Location: The Amazon - Andes

Today we woke up for the last time in the Amazon. Our days in the Amazon went by so fast. We packed our bags and made our way to breakfast. After breakfast, we split up into two groups. The first group started with a hike through the rainforest to a tall water tower with a great view, and the second group went piranha fishing. 

The hike to the water tower was beautiful, full of many new insects and fresh mud. The path we took was the same one we took when we went on night hikes. It looked very different during the day. On the way to the water tower, Hector, let us try to throw a machete into the tree. After watching him do it with ease, we all decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, he made it seem a lot easier than it was and after many good attempts, we continued on the hike. A little later on we came across a tree, and he taught us how to climb it. No one could do it! Then he pulled out a vine that he got from one of the trees and tied it into an oval. He told us that if we put it around our feet, we would be able to easily climb the tree. With the vine on our feet, most people managed to get up the tree inchworm style. After that, we got to the water tower and headed to the top. When we got there, we had a beautiful view overlooking the trees and the river.

 

Next, we attempted to piranha fish. The first group was unsuccessful at catching a piranha, but our group was hopeful. We got into the canoe and headed to a small lagoon to piranha fish. We all took out our fishing sticks and begun. The trick to fishing is sitting still, so it was not going to be easy for all of us. Every time something bit the meat on the end of the stick, we would pull up just an empty hook. After about an hour and a half and no fish, we headed back for lunch.

After lunch, we made our way to the airport, but first, we stopped in a market. Hector pulled our cooked and live grubs and asked which brave souls would volunteer to eat them. Surprisingly a good amount of people tried not only the cooked but also the live grubs. We did some last minute shopping in a handicraft store and then checked into the airport.

When we arrived back in Quito, we had dinner and then boarded the bus to the Andes.  After a four-hour bus ride into the mountains, we made it to the Black Sheep Inn and went to bed quickly after a long day.