In the jungle, the mighty jungle, we will sleep tonight

Wednesday the 26th of November

Matt online

We checked into a neat hostel that Sarah recommended to us (also in LP) last night, had a great shower (first one in 4 days really) and then hit the hay to refresh after the Quilotoa Loop. Woke up this morning feeling great and headed up to the rooftop of our hostel as they have a cafe/bar up there for guests to have breakfast and drinks at.

After a great feed we thought today should really be a catch up and sort out stuff day. So we emptied out the backpacks, filled up the laundry bags, and headed out in search for an internet cafe to update the blog (last entry that Krystal did). We managed to sit on the computer for about 3 hours as we had plenty of pics to back up, facebook photo´s we wanted to add plus other bits and pieces. Once our eyes turned square we left the cafe and went for a wonder around town.

Banos is a great little chill out place which is exactly what we were really after. Here you can really do any adventure activity that you wish. Rafting, quad bikes, dune buggies, bridge jumps, mountain biking, trekking, just to name a few of them. We locked in a mountain biking day for tomorrow to we could explore some of the surrounding scenery. Banos is situated about 2 hours South of Quito and is located nice and close to the highly active Volcan Tungaruhua. In 1999 the town was evacuated due to scientists putting the volcanoe on red alert. The town turned into a ghost like village until December 2000 when the local forced their way back into thier rightful homes after no sign of any eruption. In 2002 it was demoted to orange alert and tourism flocked back into the this great little town stuck in the bottom of the mountains.

Anyhow back to us. After our little city tour we headed back to the hostel and I went upstairs to have a beer in the sun and met a couple of guys who were orginally from Melbourne but now live in Canberra. Krystal joined us a little while later for some drinks and after a while we all headed out for some dinner in town and had a couple more beers before calling it a night.

Thursday the 27th of November.

Woke up ready and rearing to go for our nighty bike ride along the winding roads out of Banos! Had another great breakfast on the rooftop and then headed downstairs to pick up our bikes for the day. There is so much competition around here within the local and their tour companies it is so easy to get what you want quickly and cheap! Once we chose our bikes we were given our map and off we went. Ok I have to be honest and say that this bike ride really is not what I sound like I am talking it up to be. Its 22kms in total and 90% of it is downhill, so not really a Tour De France stage. There was one hairy moment though when you had to pass through a tunnel that was approx 400m in length and the only light in the one at the end of the tunnel. Oh and if a bus or truck or car comes up behind you! You try and stick to the edge of the road as much as possible but without having any idea where the edge is its all a little hairy. We managed to get through unscaved through and continued our journey enjoying the beautiful scenery on offer. Along the way we stopped 3-4 times and chained up the bikes for a walk into the mountains to view some waterfalls and so forth until reaching our final stop for some lunch. After lunch we went for a walk to the biggest waterfall and then had to hang around for a lift back to Banos. As you would gather the way back is UPhill so you just pay someone $1.50 and they will take you and your bike back to town.

Once we got back to Banos we dropped off the bikes and then changed into our boardies and head to the thermal springs for some relaxation. We were pre warned that the best time to go is 6pm as they close the springs for cleaning between 5 and 6 ) apparently in smells like urine so they give it a clean up which is handy to know. We hung around there for an hour or so and tested out the different baths and their temperatures which ranged from around 43 degrees to 20 degrees. Headed back, had a shower, grabbed some dinner and called it a night.

Friday the 28th of November

Due to our love of Ecuador we had to change our plans a little and cut out our Jungle trip in Peru that we had planned to do in December. Reason being was that it was going to take up a couple of weeks of our time and we really wanted to spend some more time in Ecuador than we had originally planned. So we decided that we would do our jungle tour here in Ecuador.

We got up and checked out of our hostel and headed to the bus terminal to see what time we could get ourselves to Tena. As we have now quickly realised you don´t have to wait too long to get where you want to on a bus as the competition is so competitive within the companies there is always a bus running within an hour of when you want to go. We hoppe don a 1pm bus and began our 4 hour journey into the Amazon Basin.

After a bumpy 4 hours ( about a quarter of the road is unpaved) we arrived into Tena, hopped off the bus and BAM! The humidity was unbelievable! It was amazing the difference between where we came from and where we are now. After collected our stuff and ourselves we headed to a hostel dropped off our stuff and went jungle tour hunting. While in Lagua Quilatoa an American couple gave us the name of the company they went with and were happy with so we found them to see what they had on offer. Their tour sounded good but the day still had some life left in it so we went to another 3-4 companies to see what else we could find. After a hour or two we returned to our original operator, haggled a little and got them to where we wanted. USD100 per person everything included for 3 days and 2 nights in the jungle. Also we new there was another 2 people doing the tour where as the others would only be us so the company would be good also.

Grabbed some dinner then got ourselves ready for the trip and hopped into bed ready for......well I don´t really know as I have never been in a jungle!

Saturday the 29th of November

Our tour begun at 9am so we headed over with our gear and met the other 2 people who we were sharing the Jungle with before getting into the back to a ute and heading out of town. The 2 others were an American mother, daughter team from California and they were good company and easy to get along with.

After 30 minutes or so in the ute we hopped out and headed into the Amazon with our local guide. As like most guides with one had very basic English but the younger of the other spoke Spanish so she helped us along the way when he had something important to say or show us. After walking for a while through the jungle we stopped at a lagoon which was a great swimming spot with waterfalls and deep clearish water that we could enjoy. We put on the shorts and then next thing I hear from our guide is ¨Snake¨! I look in the water and there right before my eyes is about a 1 metre long black water snake! It was trying to swim against the current but wasn´t strong enough and ended up sailing down a couple of waterfalls to the bottom of the River Napo. Now I am really concerned about what I have gotten myself into and think to myself harden up (as best I could, I hate the things) so in we all went for a great cool off and relaxing dip for an hour or so.

Once satisfied we dried off and walked again through the jungle with our guide showing us numerous plants and flowers along the way and what importance they had in the jungle before arriving at the bank of a river that was flowing pretty quickly. We had to get across somehow and they only was was by rubber tube. We packed our daypacks (that included everything important to use, passports, cameras, cash, etc) into a plastic bag and flopped into a tube hoping we would not end up in the river! A few bumped and crashes later and we were across the other side and back on dry land. We walked another 45 minutes in the jungle before finally getting to our lodge and being granted with some lunch. They served us fresh fish caught straight from the river, rice and salad, which was great and set the standard for the entire time in our lodge. Basic utilities, basic food, but so tasty! After lunch one of the local Quichuan ladies gave us a lesson on how to make the bracelets they sell at the local markets. We all sat there and were given a different one each to make and I can safely say I sucked at it! She had to sit with me the entire time and help me through it until finally giving up on me and making it for me instead. I still stand to this day and say its a female thing to make bracelets!!!

After that we had some dinner played some cards then rugged up, sprayed up, and got into bed and listened to the storm that came thundering down.

Sunday the 30th of November

After a surprisingly good nights sleep out here and not to badly attacked by our insect friends we were up refreshed and ready for our next day in the Amazon. We had some breakfast which was scrambled salt with some eggs in it (seriously this was the saltiest thing I have ever tasted. Actually Mitto you made a risotto in London that was worse ) then headed out with our new guide for a days walking in the jungle to visit some waterfalls and so forth. For the next 8 hours (should have only been 5-6 but the older American lady was in all sorts) we wondered through the jungle and walked up rivers, over logs, up logs, down logs, uphill, downhill, until finally making it back to our lodge about 5pm! Our guide showed us again all different kinds or flora and fauna that ranged from medical remedies to tribal rituals etc etc. As you can see from our faces we were his guinea pigs!

Once back we jumped in the river (our form of shower really) then repeated the process of the previous night with dinner cards and bed. While waiting for our dinner to be made we gave the Quichuan lady and her two little boys their first experience of Vegemite! I can tell you it was a once only experience for them!!!

Monday the 1st of December

Its xmas this month!!! I thought I better write that cause I know how excited Krystal gets about Christmas. Didn´t have as much luck with our insect friends as the night before and we both woke up with some bites here and there but nothing to bad really. We packed up our gear and headed for some breakfast (this time eggs with a little bit of salt) before walking back into civilization and being picked up by a ute. We drove for around 30 minutes until we stopped off at the riverbank and hopped into a motorized canoe that would be our form or transport for the day. We drove along the river for 15 minutes or so until we stopped off at a small village that also had a local museum about old Quichuan ways of hunting and traditions. It was pretty interesting to see the things they would build and design to live with only the things on offer unlike the world today that is all about production. Also we were shown some lovely creatures (dead in jars) that the jungle two I will mention is a snake that will kill you in about 20 seconds if you get bitten and also a beatle that was the size of a computer mouse! Happy not to have bumped into either of there fellas. Got demolished by mozzies here (had ot happen really) before heading back out on the river to our next destination.

After another 20 minutes on the water we stopped off at a small animal shelter / zoo that held animals that have been taken from the wild by poachers or people in general and was run by volunteers. This place was really cool and one of the volunteers took us around the site and showed us all kinds of animals that should belong in the wild but for one reason or another need to be taught the way of living again. The animals we saw included numerous monkeys, toucans, parrots, turtles, rodents, and some others that don´t come to mind. Was really great to see this place and the set up is fantastic as these creatures would not survive if not for this place and its volunteers.

We hopped back in the canoe and stopped off for some lunch on the river bank before getting back in one more time for our trip back to where we begun. From here we took a local bus back to Tena and finishing up our jungle experience. We waved our goodbyes and headed straight to the bus terminal to catch the next available back to Banos. Got the 6pm bus, arrived back at 9:30, grabbed a hostel and hit the hay.

Planning on being here only one day and will then head to Riobamba to get the Devils Nose train hopfully on Wednesday morning.

Bye for now! See you soon Sharon, Ted and Mon

M and K

xx