Warning- this is going to the be the longest blog ever since I just had the coolest weekend anyone could possibly have.
SO, Saturday morning we all woke up bright and early and began our trek to the AMAZON RAIN FOREST! After a few hours in the bus, we stopped at a place where we were going cave hiking! Now, to illustrate Ecuador's inefficiency with planning (and just about everything else in the world) we were told to wear long pants to this event. We all did. With tennis shoes (and I was wearing a white shirt). Well, once we reached the cave, our tour guide told us we would be doing some hardcore swimming. By this time it was much too late for any of us to go change (so everyone got to enjoy the view of my polka dot bra all day) and the clothing we wore since we thought we would remain dry, soon became soaking wet. Since I was told the swimming was a little intense, I didn't bring my camera and this is the only picture I have of the cave:
Although there was major miss communication, the hike through the cave was a blast. We did go swimming through some deep parts and even reached a waterfall where we hung out for a while (it was also pitch black! We got to wear flashlights on our heads). After hiking through the cave, there was a pool filled with the natural cave water and water slides we played in for a while. It was a great beginning to a great trip.
As we got on the bus to head to our first hostel, these Ecuadorians ran over and asked to take pictures with us since we were white! You wouldn't believe how many people were shocked to see white people in the Amazon. Later that night, my friends and I were at a bar/pool lounge where a photographer asked if he could use us to advertise the place. He set us around the pool table, made us do specific poses and we had a full on photo shoot. It was interesting because these guys were in the middle of a game of pool when the photographer kicked them out so he could take pictures of the white kids. This will always blow my mind.
Later we went out for lunch where plenty of these birds hung out. They were really entertaining and didn't mind being extremely close to humans at all.
After lunch we went on a hike through the jungle to reach a waterfall we were supposed to be able to swim in. The walk was really pretty, and I absolutely loved all the green surrounding us. AND the air was amazing and pure, compared to the crazy polluted air of Quito.
So as you can see, the waterfall turned out to be a tad bit too strong. The guide said it's normally not like that. Unfortunately, it was WAY too dangerous to go swimming in so we had to turn around and head back. It was insane though, I was standing literally twenty feet from the waterfall and could feel the force of it.
On the way back, we had to pass through a river. It felt like the movies.
Once we reached the city our hostal was in, we ventured to the city center because that's where monkeys tend to hang out! IT WAS THE COOLEST THING IN THE WORLD. Monkeys were just walking in the streets, playing in restaurants and sitting on benches. Never in my life have I been able to hang out with monkeys like it's the norm. I spent a lot of time there. The monkeys were really smart too! They would come up to us, check our hands for food and try to get into our pockets. One guy was wearing a hat and a monkey ran up to him, took it off his head, then hung out in the trees. It was pretty hysterical. I LOVE MONKEYS! (Lots of monkey pictures coming up)
Next morning we woke up, got our pair of rubber boots and headed to our motorized canoe. We had to bring all of our stuff because we were venturing deeper into the jungle and relocating to a new hostel which was more "jungly."
One of the rivers in the amazon. From the second day on, our only mode of transportation was through the river. It was really interesting and a great view. On the side of the river it was common to see women washing clothes and little naked children running around playing.
On the way to our new hostel, we stopped at a museum ran by indigenous people here. The man showed us a few animals, medicinal plants, traps they use to catch animals, sang us a song ect.. It was a really neat experience.
The museum had a monkey named Lucas that ran around and jumped on people. Talk about awesome. There also was this mysterious rat looking animal that hung around us as well haha.
Back on the boat! Next we headed to a natural zoo in the amazon.
The zoo had many birds, monkeys, cats ect.. It was fun. The birds loved the squeal and yell "HOLAAAAAA!" They sounded better at Spanish than I did.
After dropping our stuff off at the hostel, we headed to an indigenous area (Shaman trible). Being exposed to their culture was absolutely amazing. They survive off of natural resources in the jungle (especially yucca) as well as some chickens (baby chickens were running around everywhere). They lived in huts about 10 or 15 ft high made out of wood and straw. They told us about their lives and then made us food. It was a very fulfilling experience. The picture below is of tilapa, heart of palm, plantain, yucca and white chocolate coca bean.
Okay so I have a confession. My first day in the amazon, I got a little too excited with the monkeys and my camera battery barely made it 24 hours. I wasn't able to take pictures of many things (such as the Shaman ritual ceremony where the leader took these hallucination medicines and did "cleansing acts" in Kichwa on some girls in my group) and other hiking adventures. Therefore....I am going to add some pictures my friends have taken since I went a little camera crazy early on haha.
Yay for pretty pictures! By the way, if you noticed the picture of the diseased looking body parts...well that is actually the back of my legs. I have 207 bug bites, TWO HUNDRED AND SEVEN. Just on my legs. We counted. Of course everyone else only has ten or eleven. Maybe twelve. I used bug repellent like crazy but the guide told my these stupid macho mosquitos that are special got me pretty bad. They aren't like normal mosquitos that bite you then fly off happily with your blood; they are crazy mosquitos that go around and bite you many many times before leaving (AND YOU DON'T FEEL IT) Therefore, the tour guide said my 207 bug bites are from about 6 or 7 bugs. Absolutely outraged and itchy. My host mom made a special anti itch cream for me though that's been helping. I hope these bug bites go away soon because constantly being itchy is making me go somewhat crazy.
Anyways the Amazon was an absolute blast! One thing we didn't take a picture of was the raft we (kind of) helped build. We got to go down rapids and swim in the river as well! I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous about swimming in that river, but it was very refreshing. Oh also! Last night we went on an insect walk where we saw frogs, monkeys, lizards, spiders ect.. Very cool. This morning I also had the wondrous opportunity to come across a snake. My friend Erinn and I were ahead of everyone and the only people who saw the snake. I don't think I have ever squealed so high pitch before in my life. It was quite the surprise.
Well, hope the pictures were able to reflect how cool the trip was. Definitely have some of that jungle fever! The amazon was an amazing experience where I got to experience so much. I just wish I wasn't so itchy because of it....ayeeee.
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