The Oriente, Cuyabeno Rainforest

After awakening numerous times throughout the ride, I finally awoke at 6 in the small border town of Lago Agrio, where I promptly lost the incredibly ineffective clock which I had brought. Lacking any timepiece, we travelled (I say we meaning the Guide, Jiro, and a Texan couple) for another three hours to the entrance of the Cuyabeno reserve, and then three more hours by boat to the camp. On the way in we saw three species of monkey, and many more of birds. The Camp was a little rustic, but what can you expect in the middle of the rainforest? We had a great dinner followed by a night walk in which we saw a Tapir and many, many insects including tarantulas, giant locusts, several other types of spiders, and more mosquitos and moths than stars in the sky. As a sidenote, this was where the relationship which the Texan couple had was elucidated. Apparently you can describe the husband as a ¨mandarino¨ which I was informed of by my guide. This means he is someone who is dominated by his wife. It may be that he was shorter than her, or that she had an MBA, JD and was an accountant, and he was the son of Immigrants from Puerto Rico, but he sure got told by his wife. Nonetheless, she was also the type of person who needed something to complain about, and was completely illogical- traits shared by many americans. Back to the story: The next day we went on a 4 hour hike in which I learned about many different plants, but didnt see too many animals. After lunch we went to see a 3 meter long Anaconda which some of the guides friends spotted, and our guide almost grabbed. And then we went to a village in which we helped to make Cassava bread from the roots of Yuca plants, and I was attacked by sand flies. Over a hundred bites later, we went to sleep, but not before the woman had complained enough that she decided to leave early the next day with her mandarino in tow. The next day was the best! We went out early, and as the woman refused, Jiro and I jumped in a little canoe at 6 am to paddle around. We spotted two more types of monkeys, one even had a baby on its back. Also some really rare birds which I didnt think were quite as cool, but was assured that they were ¨oro¨or gold to bird lovers. We then managed to lose the texans on our way to lago grande where we fished for Piranha with hunks of bloody steak. I caught two, and made them eat stuff, which was cool. We then had lunch and then a long swim in the lake, with the Piranhas. As long as you are not bleeding apparently they are quite safe. After another long hike we watched the sunset and bagan looking for caiman, which are like crocodiles. Again, Jiro almost caught one. I on the other hand realized that the thing on my leg was a huge wolf spider! Jiro calmly caught it and put it on my hand, that was pretty scary, its fangs were about an inch long. On the boat ride home I swallowed about 300 gnats and mosquitos, but we managed to catch a small boa. The next morning we awoke at 3 am, and did the whole trip back to the airport, there was no way I was going to take a 9 hour bus. After arriving in Quito Mark, Aline, and some of their friends went out dancing. Sunday we went shopping, and yesterday I went to a place called Papallacta where I went for a hike at 10,000 feet and sat in more hot springs.

Today I go to Buenos Aires at 9 pm, for yet another overnight trip. I am so excited about BA! Cheap steak, great wine, and parties till 6 in the morn!

Ill write more soon, same channel...