5
Location: Amazon
Today we started Day 3 of the Amazon at the normal time, then went to breakfast at six. After breakfast, our group climbed into the motor canoes to go up the river for adventures. The first stop was a canopy tower, giving us a beautiful view of the Amazon in fog, even when it rained in the rainforest. Our guide Hector was incredible. He could see little monkey-like shapes a kilometer away and say they were Howler Monkeys, and then they WERE Howler Monkeys. He also could point out a turtle from across the river on a speeding boat. Anyway, back on track. Our next stop was a visit with the local Kichwa women. We learned both the dance of the women and then the men’s. Then local drinks were prepared for us to try by the Kichwa before we boated back to the lodge. On the way back, the boat was stopped to see some wild parakeets eat clay off of a wall. This helps them digest toxic seeds. After a very good local lunch, we rested for an hour before collecting even more snails. The community was helped by us collecting over 3000 snails by the time we finished, and now everyone will go to the center for dinner. Day 5 of this trip and it feels like I’ve known these other people for much longer. Check out our Amazon forest photos above and stay tuned to our Ecuador travel blog for more exciting updates!