Amazon Rainforest!!

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Finally heading into the amazon rainforest!! been wanting to come here all my life! and it was an amazing trip!
It started with an 8hr overnight bus ride from Quito to Lago Agrio, a small town deep in the jungle, (right near the Colombian border infact so a bit of a dangerous town) the bus ride was long and uncompforatable but i managed to sleep enough so it was ok.
Arrived in the morning and met up with the rest of my group, some swiss germans and 2 norwegians.
Saw a woman trying to sell this little monkey for $25!
Met our guide then had a 3hr minibus ride further into the jungle, then a 3hr motorised canoe to our huts etc, the Cuyabeno reserve we stayed in and is it ever deep into the amazon!!
We chilled out in the afternoon and aclimatised ourselves to the heat and humidity then once it was dark we went on a night walk through the jungle, Didnt see much, alot of insects and birds and alot of noises but it was still pretty cool.
Afterwards we played spoons, got drunk (as usual) and went for a night swim in the river!! (dont worry its safe! no crocs here!)

Next day didnt do alot as it was raining but we did head out after lunch on a hike through the amazon, saw some huge bugs, a tree fell down and nearly hit us, we walked through a swamp! saw some macaws (which is amazing to see them flying free in the wild) and some toucans! then we headed to the lagoon where we went for a swim then watched the sunset! also saw this cool little bird thts amazingly camouflaged to the tree, then I held onto a rope as the boat pulled me along inthe water haha.
After it got dark we went looking for Caimans and saw quite a few! (mainly just the reflections of the eyes in the water) then headed back to the reserve for more beer and some sleep! (Saw a huge tarantula in our dinning room on the roof!!)

Next day we went to visit a native village and the local Sharman (witch doctor) saw a few monkeys and even an Anaconda!!!! amazing!! played football with the local kids until a goal post fell on Adrians (swiss german) head and nearly knocked him uncouncious haha then we went further down the river and met the sharman.
Met his pet dog, cat, parrot and marmaset aswell! he taught us about the native culture, what they belive and about evil spirits and all that.
He made us some Ayawaska, a drink made from a plant in the amazon that the natives drink to have "spiritual journeys" (its a mild hallucinagenic) we drunk it later that night, and us being westerners who havnt been drinking this stuff sence we were kids it completley fucked us up!!! its a hard feeling to describe but unless you have someone talking to you reality just completly dissapears, you also see alot of weird things (including a genie, an ecuadorian girl and some talking trees for me) iv never experianced anything like it before and not sure i want to again but it certainly was strange! (and the sharmans drink this stuff frequently!!) it apparantly "cleans the body" aswell, which basically means it makes you throw up and shit alot, so not a completly enjoyable experiance! but "when in Rome" and all that! and the natives live to be over 100 so it must have some good stuff in it! and all in all it was pretty cool and certainly a unique amazon experiance! haha until i spent the last hour sat on a toilet, singing! (and kept forgetting i was there then being shocked to find walls around me lol) then passed out on the bed!
The guide had his hands full looking after us all but hes done it himself and knows what its like (and was in stitches laughing at us half the time)

Next day we all felt fine (no hangovers from this drink!) had breakfast then had a long canoe ride back to our bus (which was nice and relaxing) then had lunch and drove back to Lago Agrio to get our bus to Quito, which was delayed, finally got one, but half way into the trip there was an accident and the road was blocked, finally got all that cleared up then there was a police blockade with passport checks and back searches.
FINALLY! At 2am were back in Quito, so we celebrate by going out! haha all in all an amazing trip and iv finally seen (and experianced!) the amazon rainforest!!!

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