Working as an Intern during COVID 19, a gift for me!

Effects of the Covid-19 for interns!

The Corona crisis has affected a lot of people badly, but for me, this was not the case! I’ve learned a lot because of Covid-19! Being a tourism student at BUAS (Breda University of applied sciences) it is mandatory to do an internship. In the last 20 weeks, I did my internship at 2 companies instead of 1, and that’s all due to the lockdown! I’ve been working as an intern for 10 weeks for a Swedish company in Stockholm and 10 weeks from home for Pejego Tours, a company in Suriname. You will read about my internship and my ‘must-do’ trips in Suriname when Covid-19 is over!

When life gives you lemons make lemonade!

In February 2020 I started my internship and traveled from The Netherlands to Sweden to do back-office work as an intern at Haman Group. Right in the middle of my internship, the Corona started!  I had to return home!  You can imagine my stress level went up! I had to look for a new internship. Luckily for me, Wendy from TravelBizz Acadamy came up with the brilliant idea to couple up BUAS students with small tourism companies she has worked with in the past. And I was one of the lucky students to find a matching business!

My new internship and working from home, thank you, WhatsApp!

To start off I must say I was nervous! About my new internship with Pejego Tours. But over the weeks it became clear that Tania (manager at Pejego Tours) is a fantastic businesswoman and I was learning much more than I thought was possible during the Corona!  Because nobody can travel, and Tania has had all the time in the world to assist me!

But it’s fair to say that the corona affected Tania’s business too! Tania had to think of alternative assignments that could help her company to bloom when Covid-19 is over! Over the weeks I have learned things from Tania that you don’t find in the schoolbooks. She showed me how it is to have your own company and that being self-employed is not always as easy as people think!

TravelBizz Acadamy and me!

Wendy being a businesswoman herself had 1 condition and was that Tania and I did her 10-week ‘Kickstart je SEO BUAS’ (Search Engine Optimization) course. The tourism companies are selling tours online, but the managers never have enough time to update their websites. Corona gives them the perfect opportunity to work on things that are last on the to-do list! So, Tania and I worked hard on the Pejego Tours website and its SEO. The biggest satisfaction I got after weeks of hard work was that we could already tell that the Pejego website is being found easier on the internet!

I also got to join a couple of training sessions with the guides in Suriname through Zoom because Tania is also stranded in Budapest due to Corona!  It was not just Tania who taught me a lot about Suriname, the guides of Pejego also played their part in my learning experience. The feedback they gave to my questions was great! I felt for a moment that I was part of this fantastic company!

I almost forgot to add that almost every week we had Question and Answer moments through Zoom with Wendy! She was very helpful and guided us through the SEO process!

Pejegotours.com makes all your wishes come true!!

At least that is what Tania told me :). Pejego Tours is a tour operator selling tours to the 3 Guianas; Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana in South America. I’ve learned a lot about these countries because they were unknown to me! But not anymore! Apart from the general information about their different cultures and histories I’ve also come to understand how important sustainable tourism is for these countries. The countries are still pristine, and it is in everyone’s best interest to keep it that way!

My list of favorite things to do in Suriname after COVID 19!

I have never been to South America before, but Tania really got me excited to visit her home and neighboring countries! I would enjoy visiting maroon village Semoisi to learn more about village life, their Saramacca culture, and meet the friendly locals! Bake my own cassava bread with a local? And maybe learn a few Saramacca words from Tania to make a good first impression!?

Maybe I should ask travel guide, Raymond, to go on a boat safari to Bigi Pan to spot the Flamingos and Red ibis, with me. I heard he has great cooking skills! Psst my own chef…making traditional Surinamese dishes for me…hmm!

Seeing the pink dolphins dance near the boat will also not be bad? I’m especially looking forward to hiking on the Brownsberg which will give me the opportunity to explore the Amazon rainforest and spotting all the 8 types of monkey, and maybe find a lost friend???

The Raleigh Falls and Blanche Marie trip to the western part of Suriname does not seem to be a bad choice either, does it? But I will make sure to ask the wildlife guide to join me, I heard a lot of crazy stories about him! And he will make sure I see wildlife from close by! Maybe a sloth, a monkey, or a tiger, that would be awesome! My favorite day trip will be riding on an ATV Quad through muddy paths in the savanna and Ziplining over the creek! Adventures guaranteed!

Thank u….

The 3 Guianas have such a high diversity, that these last weeks as an intern have really attracted me to visit these wonderful countries. I would advise others to go and explore the Guianas! Will a 3-week trip to Suriname be enough or shall I book the 3 Guiana tour and travel to all the 3 Guianas? I don’t know!!! A big thank you to Wendy and especially Tania for teaching me life lessons over the last couple of weeks it was really a gift!