La Selva!

Alright well I made it back safe and sound from my adventure in the jungle! It was absolutely amazing, one of the coolest things I've ever done. We started our journey Wednesday morning very early and traveled through and across the mountain range to get to the oriente. The bus ride was horrible, haha as most of them are here. We had a nice huge comfortable bus but no one could enjoy it because nice paved roads hardly exist in Ecuador. Even the pan american highway sucks. So we were driving over rocks, through mud, across ditches and a few times through a stream, all the while in a giant bus. Needless to say many of us needed to stick our heads out the window for some fresh air to distract us from the bumpy ride.

Anyway, Wednesday we arrived to a small town which I don't know the name of, right on the outskirts of the jungle. There we spent the evening playing with the local Shuar children. Shuar is the name of the indigenous population that live in the jungle. They have a lot of very interesting traditions and customs. That night we stayed in a "school" where we had a hard time obtaining any privacy. In the girls room, we were trying to change into our pajamas but we had a hard time because the little boys in the community decided it would be fun to stand outside the windows and peek in. Even after yelling at them to leave, they still didn't so we waited and somehow managed to change in privacy.

The next day we set off for the Jungle. We took our bus along the highway and stopped right on the edge of the jungle. There we unloaded, grabbed our packs and slipped into our knee high rubber boots. Ahead of us was an hour hike to our cabins where we'd be staying. Me and a few others jumped in the lead by the guide and set off. An hour or so later, we were covered in mud and standing in front of one of the cabins. It was really cool, a grass hut type cabaña on a little stream. We realized that no one was behind us...it was only us 5 and the guide. we were missing about 15 people. We waited and waited and 45 minutes later the guide and some other local men set off to find them. Turns out they just got lost, so nothing too serious happened, and we were glad. The women then found out that our cabin was located about 15 minutes away on a river. The path to our cabin was pretty much wet soggy ground and heaps of mud, so we were really happy to be located on a river. And also, I was soooo very happy to see their version of a bathroom located in a shack behind our cabin. Basically a whole in the ground covered by a toilet seat, but it was better that squatting in the middle of the jungle! The only thing we weren't happy about was finding our way back to the cabin in pitch black jungle territory after dinner at the boys cabin. 6 girls, 3 flashlights and a lot of nervous yelps and screams later we arrived safely at our cabin.

Then on Friday we had our first full day in the jungle. After a restful sleep underneath our mosquito nets, we set out in the morning for a four hour hike through the jungle. That was one of the most amazing things I've ever done. Again, I decided to jump in the front of the line right behind the guide so there was no chance of getting lost, and also to challenge myself to keep up with him. Man it was exhausting, but great fun. I guess I didn't have any expectations as to what a hike through the jungle would entail, but it ended up being pretty close to what I imagined. The guide had a machete and with that, he made our trail. So we were climbing up steep hills of mudd, down slippery slopes, walking across some logs that made a bridge across streams and bogs, and trying desperately not to get tangled up in all the vegetation. For whatever reason I managed to come away with very few bug bites (unlike everyone else in the group) and only scratches from some nasty trees and plants. The heat and humidity was a real problem, but the streams we came across provided some relief so that was nice.

After our long hike we ate lunch and crashed in the guys cabin which also served as the place where we ate, gathered, etc. That evening was relaxing, we watched a demonstration by some shamans, (sort of like healers/magic users, etc) and also watched some traditional dances. We returned to our cabin again in dark, this time a little bit more brave, only to find our room full of cockroach/beetle type things. I mean I guess its to be expected, you could hardly call our cabin an enclosed shelter, the only thing that got to us was that somehow the pesky GIANT things managed to get underneath our mosquito netting which was tightly tucked under our mattresses. So after an hour of ridding our room of the bugs we all nervously got into bed and tried to sleep.

Saturday was our last day in the jungle and we took another hike, visited a small shuar community, came back and ate a great lunch and then prepared ourselves for the hour hike back to the bus. Once on the bus we headed to a large town called Macas where we were pleasently surprised with a very nice hotel and SHOWERS for the evening. Everyone pretty much crashed that night and we woke up really early on Sunday and headed back to Cuenca. So here I am!

Here are some photos, hope you enjoy!

Some of the Shuar kids on the first day

More kids who I swear couldn't stop smiling until I held the camera up. Then I smiles didn't exist.

Jo and I battling it out in the jungle with our walking sticks

Luther kids in the selva!

Cute shuar kids

Our guide telling us about a tree that the shuar cut down when they don't have food and they peel off the bark and eat the inside. We all tried some, didn't really taste like anything.

Banana tree!

Me and the selva halfway through our four hour hike

Some of my lady friends

View from the guys cabin/where we hung out most of the time and ate

Strong people hiking through the jungle

More cute kids

The girls cabin located on the river

The whole group halfway through our hike!

This thing was awesome, we had to get across the river somehow!

Jungle

Me and the kiddies who never smile

Nick playing a little basketball with them

Imagine twenty gringos in the back and thats how we traveled!
(gringos are foreigners...or "white people")

Yeah we drove across this scary weak looking bridge in that truck with all of us in back!

The guys cabin/"headquarters"

The school we stayed in the first night

Playing with the kids

Going for a little swim with the kids

Cute girls

More cuteness

Anyway, those are just some of my pictures, hopefully they were good enough to give you an idea of what I've been up to. Yesterday was the halfway mark for the summer. 5 1/2 weeks to go and I'll be home! Seems like its flying by already so I can imagine how quickly the rest of the summer will go. I know that I will be ready to go home but I also know that I'm going to miss this place alot, Ecuador is really a beautiful country. Not only physically but the people I've met here are wonderful. Hopefully someday I can return!

Well let me know how you are all doing and how life back in the states is. I miss you all and love hearing from you!

Besitos!
Lindsey