So some great news for you all....I am back from the jungle---malaria free! Although I had malaria pills, the elevation of the town we were in was high enough that I did not really need to take them. But although I did not contract malaria...I did get quite a few abnoxious bug bites, but really--they were totally worth it! I had a great time in the jungle!

We left for the small jungle-border city of Tena early Saturday morning. After a 5 and 1/2 bus ride, we made it to Tena...with only one attempted, but unsuccessful robbery attempt (I am seeing a theme develop here...buses and rbbery). Sometime before we made it to the bus to Tena...either in our 45 minute trolley commute or in the bus station, Lara, another student, was victim of an attempted slash and grab robbery. This is when some tries to slash your bookbag open, grab whatever they can reach or whatever falls out, and run away. She didnt realize it until we were on the bus, but fortunately she wasn´t missing anything. She sewed up her bag and we were on our way!

We arrived in Tena at the tour agency called Amarangochi. There we had a quick lunch and then climbed into the back of a pick up truck with our bags to head to the Shangrila Lodges about 30 or 45 minutes deeper in the jungle. The Shangrila Lodge was amazing! We put our luggage on a mini cable car and walked about 5 minutes downhill to the lodge which sits on the edge of a steep cliff overlooking the jungle and the river Napo. In the distance, you can see the mountain range (or corridor as it is referred to here) that divides Ecuador in two long ways. It was such a beautiful view (pictures coming soon of course). The lodge itself was somewhat rustic...a group of small cabins, some with private bathrooms surrounding a central lodge with a small kitchen, outdoor eating area, and two open air floors full of hammacks where we had our spanish classes. In the morning, just like in Quito, we had classes and in the afternoons we had activities.

Our activities were great...I think I have seen pretty much all of the museums, art exhibitions, and churches in Quito so I was excited for something more active. Since we arrived in the afternoon on Saturday, we did not have classes. Instead, we took a walk through the forest up to a look out point a few miles away. Along the way we learned about the various plants and animals and how the indigenous peoples make use of them in their daily lives. For example, we learned about the type of trees used to construct homes, the leaves used to cook fish, and how they burn termite homes (with termites in them) to ward off other insects when they are working outdoors to clear the land or harvest food, etc.

Our second day there we went canyoning...which sounds a bit more intense then it is. Basically we walked through the jungle until we reached some caves and narrow passage ways through rocks. In one part we have to climb up by placing our feet on one side of the rock and our pompis (pom pees or buttocks) on one side and slowly work our way up the rocks. It was even better since in this part and in another cave we ran into close to 100 bats! On the way to the caves, we learned about more plants and had a snack...Ormegas de Limon or lemon flavored ants. They were tiny tiny ants that had a strong favor of lemon...quite tasty actually! At dinner that night, we met a new friend named Jimmy. He was slightly hairy with 8 legs and many eyes....his larger friend Matilda wasnt around at dinner, but we saw her later. Jimmy crawled around on my hands a bit but I was not brave enough to let this torontula crawl on my face like another crazy tourist did.

Monday we visited an indigenous community further into the jungle. We crossed the river in a canoe made from a hallowed out tree and then hiked through the jungle for about an hour and a half. We learned about more plants and their uses...like one that is used to dye hair and paint faces (and yes the guide painted my face and yes I have embarrassing pictures) and another than is used to make the infamous panama hats. We ate palmitos (hearts of palm) straight from the plant and got to try the fruit of the cocoa plant...which tastes nothing like chocolate, more fruity and sometimes slightly sweet and sour at the same time. Our guide, Reñan or El Guagua (which is Quichua for baby because he is the youngest of the guides and looks even younger than his age) made us girls crowns out of a type of leaf used to make the roofs of the homes of indegnous families. In the community, we visited the home of Monica, an indigenous women who had 15 children and thus started her own small community currently known as Santa Monica. We took sips of a traditional indigenous beverage made from fermented corn. Not my drink of choice but not too bad either, I guess!

That night in the lodge, we joined in with a group of about 15 tourists from around the world (Zimbabwe, Canada, Ireland, Samoa, Australia, etc) in their jungle party. The lodge hosted a band that played traditional music, we dressed up like crazy people in outfits we made from leaves and plants found in the jungle, and danced salsa and merengue until midnight. It was great fun!

The next day we relaxed a bit and floated down the river in tubes hooked together by rope. We learned about the river, which flows from a small hill or mountain close by, but that eventually met up with a much much colder river that flows from the snow-covered volcanoe Cotopaxi. We could definitely feel a temperature change! We passed by a few men panning for gold and learned that it is fairly easy to find small traces of gold in the river and that some indigenous families did this to earn a living (not really a living...they live off the land, but to have something to sell to supplement what they take from the land, I guess is more accurate). that night, there was a HUGE rain storm unlike anything I have ever seen but it was beautiful and relaxing to listen to as we went to sleep!

The following day we left the Shangrila lodge and moved to our second home in the jungle...another string of small cabins, but in this location, called Amarongachi (which in Quichua means salt of the serpent because the river on which it is located was once full of anacondas that were attracted to the salt filled rocks in one part of the river), but as I was saying...in this location, there was no electricity and it was much simpler. Really, there a single family provides your meals and acts as guides. Dinner was by candlelight at communal tables in the center of the lodges near the home of the family. There was a loft full of hamacks there as well where we studied and watched a great rainstorm during lunch one day. In the afternoon of our first day there, we walked about 30 minutes to a natural pool or laguna where the other swam a bit...it was too cold for me! The next day, we did my favorite activity of the trip...cascading! Again, we hiked through the woods for about an hour and half, but this time up various small waterfalls, sometimes using a rope to help us scale the falls. The water was fairly warm, and near the end, we took a dip in a small pool formed by a small waterfall. It was a great day....we didn´t even mind that we only had cold showers to look forward to at the end!

We returned Friday night to Quito....quite tired! I was not really looking forward to returning to the city with its traffic, concrete buildings, and bus pollution nor to classes in a small classroom, but I guess all good things must come to an end! Which reminds me, I really only have about two and half weeks of classes left here! Then a bit of traveling and back to the US....wow time has flown!