Travis and Ivannia welcomed me to the ranch. Travis told me that he suggested that I should spend time in the ranch
without the camera in order to get to know this place very well first before I start doing my work. He also asked me if
I could recollect a volunteer named Taylor from CNN’s 20 minute documentary about what was being done in the
ranch. He said Taylor was volunteering for the third time and she would be a good person to approach during my
research since she knew a lot about the place by now.
I had constantly referred to the video before going to the ranch, after getting there and even after coming back. At
different points during this project I would, observe the video for the cinematographic aspect, the way they told a
story, the way they picked the people to give their interviews and of course it was also a good reference to remind
myself of the activities they did in the ranch.
In the morning I met with all the other volunteers in the ranch. I Met Margo, who was from Belgium. I met Stephanie, who
was also from Belgium. I met Taylor, who was from Austin, Texas. I met John, who was from Minnesota.
We sat for breakfast and once the breakfast was done Taylor and I went on my ranch tour. Taylor was taking the
Ranch tour. She explained how this piece of property began. How the topography of it changed from a typical cattle
ranch to a something like that of a rainforest. She showed the bunkhouse which was apparently the first house which
Juan built in this property. She explained me the kind of wood they had used to make the bunkhouse. She told me that
a few years before the lake could be seen by just standing in the sit-out of the bunkhouse but now it was covered
by bushes and trees. She told me that the place was always changing. The place appeared different each time she
came here. She took me through a lot of varieties of trees they grew in the ranch and explained their different functions. I told her that it felt strange that I was halfway around the globe and this place looked exactly like the place I
come from. I was sure that if I was knowledgeable about the trees in India, I would have been familiar with many trees
that are grown inside the ranch.
Then she explained about the infrastructure they had inside the ranch and how each of their processes are interconnected with each other to form a network which was somehow sustainable. I realised that the ranch was a complex
ecosystem in itself surrounded by a larger ecosystem called the rainforest.
I saw the volunteers I had met in the morning working in the garden and the animal houses. That was when I first witnessed the energy and liveliness that these volunteers had. I have never seen people working in a farm with such
enthusiasm and energy even though I come from a mostly agrarian country.
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