7
Location: The Amazon Rainforest, Ecuador
Instead of hardcore training, we decided to begin a contest; the teams being boys vs. girls. Only a few were skilled enough to hit the target; a large lemon. Those few included myself (not to brag), Ryan, Orlando, and Josh. Since there were mostly boys who hit the target, they came out with the 3 to 1 victory. We began another contest, however, this time we used spears that Hector had made himself. Throughout the whole contest, Ryan was the only one to fully hit a banana tree stump, which was our second target. In the end, we decided to have a challenge of who could throw the spear the farthest, out of about 24 people Tommy launched the spear the farthest out of everyone even Hector, managing to win a free T-Shirt.
After a great time, we headed back to the canoe to drop off the spears and blowpipe and continued to go on a short tour of his medicinal garden of amazing and very useful plants and vegetables at the island. His garden contained plants such as stinging nettle, cinnamon, and sour cane. We learn that all of these things can be useful for surviving in the jungle. Towards the end of the tour, Hector found a shell and explained to us how it could be used as a phone to communicate with others in the jungle. After the tour, Hector allowed us to buy some T-Shirts that would contribute to funding Amazon conservation efforts.
The Amazon has been a challenge, but everyone had fun and learned a lot. Hector had so much to teach, and he shared the documentary he produced for BBC about the Anaconda. Tomorrow we get ready to leave so we can start heading to the Galapagos!