LA AMAZONIA!!!

The amazonian rain forests are nothing like anything I've ever seen before. The amazing plants, animals, insects as well as the company of really great friends made my amazon trip the best one yet. We did and saw so much that I'm going to have to break this trip up into the four days we spent enjoying one of the most increadible places on earth.

DAY 1: REUNITED
For this trip, rotary split us up into groups of around 20 to 25 people based on our rotary clubs. Meaning that I didn't get to go at the same time as Sonja, Maddie and Usman however my club got to go with a lot of the people from Cuenca! Cuenca is a city in the mountains, but very south of Quito meaning that we haven't seen those people since the Manabi trip back in November. It was so great to meet up with Anna-Maria, Theophile, Cyrille and a bunch of other people again!

We left the Quito airport at around 8:30 in a small plane about the size of the one I took to get from Moncton to Newark. Half an hour later we arrived in Coca, a city in the amazon region however we were going much farther in. The heat and humidity we felt getting off the plane was a little shocking, so different from cold, dry Quito. From Coca, we had a two and a half hour bus ride to get to where we would be eating lunch and boarding the canoes to take us to the camp.
That was where we met up with our friends who were coming back from their trip. A little sunburnt and bug bitten they let us know it was the best trip yet. Although I did believe them, I had to find out for myself. We had a pretty typical Ecuadorian lunch (rice, meat, vegetables) then loaded the canoes and headed off. The whole grouop was in two different canoes (which had motors). It would be about a 2 and a half to 3 hour trip to the camp. On the way we got to see lots of different species of birds, HUGE spider webs that looked like clouds on the bushes. We were told that in them were millions and millions of little spiders living together in a community.... oh joy.. We got to see little squirel monkeys as well as capuchino monkeys, who are cute but also have a tendency to attack the native children and eat their eyes depending on their mood. However, they did tell us that NO animal is agressive unless it feels threatened first. We also saw the most beautiful electric blue butterflies ever! They explained to us that we were on a black water river, all the nutriments from the trees and plants go into the water making it a very vitamine filled yet murky river.
The camp where we stayed was actually an eco-lodge, everything ecologically friendly meaning that we couldn't flush the toilets, couldn't drink the water from the tap or brush our teeth with it and only had electricity from 6 pm to about 10:30. Everything was powered by solar energy, so if there was no sun during the day, it meant there would be no or very little electricity at night.
That night, after it got dark we took the canoes to another part of the forest to go hiking and looking for nocturnal animals and insects. We were there, in long pants, shirts, big rubber boots and flash lights standing in the middle of the rain forest... WOW! We saw a lot of spiders... big surprise. Surprisingly I didn't see a tarantula although there were ones that were just as big. ew. We found a... creature, a mix between a spider and a scorpion. We also saw huge grasshopers and these insects that look like fireflies. Funny moment : APARENTLY... some fish sleep really close to the surface of the water and when they hear a noise (say.. a boat..) they start jumping to save their lives. Well..on our way back to the camp, Benedicte ended up with a fish on her stomac... did I mention I was sitting beside her? Haha.
That night we all took showers (so so hot in the amazon) then went to sleep in the safety of our mosquito net covered beds. The guides told us that because of the time of the year and the region we were in there was a 0% chance of anyone getting malaria. I think I only got one mosquito bite the whole trip!  

I roomed with Benedicte (Denmark) and Melina (Switzerland)

 DAY 2: EXPLORING

Tuesday morning, Benedicte, Melina and I woke up early to go watch for the pink river dolphins. After breakfast we slpit up into 2 groups and went for a three hour hike in the rain forest, once again we were dying of heat in our long clothes but it was a very neat trek. We saw a tree which could heal malaria, stomac aches and head aches depending which part you ate. We got to clim and swing on vines like tarzan and we each ate an ant... YUM! Haha it was very small and tasted pretty good, like lemon because the roots of the tree it lives in are very acidic. We got to see the worlds most   

poisonous frog. It is tiny but contains enough venom to kill 50 people. The venom is in the sweat produced on it's back and can only kill you if it gets into your blood. SO you can touch it as much as you want but if you eat it.... you'll die. Amazonian tribes would cover the ends of their spears with the venom in order to kill instantly. We got to see a giant ant that is more poisonous than a tarantula or a scorpion and were also taught which plants are the most important for survival incase you get lost. We didn't have to worry about the big cats or wild boar because they live about 4 hours deper into the jungle from where we were.

 This is a cute caterpillar... but poisonous.

After our hike, we went back to tha camp, had lunch then went fishing for piranahs!!! YAY!! In my opinon it's better to try to avoid these.....( please notice the razor sharp teeth).

But there we were, trying to catch these animals, our bait was bleeding meat.. yuuummmmy. There is a special technique in catching these too... in order to get the most bites, you have to beat the water with your rod THEN throw the line in. That way it sounds like an animal has fallen in and the piranahs will come running... or... you know what I mean. Everyone in the canoe caught one except me, they would just eat the meat right off the hook before I could pull it back up :-(. It was fun anyway.

Afterward they took us to the middle of the lagoon (may I remind you, the same lagoon in which we were piranah fishing and watching for caimen and anacondas) and told us to jump in. Being insane exchange students we had a nice swim while watching the sunset. Before the sun had completely set, we all had to get back into the boats before the caimen and snakes migrated back to where we were swimming.

Dripping wet and surprizingly chilly, we spent about an hour more in the boat shining our flashlights around looking for the red eyes of the caimen. We ended up seeing a few which was really cool. Caimen are a little smaller than alligators and not quite as dangerous. We finally made it back to the camp, pretty much exhausted had supper then as Papa would say, crashed. Might I add that I slept very well every single night.

DAY 3: CULTURE!

This was probably my favorite day. After breakfast we had a three hour canoe trip to get to an amazonian village. On the way we got to see pink river dolphins, but much closer then before, a whole family of monkeys SO CUTE!! And a giant turtle. In the first part of the village we met and played with a little monkey named Nacho. We also picked yuca (a vegetable kind of like a potatoe) and they taught us the process to make it into a type of bread. The bread is very tasty and can last up to 20  



days. ALSO, grating the yuca is part of the process to making the bread. What you are left with after are the pieces of yuca but also a liquidy version that happens to be a great remedy for sunburns. Some of us went swimming in the river before it was time to go, we'd walk a bit, then jump in and get taken away by the current. Lena, Theo, Irina, Cyrille, Otis and I may have had a little mud fight which was dirty but... very fun! We played for a while in the river, then we had to hop back into the canoes and go to the next part of the village. The second part is where all the kids go in the morning to school.

It was a very small school, only two rooms they also had a basketball court and of course a soccer field. We got to taste HUGE grapes right out of a tree as well as non bitter grape fruit! Also, they got us to try a tiny little seed that was probably the most spicy thing I have ever tasted! (They didn't think to warn us first either hahaha.) I wish I had brought some back for cousin David :-p As part of the tradition of the tribe, they offered us their special beer. Which is actually fermented with their spit... tasty I know. Oh well, we all tried a little bit of it. Only a little because it is actually a very strong drink and could be  

 dangerous for those of us who aren't used to it. The purpose of us going to this part of the village was to visit with tha Shaman or the doctor. He explained to us about what it was like to be a shaman and what kind of things they do. He told us that there are two kinds of jungle doctors; one that uses plants and all natural things to help with pain or cure fevers and such. To become this kind of doctor you need to study a very long time, this one had studied for 16 years. Then, there is the witch doctor for which you only have to study 2 years but it is a very dangerous practice and isn't allowed in that particular tribe anymore.

After our meeting, we played a short soccer game (exchangies versus the peopple from the village) lets just say we didn't win and leave it at that. It was all very fun though.

We got back to the camp and after supper one of our guides Luis told us three different amazonian legends and then we had fun drawing tatoos on eachother with this seed that dyes the skin. The amazonian women also use it to dye their hair, it makes it jet black. What's funny is that you can't see the dye (where you marked) until the second day so some people woke up on Thursday with a few little surprizes. Thank goodness the dye only lasts about a week.

The reason you can see it here is because we marked with pen first.



DAY 4: HEADING HOME :-(
On Thursday everyone was a little down... no one wanted to leave! We all woke up at 5 am to go out onto the lagoon and watch the sunrise.



We also had a chance to go for one last swim in the lagoon, only a few of us went though, the rest were packing. The canoe trip back to civilization (haha) was faster than the one coming into camp. We made it to the place where we had lunch when we were first arriving and had lunch once again before heading off on hour 2 and a half hour bus ride to the airport in Lago Agria.

In the bus we saw a big snake on the road and stoped for pictures and such. Everyone was tired so most of us slept a little.

It was at the airport that Lena's mom (girl from Germany in my rotary club) texted her to tell her that once again, we would be changing houses. Now at that time I was finally comfortable with the idea of going to Quito not to mention tired from the trip, so lets just say the news wasn't taken very well at first. As it turns out though, this new family is perfect for me.... but that's another story for later.... right now my fingers are most likely going to fall off.

All that to say that I am having the most amazing time ever. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Thanks for all the support from home, I can say I've made to and back from the amazonian rain forest without a scratch :-)

Our group.... of the exchange students there were 3 boys and 18 girls.... and one Canadian, moi! :-)