¡Monos en vivos!

Trying to get myself to bed temprano esta noche porque my alarm clock is going off at 4:30 am. Climbing Pichincha (de nuevo). I figure as I am more acclimated to life and the altura now it will be an even more amazing experience...and speaking of amazing experiences, hace tres dias I returned from THE JUNGLE! (#thisSouthAmericanlife moment 217). I'm short on words tonight, so pictures and captions are going to tell of this adventure...buckle up.

After a short 40 minute plane ride, this vista hermosa on the two hour bus ride to the river. 

Arrival at the river, our passageway to the Jamu Lodge. 

They actually aren't crocs or alligators, but there are caiman, which are a smaller, cuter version. 

Yes, welcome to the jungle. We're certainly not in Kansas anymore. (Actually, I never have been.)

Seis Americano teachers heading deeper in la selva...

Miguel, our incredibly enthusiastic guide. 

Walking Stick. This guy had nothing on the tarantulas that we saw on our first night. 

Sunken forest which is under water for 11 months of the year. 

Baby Anaconda. Mamas and papas are 5-6 meters long!

Our lodging. No hot water, no electricity. Totally discounted from the rest of the world. Kinda cool. 

Hike on the 2nd day: Love the hairdo on this über furry caterpillar. I believe he was poisonous. Again, welcome to the jungle.

Very. Large. Spider web. I used to screech at a Daddy Longlegs. I've really grown here, friends. Really.

Literally on the equator here. Check that off my bucket list. 

Lots of ants. I think these were Roman ants, also known as stripper ants. Used as a form of torture at some time and place. Continuing my reflections on the world's (and my own) duality, while these ants can drive someone to shed all of her clothes, they are also a natural repellant if you like squash them all of the surface of your skin. 

Wicked cool. 

We crossed some tricky terrain...er, rivers. I think this is about the time I started to really want lunch. Miguel had a way of underestimating the time for...pretty much everything. His contagious energy made up for it, though.

After our hike, we were indeed properly fed. A bit later we went out for a night hike. This was the sunset in the laguna. Freeze frame. 

Nothing creepy about being in the oscuridad in the middle of the jungle. Nope. Nada. I'll spare you the photos of all of the night spiders. My skin is still crawling.  

After the night hike, we woke up at 4:45 am for a morning site-seeing adventure. This was after another group kept us up playing music and being generally boisterous until 4 am. Even in the jungle Quiteños know how to party. Perhaps especially in the jungle. No photos of our faces featured here. They weren't especially feliz.

Los monos were my favorite part of the trip. This guy isn't actually smoking a cigar as he looks to be...if he was, I would have climbed the tree and joined him.

Birds are cool, too, but not as cool as monos.

Our last full day we first went to visit the Shaman. At 12 years old he knew he wanted to take this holy path.

Shaman's gato. 

Shaman's tortuga. 

After our interview with the Shaman, Miguel took on us a hike to check out the arboles mas grande...

and to enjoy the beauty surrounding us.

After the hike, a venture into a small village para hacer tortilla de yuca. 

Step 1: Harvest the yuca (When Miguel said he needed 2 volunteers to pull it out of the earth, my hand shut up, because I am sooo strong. Yeah, it didn't budge.)

Step 2: Grate the yuca

Step 3: Squeeze the the juice out of the yuca which is reserved for soup

Step 4: Make yuca flour into tortillas and cook (no photos of Step 5: Consume yuca tortillas--they were gone before my camera was out)

On our last day, as we were heading back to Lago Agrio to catch the plane to Quito, we spotted this sloth. Sloths are so slow that moss can grow on their fur. Thank you, Miguel, for adding abundantly to my knowledge of jungle insects and animals. 

My eyes are drooping now. Signing off here I extend a great deal of gratitude. It's a blessed life I lead.

Les extraño mucho.

Jame