Day 97 - Even Indiana Jones would have been scared

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Putting on wet and smelly clothes was not a highlight of today, but it was worth it as our morning activity was 'canyoning'. We started with an hour long walk learning very interesting facts about different plants and creatures, their medicinal qualities or their uses in rituals and so on. All very interesting and it is impressive how much the people here use from the jungle. We even tried some lemon ants - and it is amazing how much they actually do taste of lemons, a bit like lemon sherbet!

Then we walked down into a river bed and into primary rain forest (you can tell this because there are no yuka or banana plants growing there) and followed it for about 2 hours, climbing over bolders and fallen trees. We even had to squeeze ourselves through some very tight cracks where the walls of the river are so close together - excellent (and dirty) fun.

We were also shown a cave that was home to many bats flying around, which was not a favourite of Gemma's. Nearing the end of the walk we were given a choice to go through a very tight canyon or take a different route out of the river. The rest of the group opted for the alternative route, whereas we (obviously) were brave enough to say that we wanted to go through the canyon.

Once Jose - our very informative guide - returned, the three of us made our way through the very tight gap upwards, having to use our bodies, hands and bums to help climb out.

At one point we had a boa constrictor snake around our feet (honestly!) and bats flying menacingly above us. This definitely got the adrenalin flowing, and looking back we are extremely pleased that we choose this route.

After the delicious lunch, we went 'tubing' with 5 large tyre inner tubes strapped together to create a raft we could lounge on whilst we travelled down river for an hour and a half. It was wonderful as the sun came out for us and we were able to swim and just float. If we'd fallen asleep for long enough we could have ended up in Brazil. We experienced two rivers merging which you could see and feel. You could see a definite line where the clear river merged into the cloudy river, and when swimming into the cloudy river there was an extreme drop in temperature.

All in all another fantastic jungle adventure and the best thing is there is more to come tomorrow...

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