Jungle advnetures

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Our next big adventure took us to Ecuador where we spent 5 days canoeing and exploring the jungle. Another uncomfortable overnight bus ride (how I miss the leather recliners of Argentina!) took us from Quito to Lago Agrio, a small mining town where petrol was cheaper than water, thus petrol was used for everything including mopping the floors. 

Unfortunately I had a terrible tummy bug so an overnight bus and 5 days in the wilderness was looking rather daunting. Fortunately every type of medicine is super cheap and easy to buy over the counter in south America so I dosed myself up for under $2 and set forth.

The first day we paddled to our camp, aptly named jaguar crossing because there had been jaguars sighted prowling around the camp! I went on a night jungle walk, However i think the threat of seeing tarantulas was too much for poor old Rashy who stayed in our tent relaxing.

The next day we got an early start to paddle the rest of the way to our lodge. We saw 5 types of monkeys and about a billion birds! Our lodge was amazing, a cute little thatched roof cabin and a big deck with Hammocks -perfect for weary travelers.  We spent the next few days hunting for camen and anacondas, fishing for piranhas, spotting a million birds and insects and lazing the afternoons away in hammocks. 

One day we went to a small village to visit with a local family and learn traditional cooking techniques. The 17 year old girl (already mother of a one yr old) showed us how to cook yucca , a root vegetable similar to sweet potato, a very long and involved process that ended up in a very tasty flat bread! After lunch we played a game of soccer with the kids and got our arse kicked 5-0. 

Unfortunately our time in the jungle was over too quickly and we returned to Quito for quiet Christmas eve...which in grand tradition turned out to be not so quiet and ended with us being snuck out of the bar backdoor at 4am cause the police are very strict about the 2am shutdown! 

We did however, have a very quiet Christmas day followed by a lovely dinner at our hostel and numerous calls to family. We awoke at 4am on boxing day to head to our next adventure...Colombia!!! 

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Photos

Start of our run down the river
Obviously I was Captian of the boat

Monkey
One of the various monkeys we saw

Takikng a break
Yes Rashy was terribly lazy...as you can see I did most of the work :P

Hitching a ride
After two days of paddling we swapped our oars for a seat on the motor boat

Relaxing in hammocks
We may have spent most afternoons in this exact spot

It rained a lot
And we were lucky enough to get very suave ponchos!

Hamdcuffed in the jungle...?
Dont worry, this wasnt a kinky game, our tour guide was demonstrating how useful these vines are!

Swimming break
Diving off the boat in the big lagoon - yes the lagoon was home to piranah and camen

Copa de Diablo
Small magic mushrooms that Rashy was hunting forr - 7 of this little buggers are required to take effect!

Soccer
Rashy and a teny tiny kid starting the game with a bit of one on one

Soccer
Everyone getting into it

Christmas Cake
A beautiful cake our cook made for us on the last night without an over...it was so amazing i had it for breakfast the next day!