amount of time that I would be using a knife per working day.

Why did you choose to stay at EV instead of going home in this Corona time?

Because I would be in lockdown without being able to see anyone or do anything. I don’t understand why I would want to be there if I could be in a place with monkeys playing on my roof every morning. It’s such an amazing environment to be in!

How Zak is remembered by the other volunteers:

Craig about Zak: resident genius, go to guy for language enquiries and can divide a cake into 15 equal pieces.

Puck about Zak: never complains and works very hard, rocks Carla’s pants, him making scrambled eggs for everybody in the morning, how you can always have a funny/nice/interesting conversation with him.

Emma about Zak: it’s nice to have a reminder of home when you’re so far away from your family, even if he is slowly ruining my English. Always very happy to help, even if I do give him the really horrible jobs when we cook together. I’ll miss our nightly hammock chats, too.

Kim about Zak: being as English as possible, his face when seeing Alaya, taste of music, the red elephant pants, washing his earphones, gravy & Guinness, always checking how you are doing.

Carmen about Zak: “excuse me” “sorry” “thank you”, Guinness, the nicest British/Scottish guy ever, with a perfect accent. He really cares about all the animals and about the other volunteers, he’s always looking for getting to know you better and better. Really funny boy, especially when he dances with Rafiki or when he looks at his girlfriend. When Zak is in a room and you talk about Alaya, his face just lights up.

Emile about Zak: So polite. So helpful. So generous. A really good guy.