Mindo es Lindo

Mindo is AWESOME! I heard about it from a few other travelers who shared any interest in outdoor

adventures and decided to go even though it wasn't in my guidebook and there was very little information on

the internet about it. It's so small of a town that it's super easy to pack a lot into a day. Everything is no more than a 5 minute walk away, and you don't have to go very far to get into the thick of the rainforest. I arrived a little bit after noon with no plans at all, and by 1pm I was headed off on a canyoning (repeling down waterfalls) trip in the rainforest. I struck up conversation with another backpacker at my hostel while I was waiting for the canyoning guide to show up. He had just arrived at the hostel, and I told him I was headed

Jens and I. Solid adventure buddies :)

out canyoning and that he should join. "Sure! That sounds fun. Give me a sec to change my clothes." I love the spontaneity of backpackers! Back home it would have been similar to pulling teeth to get any of my friends to accompany me on such an adventure, and their first response most definitely would not have been "Sure."

Jens (who has a sense of adventure greater than mine) and I hopped into the back of pickup truck and bounced along an unpaved road into the rainforest for about 15 minutes. We followed our guide for about a one hour hike up through the breathtakingly gorgeous forest. Butterflies were EVERYWHERE and I saw possibly some of the coolest plants on this planet. At one point we crossed a river on a 'bridge' made out of three taught ropes - two for your hands and one for your feet. This was the scariest part of the whole day! It was so hard to maintain balance on this mere tight-roping experience over a raging river. Half way through, I turned around and looked at Jens and we both started laughing. What had we gotten ourselves into?! Up, up, and up we went as we hiked alongside the same stream/waterfalls that we were going to be going down. At the top we put on helmets and harnesses, and I glanced over at the rope to see what kind of condition it was in. Slightly frayed, but completely safe by South America standards (which translates moreorless to an arguably sturdy line).
Too late to turn back now! I was standing in the stream at the top of a 25m waterfall, braking the rope with my left hand, and leaning back. I was suspended out over the waterfall, my feet against the rocks, and the water pouring into my lap. I LOVE MY LIFE! Going down was pretty straight forward: I would push off the rock with my feet while simultaneously easing off the brake to repel down the waterfall. It was a quite controlled decent, but nevertheless I can confirm that my adrenal glands still work. By the third waterfall I was comfortable with the belaying and could descend a couple of meters per push off the rocks. I felt like some whimsical rainforest waterfall guru! There were a couple times when I would swing back toward the rock to push off again, but my feet would slip and I would instead be dangling directly under the waterfall. It was a little bit difficult to get out of this situation because it was hard to get a firm footing on the rock, especially when I couldn't even see where the rock was in the first place. But I made it safely down all of the waterfalls in one piece with only minor scrapes! I would go back and do it again in a heartbeat!
Jens, the guide, and I hiked back to the pickup truck. Soaking wet, Jens and I were banished to the bed of the truck. We held on for dear life as we bounced our way down the unpaved road back to Mindo and dodged low hanging branches. Jens and I ended up having dinner at a pizzeria with supposedly the best pizza in all of Ecuador, according to a few websites and one of the staff from my hostel in Quito. This is the first pizza I've had in Ecuador so I have nothing to compare it to, but it was pretty darn amazing. I ordered the fungi pizza (of course) which was layered in mushrooms, basil, and oregano nomnomnom. Jens and I drank beer, played rummikub, and talked the night away on the patio outside of our hostel until the wee hours of the morning. The tree frogs made for a beautiful soundtrack to the night, and the hostel's border collie was snuggled up against my leg. What a perfect day! It was lovely to fall asleep to the sound of a thunderstorm and the rainforest's symphony. I woke up in the morning to find that my elbow, which had been rested up against the mosquito net, was covered in ~20 mosquito bites. Oh yeah, rainforests have things that bite...

In the morning we headed back into the rainforest for zip lining. The course was made up of 13 cables that

Atention You May Die

hovered over canyons and the canopy of the rainforest. There I was, stepping into a harness yet again, fastening my helmet, and checking out the condition of the zip lines. Meh, I'll spare my parents the agony and just conclude that they were totally safe because I'm still alive to tell you about it. We had to wear thick leather gloves that we used to brake on the really fast runs, but it was all straight forward. Sit back, relax, and enjoy flying hundreds of feet above the ground through the canopy of the rainforest. I had a lot of fun with the two guides, and they decided to mess with me. "Quieres hacer la mariposa? (would you like to do the butterfly?)" I

Mariposa Style! 

don't think they were expecting me to say yes, but there I was, on the fastest, highest, and longest zip line of the course, going down mariposa style. This involves hanging upside down with your legs spread apart (so you don't hit the cable nor fall out of the harness) and you don't hang on to anything. The guide rides behind you to take care of the braking and to help keep the balance. Oh, yep, my adrenal glands definitely still work!

I got back to my hostel in the afternoon, and sat on the patio watching hummingbirds zip around the garden. Clouds rolled in seemingly from out of nowhere, and a big thunderstorm refreshed the rainforest. Cloud forest...check! I wish I could pack up the amazing smell of it for you and put it in this post. Come on you engineers who are reading this, get to work and make this a reality! chop chop. 

Jens, two other folks from the hostel (Nicola from England and Fabian from Germany), and I caught the last bus to Quito this afternoon. It was uneventful as far as South American bus rides go, but somehow the driving doesn't get any less terrifying the more time I spend on South American roads. No wonder so many of them believe in God! 

Rooftop over looking Quito with Fabian 

Still basking in a heightened sense of adventure, Jens and I decided to brave the public buses to get back to the downtown of Quito. Crowded and noisy, yet fast and cheap ($0.25!)! Gah, I hate goodbyes. Jens is now on an overnight bus ride to somewhere in way East Ecuador, but I'll be taking him up on his offer for a place to stay if I ever end up in Germany!  I switched hostels so I could keep hanging out with Nicola and Fabian. Fabian is just one more small world story to add to the list! He knew a lot of my friends from Lewis and Clark who did the Munich study abroad program. How crazy to have so many mutual acquaintances considering we live on different continents and met in a tiny little town in Ecuador!

I'm getting ready for my 6am departure tomorrow morning for a day of mountain biking on the Cotopaxi volcano. Wish me luck! I do wish I stayed in Mindo a bit longer as it definitely has made the list of my top three favorite places in South America so far. I can't believe that tomorrow marks the half way point of my travels! Holy beejeebees time moves fast!!!! My spanish is getting better, my english is getting worse, I talk with my hands more than ever before, my clothes are starting to smell, I'm covered in bug bites, I don't know where I'll be in two days or how I'm getting there, and I absolutely love my life!

Getting out of Quito

Yesterday I decided to adventure to Otavalo. There is an amazing open-air crafts market there that has been around for hundreds of years. Seeing as Oltavalenos were the original weavers of the brightly colored textiles

Otavalo Market in Plaza de Ponchos

associated with Latin American culture, I HAD to go see it for myself. The market runs every day, with Saturday being the big day that the market overflows into the surrounding blocks of Plaza de Ponchos. I was originally planning on going on Saturday for the full blown authentic experience, but a lot of traveler's and folks from Quito talked me out of subjecting myself to such mayhem. There wasn't going to be anything there on Saturday that I wouldn't see on a Tuesday, and thieves love to take advantage of the Saturday crowds to collect their bounty, especially from gringos. Noted.

This adventure to Otavalo was a big reminder that, yes indeed, I'm traveling by myself again. I don't mean this in a 'I feel lonely boohoo' way; I mean this in a 'I'm really intimidated by new unfamiliar places with a language barrier' way. There is just a lot more research and asking around that has to be done when one travels alone and the language barrier hits a lot more rough spots. Folks back home are still dropping an obnoxious amount of concern for my safety while I'm traveling alone, but I promise there isn't anything to be worried about ... especially since I still recovering from my rafting warrior blackeye/gash situation. I figure people would think twice about messing with me, yeah? The only real difference I've noticed about traveling alone is that I have to deal with way more flirtatious men compared to when Matt or Rob were by my side. They can get pretty persistent sometimes, but I haven't felt as if my safety has ever been jeopardized because of it. Seriously though, the only crime that really happens here in Ecuador is petty theft. Yes, I still have my wits about me when I'm out and exercise my rockstar street smarts. Cool? Cool. Stop worrying so much *cough parents cough*

I woke up at 6:30am (without an alarm - why can't it be like this back home?!) and hailed a taxi to the Carcelen bus terminal (the sketchiest of the bus terminals in Quito). I walked towards the "ticket counters", which are really just men yelling over each other the names of different destinations. It's so hard to hear what they are saying, especially when you also have dozens of people coming up to trying to sell you literature and snacks for the bus ride. The buses don't really have a set departure time per say, it's just kind of when the bus is full enough for the trip to be worthwhile for the driver. There aren't really set stops either; there is another person next to the driver who hangs out of the door shouting the destination city and then yells at the driver to pull over if there are any takers. So, logically, you spend a lot of time on city streets with abrupt halts until the bus is full enough to actually go to destination you want. The scene in the terminal is chaotic, even at such an early hour in the morning. It was music to my ears when I heard 'Otavalo!' off to my left. I bought the $2 ticket for the 3 hour ride and only had to wait 5 minutes for the bus to leave - saweet! I had some whiteknuckle moments as we cruised through the twisty curvy roads of the Andes at uncomfortable speeds. But it was so beautiful! Classic South America.

Otavalo reminded me a lot of Huaraz, actually. The town is surrounded by beautiful mountains and

Otavalo at it's finest

volcanoes, although not quite as epic as the towering snowcapped peaks of the Cordilliera Blanca. Stray dogs were running around the trash covered, rundown streets. Most of the buildings were in a state of disrepair, and a lot were unfinished. (Matt and I had a good laugh about this in Huaraz: most buildings had metal rods sticking up from their roofs as if construction for additional levels suddenly came to a halt city-wide) Also like Huaraz, most of the population still wore traditional andean clothes. The women were wearing beautiful embroidered white blouses, long wool skirts, and had their hair tied back in one long braid. The men wore ponchos, rope sandals, and felt hats. Otavalo seemed a little bit wealthier and politicial than Huaraz, however. But that doesn't take away from how striking the similarities are between these two distant Andean towns.
The market was so interesting and totally met my expectations. Women were literally sitting in their booths

Alpaca handicrafts - softest stuff ever

working on a loom, embroidering various textiles, or combing through bags of alpaca wool. Talk about authentic handmade crafts - their work was absolutely stunning! It's a good thing my bag is small and i want to travel light because I would have bought so many textiles at that market. I took in all of the beautiful art around me, but like any market, I didn't last very long. My patience for persistent vendors dwindled fast and it was difficult to navigate the crowd and never ending maze of vendors' booths. I am so glad I didn't come here on a Saturday! I left the market and wandered around the town for a bit. I enjoyed my jar of peanut butter and crackers next to a lake on the outskirts of town, and then went on a short hike to see the famous magical Lechero tree. And that was Otavalo in a day!

I went to the even more chaotic Otavalo bus terminal, which was actually just a large parking lot packed with people, vendors, and stray dogs. There was one "ticketing counter" which was obviously a place where you could buy a ticket to yougotscammedville on an imaginary bus. I wonder who actually falls for those? A bus was moving through the parking lot (nearly taking out dozens of pedestrians in the process) with a man hanging out the door yelling 'Quito!'. I waived, and moments later I was sitting on a rundown bus on my way back to Quito. When I say rundown, I mean rundown in South American standards. Be worried. The shocks were so worn down we didn't even have to go over a bump for the bus to make deafening creaking noises. And when we did hit a bump, it sounded as if the bus was going to instantly turn into a car part garage sale. When we started going down the winding roads of the mountains, a strong smell of either 'no more clutch' or 'no more brakes' filled the bus. The driver actually pulled over at one point, got out of the bus, hammered away at something on the back right wheel, and continued down the mountain with an unphased look on his face. Oh, but it gets better. We hit a big speed bump when pulling into the bus terminal in Quito and the right mirror fell off the side of the bus and shattered in the street below. You can't make this stuff up, people! I laughed to myself at how I manage to get myself into these situations in the first place. When I got off the bus, the driver made some creepy comment and offered to take me salsa dancing that night. Classic. Solid day.


That night I hung out with other travelers in my hostel and single handedly destroyed a pair of obnoxious Australian dudes in beer pong (they had 9 cups remaining). Suckers! You see a lot of people come and go when you stay in the cheap 8 bed dorm rooms, but I kind of enjoy the insane flux of travelers. The two new roommates yesterday were a super adorable English couple, Max and Polly, on a 2 month trip from England. They were in great spirits considering Max's backpack with his passport, camera (with hundreds of non-backed up pictures), credit cards, phone, etc had just got stolen off of him in an internet cafe. That sucks. I've heard so many stories like this from other travelers, with lost pictures being the most heartbreaking loss of all.

John (a rather entertaining Canadian) and I went out to dinner in the Mariscal District last night. And guess what?! WE FOUND MEXICAN FOOD!!!!! I started craving mexican food since the day I left Portland. I was practically crying tears of joy when a dude in a sombrero was standing outside of his Mexican restaurant offering to show us the menu. I downed my body weight in guacamole and vegetarian fajitas that were even better than those at ChaChaChas! I was in heaven! John clearly didn't understand how deep my LOVE for mexican food is. Seriously, what more do you need in life than avocados, veggies, and hot sauce anyway?!?!

I had such a restful night of sleep which is an impressive feat in a room with 7 other people, a busy street next to the window, and a light that somehow still flashes once every 10 seconds when the switch is off. Right now I'm on a 3.5 hour bus ride to Mindo. I navigated the Ofelia bus terminal early this morning and turned down yet another offer to go salsa dancing from my taxi driver. The bus is way too bouncy to tackle the logic puzzles book that Matt gave me, so I figured it was a great time to write up another blog post for you all. Mindo is in a climate called a cloud forest which is essentially just a term describing a heavy fog that sits at the canopy level in subtropical and tropical rainforests. And for those of you who know how much I LOVE clouds - I couldn't be more stoked to be ziplining through the canopy of a cloud forest. Anyways, I challenge you to find a map of Mindo. Google maps sucks in Ecuador!

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I arrived at my hostel which is super adorable and has a friendly border collie 'security officer'. My first

impressions of Mindo are very positive! For being a cloud forest, I sure wasn't expecting a sunny, hot, and humid weather that I last felt when I was in the jungle in Peru! Mindo is tiny little town that wasn't even in my guide book but I'm so glad I came. It's surrounded by rainforest and has more butterflies and hummingbirds than I can handle :) I love it! I wish I were staying more than 2 days. Ok gotta run! Going to spend my afternoon hiking and repelling down waterfalls. Life is so hard.

The Galapagos Islands

I'm not entirely sure how to sum up my last 8 days in the Galapagos, but I'll start by saying that it was definitely as amazing as I thought it was going to be. The wildlife, geology, history, etc of the Galapagos is so unique that it will stick out in my mind as one of the coolest places I've ever been HANDS DOWN. There is no denying that the Galapagos seems to be entirely for tourism (and maybe a little bit of research), but I am actually okay with this for once. Tourism brings a lot of money to the islands (yeesh - you have to fork over $30 before even getting on the plane, and another $100 in national park fees upon arrival), but its obvious that at least part of it really does go to protecting the islands and the species of the entire Galapagos. The rangers and tour guides enforce VERY strict about rules about where you can walk and how close you can be to wildlife, so the ecosystems on each of the islands actually seems to survive the thousands of tourists that pass through. It's unlike any national park I've ever seen before!

The main reason I wanted to see the Galapagos was because of its scientific significance. I've heard about the Galapagos and Charles Darwin in seemingly almost every science class since I was in middle school. Yes, I nearly crapped my pants when I saw my first Darwin finch, but as my trip went on, it became less and less about Darwin and more and more about how unique these islands really are. Ironically, I was reading Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle during my down time on the trip. I would encourage you to read at least the Galapagos part of the book because I think Darwin did a fantastic job of describing what the islands looked like and the species that inhabit them. His writing is way more detailed and eloquent than my lousy attempts of capturing what these islands were like. But I think that's about where my praise for Darwin stops. He was kind of a racist dick and not all that great of a scientist (to put it bluntly)! I mean, how do you just not label where your specimens come from?!?

My first reaction upon arrival to the Galapagos was how DESOLATE it was. In my mind I imagined the typical equatorial tropical foliage, but there was hardly any vegetation on the islands we saw! This made it very easy to spot wildlife as we walked over the black lava fields and sandy paths of the northern islands. I guess this a better time than ever to talk about where - and how - we went. With a little bit of research, the most effective way to see and do everything we (as in my mother and I) wanted to was to go with a guide on a Galapagos cruise. Before you cripple yourself with hysterical laughter at the thought of my mother and I on a cruise, let me begin by saying it's not what you think. Because our 'cruise' was on the budget end as far as cruises go, we were accompanied by 14 other really fun budget-seeking folks as we took in the luxuries of the Galapagos rather than the boat we were on. Yes, the boat was a bit rough around the edges, but was first class in South American terms considering there were no gaping holes to the water below. I loved seeing the comparison between our boat and others of much bigger size and luxurious conditions when we anchored in harbors around the islands. Not surprisingly, the only people who could afford those boats seemed to be super old people who must have been much more boring than the youthful, charismatic companions we had. Suckers! We had a pretty packed itinerary of exploring the north islands - adventuring by day and sailing to the next island by night:

Thank you google image search for this plagiarized image

Day 1: Baltra and Santa Cruz
Day 2: Genovesa
Day 3: Bartholomew and Santiago
Day 4: Isabella - Sierra Negra Volcano
Day 5: Isabella - Elizabeth Bay and Urbina Bay
Day 6: Fernandina
Day 7: Santiago and Rabida - Bucaneer Cove
Day 8: North Seymour, Mosquera beach, and Baltra


There are in fact 128 islands of the Galapagos, but not all of them have names, some are allowed to have human visitors, and only a handful are actually inhabited. So I think we did a really good job of seeing a majority of what the Galapagos has to offer! Each of the islands we visited were so different in terms of the species that inhabited them, the temperature and color of the water, the climate, the landscape, etc. I never thought I would walk on white sand, black sand, and red sand beaches all in the same week!

boobie sightings (teehee)

Within half an hour of arrival to Baltra, my mom and I were already on the boat and on our way to the north side of Santa Cruz. That afternoon we went hiking on the island, enjoying our first Galapagos wildlife sightings: ghost crabs, blue footed boobies, pelicans, marine iguanas, and flamingos. From the beach we then threw on snorkel gear and set out into the ocean. Within 30 seconds of being in the water a giant shark swam underneath me and I nearly had a panic attack in my snorkel. YES! And this was only the beginning. I could get used to this...

To be honest, all of the days blur together. We would wake up for a 7am breakfast, sometimes earlier for a sunrise snorkel or hike. We would spend the morning adventuring, come back to the boat for lunch, relax for a bit, and then head out adventuring again. We would come back to the boat for dinner, lift anchor, and start cruising to our next destination. I would lay on the deck every night before I went to bed to admire the stars. Such hard work! But here are some highlights:

Genovesa Island was my favorite of the ones we visited. While eating breakfast, I watched as shark fins

Frigatebird mating display

broke the surface of the water around our boat as schools of fish jumped for their lives. A pod of dolphins came around for the fishing frenzy too and I concluded that only great days can start like this! We went hiking on the island which was PACKED with birds - herons, frigate birds, swallow tail gulls, galapagos doves, mocking birds, pelicans, boobies (tee hee), and owls! You have to look up the frigate bird mating dance immediately because it cracked me up. The males would inflate this giant sac under their beaks, spread their wings, and wiggle all while making this hilarious chirping sound. The females would choose the male by nuzzling up to his inflated sac and then they would carry on with happy time. So funny! It took me about 3 days to not giggle when our guide would point out the boobies. Red footed boobies, blue footed boobies, and nasca boobies...maturity is not something for the Galapagos Islands. 

That afternoon we went snorkeling around the island. I have never seen so many sharks in one place in my life! The white tip reef sharks were boring - they just kind of sat on the bottom. But the hammerheads - WAH! What weird looking creatures! The size and strangeness of them gave me the heebeejeebees as they swam right past me, but it was comforting to know they were even more scared of me. I struggled to keep up with the hawkbilled sea turtles that I saw - I would be practically hyperventilating in my snorkel as the turtle maybe moved its fins up and down like once. What efficient swimmers! I would get tired, look up, and realize I followed the turtle out to the middle of the ocean and nobody was to be seen. My life. On the way back to the boat a carpet of easily a hundred sting rays swam right under me - yahoo! 

Bartholomew Island

Bartholomew island, although super tiny, was another of my favorites. We went for a hike on the morning of Day 3 to the top of the volcano there. It was so cool to look down at the under water craters that surrounded the island and the unique volcanic landscape of the area. Lava lizards ran around the islands, sea lions barked and sunbathed on the shore, and cute little penguins darted about in the water below. What planet are we on again? I think this island is best known for pinnacle rock, but I was sad to learn that this was a manmade feature. This island was used by the US for military training around the time of WWII, and pinnacle rock is simply the remaining formation from the target practice by bombers. Lame. Regardless, the snorkeling was really cool around the island. There were so many starfish it was as if Van Gogh's Starry Night were painted on the sea floor! So so so cool. I was also mesmerized by the moray eels that poked out of the rocks below - yikes! Those are some ugly looking buggers! We finished the snorkel by swimming with some might playful sea lions who would swim circles around you, nibble on your fins, and blow bubbles underneath you. 

The sailing through Canal Bolivar (between Isla Fernandina and Isla Isabela) was my favorite part of the pacific ocean. At sunset we watched as killer whales fed on fish and sea lions right in front of the boat! Did

full moon rise over isla isabella after just crossing the equator!

you know that killer whales are actually a specie of dolphin? It was so sad to watch the cute sea lions swim for their lives. Childhood ruined: Free Willy was actually a vicious marine predator. The evening only got better from there though, I promise.  We watched the full moon rise over the north part of Isla Isabella as we crossed the equator - latitude 00.000! I was nerding out hard core next to the captain as we approached zero degrees. He couldn't figure out why I was so stoked...it's not like there is a line drawn across the ocean or anything. The moon was incredible and the starry sky that developed throughout the night was absolutely brilliant. The waves were quite rough as we rounded the north part of Isla Isabella, which made for a rather sleepless night considering there were times I was literally levitating over my bed. I could have sworn the boat was going to fall into a gazillions pieces at any moment...

The best snorkeling that we did was hands down around Fernandina island. The Humbolt Current made the

Marine iguanas are so ugly and creepy!!!

water an almost unbearable cold, but the wildlife was way too interesting to get out of the water. I didn't even know where to look! Sea lions blew bubble under me, dozens of sea turtles and marine iguanas were feeding on the algae on the rocks underwater, flightless cormorants dove into the water, and octopi scurried over the bottom. UNREAL! I had to have a come to jesus about swimming with the marine iguanas though. They really really really creeped me out and I don't know why exactly. The way they swam, their giant claws, their super ugly scaly faces... yeeeeeeeeeeikes reptiles just shouldn't be under water like that! 'They are vegetarians too they are vegetarians too...' I would think to myself as dozens of them swam around me. If the sea turtles weren't so cute, I would have been out of that water way sooner.

Quality mom time! And teaching her about jumping pictures :)

I could go on forever about the magical wonders of the Galapagos, but I think it is something you just have to see for yourself. A lot of my favorite memories from the islands aren't even ones I can capture... such as the ones shared with folks from our boat and laughter with my mother. I learned so much about myself this past week and had the time of my life! Arriving back to the cold, rainy, 2800m of Quito was definitely a shock and an abrupt closure to an amazing trip-within-a-trip.
The taxi driver I had to take me from the airport to my hostel was extremely patient with my Spanish (which was back to being a little rusty after not speaking it for 9 days). He offered to take me out for a beer after I arrived at my hostel which was definitely a first for me. Aren't you supposed to not drink on the job... especially if your job is driving a car?! That stuff would never fly in the States so of course I logically decided 'why not?'... Adventuring on! 2 cervezas later my Spanish was back to where it was 10 days ago and Nicholas and I shared quite a few laughs. He invited me to go Salsa dancing afterward and I just cracked up. Oh no. No. Absolutely not. Especially not after telling me about his girlfriend and 3 kids.
I went back to my hostel and found out my roommate was someone who I met 3 weeks ago on a water taxi in the jungle in Peru. Small world! He had just gotten back from a short trip Columbia and wanted to spend a few days in Ecuador before heading back to England. Two other roommates arrived shortly after I did and they were from Erie, PA. I haven't meet to many people from the States so that was a pleasant surprise. It turns out they both are in their last year at John Carroll University in Cleveland, which is 2 miles from where I grew up and a quarter mile to where I went to school for 13 years. Yep, small friggin' world! I thought I was going to make it to Mindo today, but I missed the 7am bus so I'm kicking it around Quito today. It's been nice to have a low key day to catch up on the blog, post pictures, respond to emails, plan the next few days, etc. There's quite a bit to do up here before I start heading back down south! Mountain biking down the side of the Cotopaxi Volcano? Sure! Otavalo market on Saturday? Absolutely. Zip lining in the cloud forest of Mindo? Can't pass it up. Hiking and hot springs in Banos? Life is so hard sometimes...

Kindnapped and Waffled

I think I have a bit of culture shock going from Iquitos, Peru to Quito, Ecuador...and I don't think it's just the altitude of 2800m. The wealth! The organization! Cars and seat belts! Colonel buildings?

Edward was an incredibly generous and hospitable host, as well as a very stimulating conversation partner.  It warms my heart that there are still people in the world who appreciate randomness and spontaneity as much as I do. I realize how weird it must sound to folks back home that I spent 2 nights in the home of a stranger I met in the airport, but I promise you it was the best random offer I have ever accepted.

I slept in the most comfortable bed in my own room, I took a hot shower with water pressure, I did laundry, I got to cook for the first time since I've traveled, I felt incredibly safe, and I got to sit in my pajamas while cuddling a ceramic mug of fresh coffee. Wow, I didn't realize how much the hostel-jumping backpacker life can take a toll on you! What a blessing to be "kiNdnapped" :)

Edward set me up with a map of Quito, helped me get my bearings, and I would set off to explore the city during the days. I wandered markets, drank fresh fruit just in one of many city parks, explored the Astronomical Observatory and other museums, and sat on a bench in the center of Old Town to people watch for hours. I can't even begin to tell you how many people would come up to me and just ask if I would like to practice my Spanish. That obvious, huh? Sure! I love the days that I'm so immersed that my brain even starts thinking in Spanish. And I had some really cool conversations to boot! I also received 4 different invitations to go Salsa dancing from some seriously flirty 20SomethingYearOlds. Yeesh. Just one more reason I desperately miss traveling with Matt and Rob by my side. I kindly declined, as my dancing skills are absolutely atrocious.

Before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye to Edward and meet my mother at her hotel. Oh boy, and I thought I had misadventures in Spanish! Hola, Mom! We got to bed early in preparation for a crack of the dawn departure for a whole day of white water rafting out of Tena.

My parents raised my siblings and me with a love for white water rafting - beginning with the Middle Youghiogheny at age 5. So when my mom booked her tickets to Ecuador, she really didn't have any choice in the matter that we were going white water rafting. Ecuador has one of the world's highest concentrations of rivers per square mile, and Tena is home to the World Rafting Championships. Saweet!

A van picked mom and I up super early in the morning. I had full intentions of sleeping for the 3.5 hour ride to Tena, but the bumpy cobblestone streets of Quito kind of got in the way of that plan. We climbed up and through the Andes and then descended into the start of the mesmerizing Ecuadorian jungle. How cool to watch the transformation to lush, waterfalltastic landscape!
We had a half hour hike down a super muddy hill to the put in point. I now realize who I inherited my

certified clutziness from. By the end of the hike, we were up to our knees in mud, and my mom wasn't too thrilled for the terrestrial part of this rafting adventure. But the second we went over our first rapid, she was smiling a bigger smile than I have seen on her face in years!
The river we picked was full of mostly class 4 rapids and wandered through impressive canyons and the Ecuadorian jungle. Every turn in the river was breathtakingly beautiful, and it was so hard not to get distracted by all of the butterflies, colorful birds, and roaring waterfalls that we passed.

The most eventful part of the day hands down was a class 4 rapid called "The Waffle Maker". It's a river wide hydraulic, and about a 2m tall drop. We went over it, but the back of the raft got stuck under the waterfall. This is a term known as 'surfing' - essentially getting the raft stuck under the waterfall and it stays there as the raft fills with water, flips toward the waterfall due to the force, the

water dumps out of the raft, the raft flattens out again, and the cycle repeats. We surfed for supposedly 30 seconds - a new record for one of the guides in the boat. The whole experience was quite surreal and everyone is our boat has their own story. I'll give you mine.
I watched Mike, who was in the front left of the raft get ejected from the raft the second we went over the rapid. Mom fell out of the boat, only after laying down in the raft getting hammered by water from the falls. The guide got knocked out, and Steph was trying to stay in the raft with me. I think once she fell out, the weight distribution was such that the raft completely flipped into the waterfall. I took a big breath, and just like when surfing and a wave breaks on you, I calmly waited underwater while I got tumbled around. It took about 10 seconds for me to realize that I was stuck under the waterfall and that I wasn't just going to magically float to the surface. I tried grabbing for the raft to pull myself up, but it was also stuck under the waterfall and I would just get trapped underneath it. I opened my eyes, still quite calm, and tried to see if I could figure out which way was up. Just bubbles. A thought crossed my mind that at least I was surrounded by lots of people who knew CPR. I swear I must have

blacked out because the next thing I remember was floating down the river on my back, looking up at the beautiful jungle canopy above, just coughing up so much water. I remained calm, knowing that it was going to make it a lot easier to get my breath back. I was pulled into the rescue raft, the last of the people in my boat to be rescued, and looked down at a giant pool of blood forming around me. I was so happy to just be breathing - I really didn't care! The guide in the boat came on over and pinched the gash  next to my eye shut until they could get the first aid kit out. I don't know what hit me, but I assume it had to be either a paddle or a rock. The whole experience sounds really scary, but I didn't really feel fear during the whole incident. I just kind of knew I was going to be ok. No panicking allowed from the audience!
The guides patched me up and I still had a blast rafting the next 10km of the river until the take out point.  I had no idea how bad it looked, but I could only assume when staff from the company would look at it with the WOAH face. I joked with them, "You should see the other guy."
They took me to the ER in Tena for doctor clearance purposes, a service that was completely free! Ugh, that would have been easily $600 in the States. On the bumpy 5 hour bus ride back to Quito, I had the uncomfortable feeling of blood dripping down the side of my face. Crap, the gash opened. I tried catching the blood with my sweatshirt, but in the end I kind of just looked like I had been in some huge gang fight. It

probably didn't help our case as we collected stares for being the only gringos on the bus. Thank goodness Dr. Mom was there! Too tired to deal with another ER, we went to bed and decided to deal with it in the morning. The wound was in need of at least 3 stitches, but the doctors claimed too much time passed after the accident to sew it up when we went in today. Dr. Mom wasn't very pleased with this, but the language barrier was too difficult to fight it. I'm actually quite stoked about this decision - now I can still go snorkeling in the Galapagos without worrying about getting stitches wet! Yahoo!
While I feel a bit ridiculous walking around Quito with a black eye, I am comforted to know that someone would think twice about messing with me - seeing as i'm hardcore as what :)

So much for showing my mother that I'm perfectly safe traveling in South America haha. Regardless, we are off first thing tomorrow morning for the much anticipated GALAPAGOS ISLANDS!!!! When you don't hear from me for 8 days, just think of me kickin' it with giant tortoises and blue foot boobies :) My inner bio major is squealing with delight! Yes, I even have Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle to keep me company.

Cheers!

Mr. VIP

I arrived safely to Quito, Ecuador! Boy, what a day of traveling it was! I woke up yesterday morning at 7:30 with a little bit of birthday hangover, which is actually sleeping in according to my jungle body clock. I took a cold shower and set off to navigate the markets of Belen to buy some fresh fruit for breakfast and enjoy my last dose of Iquitos for quite some time. It was here that I was pick-pocketed for the first time too. I didn't take my purse with me, and had small denominations of cash in various pockets on my person. I had about 10 soles (less than $5) of coins in the right pocket of my rain jacket, which was zipped up, and the velco zipper flap shut. I was kind of amazed that the pocket was empty when I went to go pay for the motocarro ride back to my hostel - that was some seriously skilled pick pocketing work... A+! The joke's on the thief though, he is now in possession of the last of the counterfeit coins I inherited in Huaraz that I have had a surprisingly difficult time getting rid of. Sucker!

I had my fair share of camu camu sours and banana coladas the night of my birthday, as I figured this was how any jungle birthday should be properly celebrated. Rob and I spent the day causing our typical jungle mayhem and took a sunset pequi pequi ride on the amazon river - complete with jumping pink dolphins and all! I can confidently say that this was by far the most unique birthday I have yet, which, if you know me at all, is a bold statement. My 19th birthday was spent backpacking the Hoh Rainforest trail in the Olympic

Turnin' 24 on the Amazon River! 

National Park with my bestie Katie K, my dad, and my badass grandmother. My 20th birthday was spent backpacking in the Mt Hood National Forest with Anthony, Christabel, and Corbin. We began our trip with great expectations, but the sleet and hail made us detour to the Bagby hotsprings. From there we hiked to the Indian Henry campground, a bottle of whiskey in hand at all times. My 21st birthday was spent in Portland, as I was frantically preparing for my departure to Australia first thing the next morning. The day before I was on a camping trip with Chris, Lisa, and Bryce in the Columbia River Gorge, so I could wake up in the woods on my birthday. My 22nd birthday was spent camping on the Oregon Coast with my Daddy Dearest, as he was already in town for my graduation. And lastly, my 23rd birthday was spent taking a roadtrip with Katie K down HWY 101; we danced in the redwoods and sipped coffee all along the California coast.

I spent quite a bit of time in the tiny Iquitos airport because, logically, everything is on Peruvian time and therefore always delayed. It's quite exhilarating to be on the move again, and this time as a solo traveler. It was sad to say to goodbye to Rob because we've gotten to know eachother so well. But, like Matt, I know I'll be seeing him again. Rob looked absolutely epic as he headed off for his incredible journey into the jungle. Straddling the back seat of Jose's motorcycle, with a backpack on, a bag of food sandwiched between him and Jose, waiving 'adios', and puttering off into the unknown adventures ahead with a grin across his face. Well, that is after it took a few minutes for the motorcycle to actually start. I was cracking up as I watched from the balcony above, and Rob just looked at me with an expression I'll never forget. It was a look of "What on earth am I getting myself into/I am so beyond ready for this adventure and I have accepted that anything can happen/can I be any more epic right now?" Haha - I expect stories Senor Roberto!

My experience with the border crossing was absolutely hilarious. They wanted proof that I had a ticket out of Ecuador, of which I didn't have. I explained to them I was going to bus back to Peru after about a month, but I don't think they cater to the whimsical backpacker lifestyle. They invited me behind the counter  - behind several doors and secret hallways of AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY so I could show them the email confirmation of my return flight to the States. After the computer broke down, the printer's ink was refilled, and the attendant successfully stapled her finger instead of my ticket confirmation, they decided it was ok to let me go to Ecuador. I breezed through 'security' but I really don't think they even looked at my bag. I set off the metal detector, they asked me if I was wearing a belt, I said yes, and then they let me go through without even waiving a wand in front of the buckle. The US would have been like "wah! terrorist! cavity search!" I'm not complaining about the lax security in South American airports - it's quite a pleasant experience and you never have to wait in line. 

In the Lima airport I struck up conversation with a man from England, Edward. (who has lived in Australia, the US, Quito, and is now moving to Lima). Boy, was he a character. He was all about being Mr. VIP - had to be the first in line, expected immediate service, got upset when he was randomly selected for a bag search, didn't want to fill out a visa form because "he brought so much bloody money to the country" - oh man it was so entertaining. If I had a dime every time this guy said "fooking bloody hell!"... 

In any other situation I would have wrote him off as the worlds biggest asshole with an inflated ego, but there was a vibe about him that suggested this was a game he liked to play rather than a reflection of his true self. Hmm, that's funny. Usually assholes pretend to be warm-hearted individuals, not the other way around. I accepted his offer to have a pisco sour (or 3) with him before our flight, and sure enough, he's a really kind, funny dude. When he'd go about his VIP crap, I had no qualms about yelling back at him, 

"Edward stop being a dick. You're human and they're human. No way is your life more important that theirs." 

E: "Bullocks. I am more important! Do you know how much money I bring to their country?" 

Me: "Who cares? You're born with nothing and ya die with nothing, so remind me again of what makes you so important? Get your head outta your ass!" 

E: "Haha, yeah you're right. I'm just playing. I do this border crossing so often I just get sick of it. I think everyone's great!"

He would be quiet for a few minutes before he started up again, but we laughed the whole way through. 

You're probably still thinking he's a butthead, but I promise you he's a really good person. We had some great conversations - heart to hearts, political chat, and traveler's banter.We made a good airport team :) He took good care of me in the airport, on the plane, through customs, and I was extraordinarily grateful. Yes, I could have done it by myself, but it's a lot more fun and efficient if you go with Mr. VIP haha. 

Anyways, we didn't get out of the airport until after 2am, which is pretty friggin' late. The airport was an hour drive from where I needed to go. I told Edward where my hostel was, he informed me that it was way too unsafe for me to go there at this hour by myself, and that he absolutely wasn't going to let me go. He informed me that I could stay at his apartment and have my own room, comfortable bed, own bathroom, hot shower, clean towel - all things that actually were music to my ears considering I have been bathing in the Amazon and at Mad Mick's for 2 weeks. It really wasn't as sketchy as I'm making it sound, I promise. 

It took an hour to get to his place, which is about 10 minutes away from the hostel I was going to stay at, so I could go first thing in the morning if I wanted to. Alright, I'm down. Oh man, he has a beautiful place and I think I may have had the best shower I have had in years! I had such restful sleep and woke up to real coffee! I forgot how comforting a home feels like, and appreciate how safe I feel here. 

I asked Edward why he was so kind to me. He said he just knew. He made me promise him that I will pay it forward at some point in my life - completely restoring my faith in the kindness of strangers. I am so grateful that this happened to me. What a wonderful welcome to Quito, Ecuador! 

Delayed Flight Musings

I'm in the Iquitos airport now trying to kill the time of a 5 hour delayed flight. I have had some interesting thoughts come up during my travels and I wanted to discuss some of them here. None of the ideas are fully laid out, and I don't express them in the most articulate way, so please forgive me.

For much of my life I have struggled with white guilt and privilege. One of my many intentions for traveling in South America was to re-calibrate my global perspective. But how does one travel in South America without flaunting privilege? I'm not even talking about wealth, here. By privilege I mean that I have white skin and that I have a USA passport. I can't change these things, so where does one go from here?
I feel like I have been very conscious about how I present myself in Peru, and I try to be as respectful as I know how to be given the circumstances. The ambiguity of the previous statement is intentional, because I have interacted with people in ways that would be considered horrendously rude back in the States. I believe my actions were justified in all the situations, however... ignoring men who cat call or say objectifying comments; not engaging in conversation with people who do ask sincere questions like "where are you from?", but clearly only using it as a segue to sell something; embracing the rude, aggressive and sometimes frustrating pedestrian style that is required to get anywhere by foot (yes, it would even send the most resilient New Yorkers into a sour state of mind). I do mess up sometimes, such as accidentally saying "thank you" instead of "muchas gracias", but I really do try to be respectful and kind.
I'm not claiming I'm perfect, so I do feel a little hypocritical when I judge other western travelers. I appreciate that they are getting out into the world, but the periodic cluelessness of their place in it disgusts me sometimes. For example, Matt and I were eating in a restaurant in Huaraz after our trek and there was a table of middle aged gringos next to us. A man leaned over with the menu to ask us if we could translate some of the items for him, while he slaughtered the Spanish pronunciation of his words with his dripping english gringoism. Alright  that's okay, they don't know Spanish and props to them for still being brave enough to come to Peru. I have had trouble with pronunciation at times too. We struck up conversation with them, and they explained that they were with a group of doctors who come to Peru every year to give medical and dental treatment to all of the "poor people". POOR PEOPLE?! Oh, good grief. I have begun to despise this term. They sat there basking in the glory of their altruistic efforts, without a single clue that the people here arguably live richer lives than they could ever imagine! I interject with one of my favorite quotes here, but its borderline plagiarism because I have no idea who said it: "There are some people who are so poor, the only thing they have is money."
News flash! People are only considered 'poor' if there are 'rich' people around. This may seem counter-intuitive at first to the western mind because rich and poor seem to be dictated by how much money you have, if you have electricity, and access to reliable transportation. My experiences in south america have shown me that this is not the case. Peruvians aren't ingrained in the 'system' like westerners are, so it easy for them to live without money if that's the way they chose to live. I saw that all over Huaraz and in Iquitos. Families in Huaraz grew all their own food, had their own livestock, did laundry in the rivers, commuted by foot, and built their homes out of local supplies. Similarly, families in Iquitos got much of their food from the jungle and from the chickens that seemed to inhabit every home. They as well did laundry in the river, extracted their medicines from plants in the jungle, and used the abundance of palm leaves and trees as building materials for their homes. When in need of a few extra soles, they can easily trade a skill or bounty of the land. Such a lifestyle keeps families close and some of the strongest work ethics I've ever witnessed in my life. I have met some of the most healthy, fit, hardworking people in my entire life in Peru. No, they don't have electricity in their homes or running water, but I would consider their lives so incredibly rich and whole. Oh yep, and there goes the US sending more missionaries to Iquitos to 'save' them. UGH

Westerners came to Iquitos and the turmoil that ensued is in part why I got such sketchy vibes from the city at times. Westerners not only glorified the institution of money, but also to imposed many of their 'modern' ideas. I'll never forget Larry, my guide who grew up in the jungle, telling me that they didn't like it when the white man came to their village to teach them how to filter their water - claiming it was better for their health and vitality. Larry commented that the village had been around for decades, so if the water was really that bad then the village wouldn't have still been there. Just because the water isn't at a purification acceptable by western standards, doesn't mean that it is bad. Westerners just have super sensitive, chemically trained guts, so how would they know what is best for the people of the amazon? Truth. I'm sure the US would have a hissy fit if folks from the Amazon came to lecture them about how terrible western medicine is, which actually is something that I think western civilization could benefit greatly from. But that's another conversation.

There is a pocket of gringos in Iquitos who moved here from either the US, Europe, or Canada  They set us businesses around the 'safe' parts of Iquitos - winning over the trust (and therefore the money) of western travelers simply because they also have white skin, speak english, and have a western style welcome. I'm surprised that haven't all grouped together and petitioned for a McDonalds to be erected right in the middle of Iquitos! They sit there in their gringo world in Iquitos, all day every day (haha and mostly on the computer), wholeheartedly embracing the white privilege they exercise over the true Iquitos residents. Peruvians try to compete for the gringo business - causing an unpleasant scene of harassment, trickery, greed, and bribery towards tourists. Thank you, old white fat guys (especially the one from Texas flaunting a stupid Mitt Romney sign from the balcony of his restaurant) for making Iquitos the shallowist place on earth! Well, that's a little harsh, but deserved. I did have great conversations with many of the gringos who have set up in Iquitos, and the style of welcome was very comforting at times, being a gringo solo backpacker and all.

So here's something I wrestling with now, in light of the above. Traveling is possibly one of the most selfish acts; I mean this in more ways than one. Culturally, I move too fast between places to properly learn the culture, the accent, which businesses are worth supporting, etc. Economically, I am beyond lucky that I have the opportunity to travel for so long (this is two-fold, because I am also not working), even though my funds are quite minimal. Environmentally, I have an incredibly enlarged carbon footprint with the amount of time I have spent in planes, cars, buses, motocarros, and motor boats. Socially, every single thing I do day to day for these 3 months are solely for ME - which is the most selfish thought of all! I have no one to take care of, no one to work for, no one that I am required to keep in touch with... I could easily become a global nomad and "Do wad I wunt!" for the rest of my life. Don't worry, that won't happen :) Yes, I am upset at how much time I have spent during my trip so far dealing with the guilt of traveling. It's terrifying to think I'm spending my entire life savings for something I don't completely agree with. Wow - take that and chew it. So how do I resolve this internal battle? Sigh. I humbly accept my privilege, and I understand that I have the duty to carry the weight of it. I rely on my heart and good intentions, my curiosity, and my sense of adventure to continuously show me that there is nothing else I would rather be doing.

So, moving past that, I would like to bring up that there have been several points in my travel that I have been really embarrassed to be from the States. It seems as though people view the USA as something so artificial and close minded, yet somehow still has a gigantic ego. I can't even count how many jokes I have heard at the expense of the authorities at the US border - too funny! I've met so many travelers who have struggled getting visas to visit the US, and they don't understand why. In fact, I have several friends who live in the US, who have serious relationships with someone from another country, and continuously battle and endless series of paperwork in hopes their significant other can someday be introduced to their family in the States. I had some really interesting discussions with some of the Israelis I met earlier in my travels. Why was it that one little bombing incident in Boston (with minimal fatalities) entertained international headlines for days, yet bombs go off every single day in their country (totaling in an extraordinary number fatalities) and the world doesn't seem to care? I don't have a good answer to that one, do you? They concluded, rather accurately, that the US is just a big cry baby.
Canadian and Australian backpackers all share a common bond - they are so glad they aren't from the States (aka the United Shits of America). Matt (Australia) and Rob (Canada) made this point very clear to me during our adventures together, which I never argued with. "It's ok. You're secretly one of us," Matt would say with a stupid grin. This brings me back to my backpacking days in Australia, where I just told people I was from Canada because they automatically treated me way nicer than they did folks from the US. Once I got to know people, I would tell them I was from the US, and they would be shocked. "What?! But you're so fun!" Good travel tip, by the way!
One thing that I am grateful for is that I can go to almost any country I want without much hassle. I can get visas at the border, which is quite convenient. Matt had to frantically run around once we got to Iquitos to get passport photos for his visa applications for other south american countries, so his paperwork could be processed by the time he got out of the jungle. Yeeesh - that sounds stressful. The joke is still on the US though, yet again: Bolivia charges only USA citizens a "fuck you fee" of $145 to enter the country. Everybody else can come and go as they please. Nice work, Bolivia!

Finally - a boarding announcement! More to come to later, folks. Please share your thoughts with me! One way discussions are quite difficult :)

Hotel Iquitos

Figured I was overdue for some more jungle ramblings, but I'm afraid there isn't a whole lot to catch up on. I've been spending my time laying low in Iquitos, and another trip out to the jungle. Rob (who I went surfing with in Lima and hiked the Santa Cruz Trek with) arrived by boat in Iquitos 4 days ago! We had such a wonderful reunion and got caught up on the happenings of the week we were separated for.

We have been using our time in Iquitos to visit the many wildlife sanctuaries and refuges around. They are really awesome, are doing great work, and I feel warm happy fuzzies inside for supporting some really cool causes :)
Today we spent the afternoon at a manatee refuge center which is also functions as a research center for the Peruvian Amazon. We were able to feed the baby manatees (18 months and younger) today - OMG cuteness overload!



Iquitos is very strange city. I overheard a conversation between 3 gringos the other day - 1 an ex-farmer from Indiana, another from Seattle, and another who I think was from Arizona - who have all been here for years: "Iquitos is just like the Hotel California. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave." I'm beginning to realize the truth to this statement. Commence panic! I promptly used this as an opportunity to figure out how I was getting to Quito, Ecuador so I don't get stuck in the Iquitos trap. Whenever I go out during the day, I run into at least one person who knows my name. You know you've been somewhere too long when you're no longer anonymous. I have a strange feeling I'll be returning to this place at some point later in my life. But for now, I'm about ready to leave. I miss toilet seats and appreciate walking for 1 block without someone trying to sell me something. I am also worried that if I get one more ant, spider, fly, or mosquito bite I'm going to fall over into a pile malaria soup who has contract some rare strain of dengue fever...

Anyways, I'm now frustrated with the internet so hence the end of this post. Trying to plan an epic monkey filled jungle adventure for my birthday on the 13th :)

Life Lessons from the Amazon

(note: the internet sucks in Iquitos and the spell check is in spanish. Why is punctuation so difficult on this peruvian keyboard?!@#. be forgiving)

1) Trust your Instincts.
It seems counter intuitive that its hard to find a good person to book an excursion with when everywhere you go, people throw flyers in your face, tried to pull you into their expedition offices, or herd you toward the river to go for a tour in some boat. There really isn't one 'great' company that offers tours and everyone seems to have a different opinion on who is best. I may not even need to mention the bounty of sketchy ones in the mix too. So how did I choose? Well, I rely very heavily on my instincts and they have yet to fail me on this trip so far. I talked for a few minutes with the friend of the person who owns the hostel I was staying at, Alex. He supposedly co-owns a lodge down the Yarapa River and contracts with freelance guides to lead excursions into the jungle. Despite the underlying sketchiness of the whole exchange (typical Peru), I got good vibes about the situation. So there I was ... locked into 5 days in the Amazon!
My instincts basically rock. I had an amazing time and probably had one of the best guides in all of Peru!

Larry grew up in the jungle and spoke quite a bit of English. He knew the name of almost every specie we

came across (both plants and animals alike), which is a rather difficult task considering how many things actually live in the Amazon. He could make the sounds of dozens of different animals and recognize a hundred more. He knew what was ok to eat out of the jungle, and more importantly the things that could kill you. He knew so much about the medicinal qualities of the plants around us, something that is absolutely fascinating to me. He was absolutely fearless - climbing trees and picking up all sorts of critters. He was amazing at spotting animals in the jungle, including the most camouflaged ones. Basically he was an overall jungle badass, which I'm sure we will discuss more further on in this post. Larry and I paired up with Bjorn (a 22 year old from Sweden) and his guide, Carlos. The more the merrier when you're romping in the jungle! Carlos grew up in the jungle too and was a very skilled fisherman, so he was also an invaluable resource. Go team! I most definitely would have died without them.
There were most definitely times that I second guessed my instincts, however. The whole expedition thing seemed a little sketchy, but I just kept going along with it. The taxi stopped off somewhere outside of Iquitos, an unfamilar face came up to the taxi and took my big backpack out of the back of the car, and disappeared into the streets with it after muttering 'safe storage, yah?" in spanish. Did my luggage just get stolen? Well, nothing I can do about it now! After the 2 hour ride, the taxi dropped us off in Narca, and I had one simple job of following a person to the ports. Oh man! He moved so fast through the streets and gracefully navigated a crowded market along the river. I was running to keep up with him and on several occasions completely lost sight of him. I had no idea where I was, I was the only gringo around, and spanish wasn't even the primary language of where I was. Thankfully I'm tall (at least compared to Peruvians) so I was able to catch glimpses of the person I was supposed to be following. We came up to the ports and a different person approached me, took my backpack out of my hands, and jumped onto a boat. Logically I followed for fear of being separated from the last of my possessions, but i didn't recognize anyone I was with and really had no idea what happening. We waited for half an hour in the boat, and then Alex appeared to send us off! Oh, what a relief. 3 hours down the Yarapa river and several turns down various tributaries later, we came across Alex's lodge. Sigh.

2) Goodbyes Suck.
Yep, especially when its super early in the morning. I had to meet a taxi outside of my hostel at 6:45am, which made for an even earlier farewell to Matt. It feels like we've known each other for years! I guess we did spend every second together for over 2 weeks while we braved the backpacking life in a strange part of the world. We shared some pretty intense highs (like watching the moon rise in the heart of the Andes while on the Santa Cruz) and lows (like the bout of altitude sickness that knocked us out for 2 days) together. We conquered the city, ocean, mountains, the amazon, and everything in between. I'm really excited about the life changing adventures Matt has in store for the next 3 months and can't wait to hear updates. Even though we had to part ways when our adventures were only beginning, I'm certain our paths will cross again very soon. It feels like there is too much business left undone, ya know?
Matt walked with me down to the taxi and just like that - A hug, a kiss, and an ''I love you' later - he was gone. I was in the back corner of the taxi watching in a daze as we darted through the mototaxi traffic of Iquitos' streets. Oh, the bittersweet backpacker mentality. Bah humbug. I could hardly be sad, though. I got to meet and travel with an incredible person AND DUUUH I was on my way into the amazon jungle for 5 days!

3) Roughin' it in the Amazon is whole new  kind of Rustic.
The Lodge was a pleasant sight simply because all I had seen for hours was jungle and water. It was propped up on stilts over the water, and had the typical palm leaf roof. The floors were wooden boards that connected the 'rooms' of the lodge. There were 3 'rooms' with 'beds' that were enclosed in mosquito nets. My bed was balanced on 2 planks of wood, and I could see down to the water below. Yeesh, gotta watch my step around this place! At night I could hear fish jumping out of the water below - that was pretty cool! The bathroom was pretty interesting. It took a balancing act to walk across a plank to a curtained off area of the lodge. There was in fact a toilet (without a seat - extremely common all over Peru) and flushing involved dumping a bucket of river water into the bowl, which flushed right back into the river. Luxurious!
And I'm not being factious. I camped for 2 of the nights instead of staying in the lodge because I couldn't resist the opportunity to camp in the Amazon. I think Larry was rather surprised the gringa from America was so stoked about camping. But I think it was just my ignorance that got in the way of how intense camping in the jungle really is. We set up hammocks between 2 ant covered trees and enclosed them in the mosquito nets. You can't sleep on the ground in the amazon, for very obvious reasons. We had a campfire, but it wasn't like ones you have when you camp in the states. It is simply for cooking food. By no means can you sit around it to enjoy it; the risk of sitting on a tarantula, scorpion, or some other poisonous thing is way too great. i watched in awe as a a giant snake moved through our campsite, bugs crawled on anything and everything around, and a giant spiky turtle wandered under my hammock.
The heat and humidity is inescapable in the Amazon. Regardless, I was walking around in boots, long

Here was home for 2 nights!

sleeves, even with a hood at times so I didn't get eaten alive. This made the hammock quite a blessing. Safely inside the mosquito net, I could strip down to shorts and sports bra, and sleep peacefully as a sweaty, damp, deet burrito. It was kinda terrifying at times to hear hundreds of bugs flying to the net with full intentions of eating me alive. You could see the proboscises of hundreds of mosquitoes sticking through holes in the mesh and silhouettes of giant spiders hanging onto the walls of the net. So there I was, in my bug free bubble, dangling in the pitch black of the Amazon Jungle, thankful my sleep walking days are over. The sound of the Amazon is so LOUD at all times, especially at night. In fact, I think it was arguably louder than the streets of Lima. The monkeys, the insects, the frogs, the birds, even the fish - EVERYTHING MADE SOUND. What a surreal experience to be in the heart of the symphony for 5 days.
So just to up the ante on my hardcore factor, I would like to mention that I bathed in the river every day. Yes, the same river we fished piranhas out of. The same river which a local fisherman pulled an anaconda out of his fishing net 2 days ago. The same river with electric eels and sting rays. The same river you couldn't see any further than a few inches under the surface. Ah, so fresh and so clean clean!

4) Surrender to the Jungle.
I was such a jungle clutz my first day or two in the Amazon! I was still getting used to the fact that at any given point in time, there are just always bugs crawling on you. I would freak out and quickly flick them off, grabbing for more bug spray. I had a very humbling realization when I felt a giant spider drop onto my back from above, I flicked it into the river with full intentions of drowning it, and it proceeded to run on the water back toward the boat. Yes, it seems as though everything can fly, swim, and crawl in the amazon. EW
My muck boots were a size too big, which didn't make it any easier to get unstuck from the muddy swamps we were romping in. I would get stuck, loose my balance (and then a boot), and instinctively grab onto a tree for support. I would then be borderline helplessly panicked as i stood with my foot submerged in the mud as a snake slithered past, mosquitoes swarmed the rare opportunity to devour an inanimate mammal, and an army of ants crawled down my arm from the tree I grabbed onto. Awesome. I'm very thankful that I'm so good at laughing at these kinds of situations because I most definitely would have not survived another minute in the jungle.
The amazon is in the tail end of the wet season right now so it is effectively one big swamp. We spent a lot of time exploring in the canoe, because that was the only way to get around most of the time. This isn't much safer than going on foot because more often than not we were brushing up against the foliage that delivered a mighty interesting collection of bugs into the boat.
If only I had a dime for every time Larry would point at something as and say "This is poisonous." Yes, I was always within inches of something that could kill me, but that is not to say that everything will kill me. What a relief to come to terms with the fact that not everything was out to get me and I could peacefully coexist with so many 'dangerous' plants and animals. Surrendering to the Jungle! I would still get the heebeejeebees sometimes when I would see a wasp the size of a softball or an ant hill the size of my old apartment, but I was able to really relax and take in the wonders of the jungle. Now its just kind of funny that my mother is so terrified about me getting kidnapped when in reality I'm hours away from anyone who wants to hurt me and am always within arms reach something that can kill me.

5) You Just can't see it all.
Pink dolphins swam next to our canoe every single day. Brightly colored birds flew overhead, and hundreds of butterflies danced around the foliage. The thunderstorms would leave giant, brilliant rainbows across the sky. Monkeys swung through the canopy above. No matter where I directed my gaze, there was always something incredible and beautiful to see! I gave up on trying to take pictures of all of it because they really just don't do it justice. I chose to rather take it all in, so I apologize for the lack of pictures. You'll just have to take my word for it :) It's everything I imagined a tropical rainforest to be and more!
I probably saw the tiniest fraction of the species that I actually passed by. It seems that every living thing has either remarkable camouflage abilities or remarkable coloring. Larry was far better at spotting critters than I was. There was one time we were out in the canoe at night, exploring the nocturnal life of the jungle. Larry

Alligator that Larry caught

turns around slowly and goes, "quiet and don't move." He turned off his flashlight and started delicately paddling in the canoe. I was just sitting there in the boat, trying so hard to contain the excitement and curiosity bubbling inside. Something about our nighttime adventures tapped far into my inner child - I loved it! I heard a big splash, the boat rocked to one side, and Larry popped his flashlight back on. And there he was, dangling over the front of the boat, holding a baby alligator! WAH! Unbelievable!
This wasn't unusual for Larry, either. He was constantly finding critters! We took the canoe into to bush one day and anchored it between the roots of a saber tree. He started to make the mating calls for different species of monkeys. I was a little nervous about this, because I'm not sure what exactly I would do if a bunch of monkeys came down from the trees

A spider monkey and a capuchin monkey

and started trying to mate with Larry. Thankfully, we didn't have to go there. Within minutes, branches of the canopy began rustling and 2 spider monkeys swung their way right over to us! Ermergerd they are freakishly cute! A howler monkey and a capuchin monkey were soon to follow - man, they are curious little guys! We fed them bananas that we collected from a tree about half an hour before, which made me a little nervous to have my fingers so close to a wild animals teeth. Too late for a rabies vaccine, so glad I didn't get bit! That little devil turned out to be a clepto monkey as well. He grabbed the container of instant coffee out of the boat and ran up a tree with it. He proceeded to bang it again the branch until it opened and then he chattered away about his great find. Cool, Amazon Katie - caffeinating amazon wildlife one monkey at a time! Oops.
Larry asked me on the way back to camp if I wanted to hold a sloth. Uh duh, YES! I turned around in the boat, only to realize Larry was now climbing up the trunk of tree with a machete. Oh dear lord - now I was

Me and the sloth!

in a canoe by myself, in the jungle, and Larry was 40 feet above me in some tree. My life. He started hacking

away at a branch that a sloth was on, but had to stop frequently so he could acknowledge my objections to disturbing and hurting the sloth. He reassured me that sloths are in fact built to fall out of trees (omg that's hilarious in and of itself) so all would be fine. The poor thing fell out of the branch from about 2 stories up, decked its head on the side of the boat, and went flipping into the water. Classic me, I started screaming, "Larry we killed it! OMG! LARRRY! What do we do?!?" Larry climbed down from the tree, picked it out of the water from the scruff of the neck, and smiled, "It's totally fine." Wow, sloths are possibly the most invincible and dumbest creatures on this planet. That combination of characteristics is probably in and off itself the only reason they still exist. It looked so pathetic dripping in amazon water, moving ever so slowly as it tried to find something to grab onto with its hands. It probably would take a whole day for it just to get back up to the top of the tree. But, that's what they're built for...falling out of trees. And I was holding a sloth. Ha

6) Let the Jungle Take Your Breath Away.
So many times the pure beauty of being deep into a tropical rainforest literally did take my breath away. There are two moments I want to share with you, although there are so many more.
The first time the Amazon Jungle took my breath away was when we were paddling back to the lodge after going fishing for dinner. Seemingly out of nowhere, a huge thunderstorm rolled in and the rain started to beat down. The raindrops were warm, heavy, and so refreshing. Heck, I was all about it - no mosquitoes to worry about! The sound of the rain on the water drowned out the sounds of the jungle temporarily, and the smell was possibly the most delicious sweet refreshing smell of all time. The lightning was unlike anything I have ever seen before. One strike was a single point in the sky - almost like a UFO had suddenly taken off. Larry explained that the amazon rain forest is home to some of the most interesting lightning phenomena in all of the world - including colored lightning caused by gases released during decomposition in the forest. The storm passed quickly and left behind a dripping forest of the most brilliant greens. The horizon was glowing with intermittent flashes of lightning, displaying miles upon miles of the silhouette of the jungle's canopy. We started paddling again after the rain passed, only to come across a spectacular sunset right over the river. Every color of pink, orange, purple, red you could imagine - complete with some of the best clouds I've seen in quite some time. A huge brilliant rainbow covered the sky and a flock of macaws flew overhead. Now you ready for this? Just when it couldn't get any better, 3 dolphins jumped up and flipped in front of the boat. GAH MY LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE! Magical.
The second time the amazon took my breath away was during my third night on the river. It had to be about 11 o'clock and Larry and I were headed out so he could teach me about spear fishing. We paddled across an oxbow lake whose water was as still as glass. The night sky illuminated our surroundings just by starlight, and was two-fold if you include the perfect reflection in the lake. Yes, there was the milky way, the southern hemisphere constellations, and more shooting stars. We crossed the lake, and started heading deep into the bush. I kept looking up because I was so mesmerized by the sky. The transition was so subtle, I didn't even realize it at first. I was looking up at a spectacular display of hundreds of glow worms hanging from the trees above! WOW! Fire flies glittered away in the trees and I sat back in the boat and just started laughing. Belly Laughing. This place is truly amazing.

7) Headlamps are Not for the Jungle.
I was so prepared for our first nighttime romp in the woods. I was decked out in muck boots, long pants, long sleeves, a thick layer of deet, a machete in hand, and my trusty headlamp. Headlamps are so practical: There is always a beam of light in the direction you are looking and you have both hand free! Well in the jungle, a beam of light on your forehead translates to a beam of bugs on your forehead. Within seconds, I had dozens upon dozens of different species of insects b-lining into my eyes, nose, mouth, and the horrendous side swipe right into the ear. But that's not the worst part. I immediately started to take the headlamp off, as I wasn't ok with all of the bugs of the amazon hanging out around my head for the evening. And then BAM! A gaint friggin' bat smashed right into my face at full speed! I lost my balance and my nose started bleeding from the impact. Haha, we hadn't even left camp yet. Larry just chuckled at me and flicked spiders off of me until my nose stopped bleeding. Amazon 1, Katia 0.

8) Fishing in the Amazon is difficult.
Larry taught me two different kinds of fishing in the jungle. Pole fishing and spear fishing - both of which I'm

Officially an Amazon fishwerwoman!

really bad at. We set off in the afternoon to fish for catfish and piranha. That means you first have to fish for smaller fish, so you have enough bait and blood to put in the water to catch piranha. So much work! Larry was pulling fish right and left out of the water, and all the bait somehow got eaten off my hook without me even realizing it. Larry goes, "you can't be slow like sloth." Oh, great i'm pretty sure that was just a jungle insult for you are so friggin' dumb and so bad a fishing. I'm glad he found humor in being my guide, and told me that I reminded him a lot of when he was a kid and was learning about the jungle with his dad. Awwww bonding moments with Larry! I did end up catching a few fish - including piranha!- and had the utmost satisfaction cooking them up for dinner. Yum.
Spear fishing is done at night when bigger fish come to the surface of the water to feed. You have to be super still, and then javelin the spear into the water with all of the muscle you've got. You have to account for the direction that the fish is swimming, the speed at which its going, and factor in the diffraction of water so you actually hit the fish. Sweet - jungle physics!!!!! I didn't catch anything, but neither did Larry so I didn't feel too bad. Well, that's a lie. I caught 3 logs and lots of dead leaves, which wasn't exactly what I was going for, but it was something :)

9) Sleep is overrated
The jungle never sleeps so why should I? Larry and I would start adventuring at 5 in the morning for a couple hours, which was the best time for bird watching. I saw more friggin' toucans than there are fruit loops in a a family sized box! There were so many different kinds of parrots, but I can't remember the names of any of them except the macaw. We watched as birds dove into the water for fish and skimmed the surface of the water for bugs as the sun rose. We also used this as an opportunity to collect fruits and nuts out of the jungle to snack on before all the critters got to them. YUM
We would head back to the lodge or camp when the afternoon sun got too hot for a ciesta. I would swing in the hammock, eating bizarre jungle fruits, watching butterflies and dragonflies putter around, and napping through the afternoon until Larry would wake me up at 3 so we could venture out again. Having fun is exhausting work! The afternoons were all different but often we ended up looking for monkeys or fishing or going for a 'hike'. By 'hike' I mean swing a machete and walk anywhere you want to go. (sidenote: swinging a machete around is oddly satisfying and you should be worried about how natural I am at it) And you just have to keep walking because chances are you're disturbing some termite or ant nest, so its best to get outta there. I guess I'll take this as an opportunity to discuss the horrifying amounts of ants and termites that live in the jungle. I probably saw close to 4 dozen different species of ants of all colors and sizes. From the tiny red fire ants, to the giant bullet ants (who supposedly have the most painful sting in the entire insect world), and the mesmerizing armies of leaf cutter ants - they seemed to cover every inch of the forest! There were literally highways in the dirt that the ants followed, and downed trees seemed to be another main artery for ant traffic. Sometimes I would stop in the jungle, and focus in on a branch or the forest floor to get a micro world impression of what was happening around me. Yep, ants and termites everywhere. Even though they are tiny, the ants had the worst bites out of the ones I got. I became increasingly scared of them, realizing that eusocial insects are part of one big super organism that can literally take over anything they want. I became even more scared when Larry shoved his machete right into a bullet ant nest so he could show me how big and mean they actually are. AHHHH! Here's a fun fact: on average, the average acre in the amazon jungle houses more than 3.5 million ants. Can we go exploring in the boat now?????
We would head out again in the evening which was the best time to see the dolphins, the frogs on the giant lily pads, and different types of birds. We would come back for dinner and then headed out again late at night for a few hours more. I think the night time romps were my favorite, but that's probably because I couldn't see everything crawling on me like I could in the daylight.

10) Stay with your Guide
I was very conflicted about this at times, because sometimes I really didn't want to be next to the wasp nest Larry smashed with his machete or near the giant frog he was holding that was dripping poison from its belly. But let's talk about the time I came closest to separating from Larry. There really aren't that many big animals in the jungle, probably because the foliage is way too dense to gracefully move around as a beast. This was a very comforting thought until I heard something BIG smash through the bush while we were out hiking on the last night. I shone my light in the direction of the sound, but there was just a mass of moving brush and it was uncomfortably close to me. I clutched my machete as I became paralyzed with fright... psh as if it would have been any help. Now here's Larry, running towards the big noise, "Jaguar!" Now I don't know about you, but my gut instinct was to run away from the big kitty cat. I couldn't loose Larry though, so there I was running through the jungle, chasing a Jaguar. I never did see it, but I'm more than ok with that. Keep calm and carry on.

11) Embrace Childhood.
My impressions of the amazon came from a giant floor puzzle of the jungle I had when I was a kid, the Jungle Book, and the Tim Allen movie Jungle 2 Jungle. Very accurate, people (said in the utmost sarcastic voice). As my adventure into the rain forest re-calibrated the truths and myths I had about the jungle, it took a few days for me to realize why it was so different from my childhood impressions. I thank my biology major a bit too for teaching me some of the ways of the natural world. The sound and sights of the jungle are absolutely beautiful, until you realize that every living thing is competing in one giant battle for survival. Professor Ken Clifton teaches his students FOOD SEX DEATH at the beginning of his courses; a theme that underlies the interactions between and within the ecological world and the animal kingdom. At what better way to see it in action than in a tropical rain forest? The crazy examples of mimicry, evolutionary arms races between species,  the way plants strangle each other or compete for canopy space, and defense mechanisms that I had only previously read about in biology textbooks were happening right before my eyes. The sound of the jungle isn't some simple chorus - its the sound of hundreds of species trying to mate in order to pass one their genes and cries between predator prey interactions. Woah. Bio nerd out moment, sorry for getting off topic.
Exploring the jungle reminded me so much of being a kid again. Everything was new, some things were scary to touch, and ignorance was bliss. One night when we were hiking, I cam across a plethora of vines hanging down from a giant tree. I ran, jumped on, and was swinging over the forest floor. Of course I let out a Tarzan scream! Larry just laughed at me, but he already has mastered what it feels like to be completely free.

I'll update this post with more pictures tomorrow when I have more time and patience for the internet - so check back again!