Dreams of river rafting and jungle tours led me to Tena, a large town in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. However, adventures have eluded me in the four days I have spent here. The first day, I went for a walk around this little island that separates the rivers Tena and Puno. It was very beautiful, with the average leaf being larger than my head! There were monkeys and birds and even an ostrich?! Not quite sure what it was doing there, but it made me giggle a little bit. At one point, as I was watching a small monkey flip and play, I noticed a rather LARGE monkey walking towards me on the trail. Everytime I turned to look at it, it would stop walking and pretend to be interested in a leave or a stick or whatever happened to be around. But as soon as my back was turned, it would start stalking me again. It sort of freaked me out a bit, since the exit was back BEHIND the monkey, and I was walking deeper into the jungle to get away. Everytime I turned around for the next half an hour, there was the monkey, getting closer and closer. I wasn´t sure what to do. I was pretty sure beating a monkey in a national park with a stick would be frowned upon, and possibly get me arrested. Thankfully, a family coming the opposite direction distracted the monkey long enough for me to duck off the trail and make my way around it!
That is about the only exciting thing that´s happened to me thus far in the jungle. My name has been on a few whitewater rafting lists, but as it is a weekday and not peak tourist season, apparently I´m the only one in town interested in a trip. So, for the past 4 days, I´ve walked around Tena, which is hotter than Hades, and tried to get myself on a boat. However, I´ve now given up. I decided it´s not meant to be. I´m heading back up to Quito tomorrow morning in preparation for my parent´s visit.
A few last thoughts about the jungle: The rain is absolutely incredible. Everyday I´ve been here, it´s rained for a few hours in the afternoon. Insane rain. Torrential doesn´t even begin to describe it. But it´s one of the most beautiful things I´ve ever seen, with the wind blowing the trees in half, the lightning and sunshine combination...it´s like those shots of hurricane rain they show on the news, except it´s not killing anybody. Amazing. Also, I`ve realized that I`m just not a jungle person. While I appreciate the beauty (words can`t describe how amazing it is!!) and the million different colours of green and the animals, I don`t like to be knee deep in the nitty gritty. I don`t like the bugs, the humidity, or the possibility of a snake falling out of a tree onto my head. Or under my foot. Or in any vicinity of my body. Let`s just say I`m not a fan of snakes anywhere. *Shudder*
Anyhoo, in a few days time, I will be back in the Galapagos. It´s okay to be jealous.
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