5
Location: Amazon
This morning we woke up at 5:30 am with a 6:00 am breakfast. Right after breakfast, we went on a short boat ride that led to a hike to a canopy tower. It was 13 floors high. When we were on the canopy, we saw howler monkeys, the Napo River, and the fog lifting over the treetops. After that hike, we continued on the boat to another place called Kichwa Culture Reserve where we learned the roles of women in the community and the tools they use throughout the house. The women demonstrated a traditional dance and then we got to join in. After there we hiked on another trail that leads to the clay-licks, in which birds come to lick the clay to aid their digestion because of the toxic seeds they eat. Then we arrived back to the lodge to eat lunch. After lunch, we continued our community service for collecting the invasive African snails in the rain. After an hour and a half, we had 1500 snails, collectively 6500 snails in the last two days. Tomorrow we are shooting for the goal of 10,000 snails collectively. After our snail hunt, we noticed the kids in the community were playing soccer in the rain and decided to join them. We played soccer in the mud and rain for two hours and successfully got covered in mud from head-to-toe. We finished the day with a nice meal and some lessons in Kichwa language around the dinner table.