On Monday 3rd December at 3pm, 7 nervous Bolivian tour
guides from the English tourism class and a group of English tourists (including
other Up Close volunteers and Emma Mendoza´s parents, all the way from England –
thank you everyone!) gathered in front of Mallasa zoo for the much anticipated
tour of Mallasa zoo. All in all, it was a great success!
Up Close Bolivia first started English classes in 2011, as a way to
open up new opportunities in the local tourist sector which attracts many visitors
from across the world to visit the natural beauty of the Valley of the Moon and
parks of Mallasa. Through teaching English classes I have been helping strengthen
local community based ecotourism, as well as supporting family enterprises and
local institutions, such as the zoo in Mallasa.
The tour guides (my English students) had copies of the animal
profiles in English that they had worked hard to translate in the weeks leading
up to the tour. Each pair of guides was allocated a few English tourists to
lead around the zoo on a tour, to include summaries in English about the
animals along the way.
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| Tour guides Marcelo and Rossi describing the Doves |
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| Marcelo introducing the Andean fox to his tourists |
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| Tour guide Rossi describing the Andean Fox |
I was very proud to see the tour guides stepping right in to the
roles, leading their tourists confidently around the zoo (in the hot December sunshine!)
and answering questions in English along the way. They presented each animal brilliantly,
reading out all of the relevant information clearly and confidently in English
to their tourists.
It must have been a daunting experience to be faced with a group
of strangers to present information to in English, all of whom were native
English speakers, so I think that all of the students did very well and should
be proud of themselves!
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| Tour guides, tourists and English teachers in the zoo |
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| In front of the lion enclosure with tour guides Rossi, Marcelo and their tourists |
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