Health & Safety
Malaria is endemic in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Anyone planning to travel there may want to take malaria prophylactics which, to be effective, must be started some days earlier. (Consult your doctor). If you choose not to take the preventive medication be extremely careful to apply insect repellant and wear cover-up clothing, especially in the early evening hours.
Sunblock and a sunhat are also important, given that this is virtually on the equator and much of your time will be spent out of doors and on the river. Rainwear is also necessary, and rubber gumboots for hiking in the jungle (which is usually too wet and muddy for ordinary hiking boots).
Coca is far south of the Columbian border, so problems caused a couple of years back by Columbian paramilitaries and guerillas crossing into Ecuador did not affect this region. What problems there were occurred to the north near the frontier, not at Coca or the area along Rio Payamino.
Coca itself is a small town on the banks of Rio Napo, steamy hot but not unpleasant, with safe food and water readily available.
Health & Safety for Volunteers
Volunteers working with animals need to be vaccinated for rabies, tetnus, and hepatitis B. This is not a suggestion; it is an absolute requirement. No volunteers will be allowed to work at Coca-Cushi without these shots. Be prepared to show evidence that you have had shots for these three things when you arrive at the project. Consult your doctor as to his/her recommendation for malaria prevention, as malaria is endemic in the Amazon.
Each of you should have a first-aid kit which contains, among other things, a topical antibiotic cream, an anti-fungal cream, something for diarrhea, iodine, hydrogen peroxide, bandages for large and small cuts, any personal prescription medicines you may need, eye drops, insect repellant, and sunblock. Your doctor may suggest other things as well.
At work you'll need rubber gloves and rubber gumboots. Both can be purchased cheaply in Coca. To avoid getting a fungus infection, you'll need clean dry cotton socks daily. Bring at least six pairs, because things are slow to dry in the tropics. Cotton underwear will help prevent yeast infections. Forget about shorts. The rainforest is not a Caribbean beach holiday. You should wear long pants all day, every day. If they are of some light-weight, quick-dry material, then you only need a couple of pairs, since the one pair can be washed out every night (it will be filthy), and left to dry while you wear the other pair. You should have one or two long-sleeved shirts of this fabric, too, as well as t-shirts. The heat will make you want to wear as little as possible, but health-wise, the less exposed skin in the rainforest, the better. Clothing provides protection against both insect and animal bites.
Of course you will need rainwear, because often you will be sloshing from one animal enclosure to another in the rain. Stand under your own shower to get a sense of what you will need to be wearing to keep dry in a tropical downpour.