First day in Baia di Ieranto

So far we have spent almost a month in Ieranto. Working all of the June weekends there, getting to know more and more of our summer activities and of course enjoying all of what this little, but precious corner of the world gives us. We have heard so much about Ieranto from previous volunteers, from project mentors and from locals. So before summer started we were learning Italian language all of the first month here in Sorrento- Sant’Anna language school and wondering about summer in this magical place- BAIA DI IERANTO! And you can trust us- all of our expectations and fantasies became a reality. If you are curious, just imagine the world’s best aquapark- mysterious caves, rocks in all kinds of shapes and crystal clear water- full of rich and an absolutely different world in its diversity. AND most importantly all of it is made by nature! But now let’s have a little throw back into our very first impressions…

It’s 2nd of june- our first working day and, what a coincidence, Elza’s birthday. Ciao, Mimi, ciao Gianna, ciao Elza- happy birthday, and we are ready to go. On our way down the hill, we had a little gathering at Salvatore’s house to enjoy his special lemon coffee and continue our way down to the bay. It’s just the  morning, but the place was already a little bit crowded with people. We didn’t know for sure what to do and how, but we did everything in our best possible way. Preparing an info point on the land, carrying kayaks into water, doing boats monitoring and water cleaning. There are always a lot of things to do in Ieranto. Of course we are very different and so are our previous experiences. “On the first day of work I felt really comfortable with the activities because I’m used to this kind of environment, like hiking, kayaking, cleaning the water, but maybe i got a bit out of my comfort zone by trying to speak Italian with local people and trying to be understood by them at the same time.”- said Mafalda, but for Cristian all of the activities were new “Absolutely everything was new for me. Cleaning the beach by kayak, information in the water and on land, speaking in Italian with local people… It was quite an experience.” Gaby’s highlight of the day is just magical.. “I went swimming to see the spearfish, it was the first time I saw something like this.” So many new things, expressions and for Elza- the best place to spend a birthday, also doing things for our nature and project, most importantly all of us together.

This is not the easiest job, but it’s something that you enjoy even if you are tired. As Ali is saying, “At first I thought that the job would be difficult, but in reality I had fun going through the different tasks that we did. We began with the cleaning of the sea and the beach, at the same time we discovered the cellars and we finished by following our dear visitor – Aguglie imperiali.”

Knowing that you can jump into the water all together after a good day of work is just amazing. And even if we are tired we always find energy for celebrations. Of course we had a birthday party when we got back home. We have all of 2021 summer to grow with this place, our mentors and with each other. And we love it so far!