More and more time has been going past between posts - this is for a number of reasons, as will be revealed!
Last week I had Pete and Sha to stay, a lovely pair of English types who contacted me through Couchsurfers. They arrived last Tuesday and we all hit it off straight away! In fact we all got on so well that we sat up talking to midnight every night. They are such a lovely couple, who have spent the last 6 years travelling and working around the world - I was inspired!
It was really lovely having people to stay and whilst I told them about what I've been up to since I arrived here and what plans I have for the future, it made me realise again that being out here is a really brilliant thing. I had fell into a bit of a humdrum routine of work and having buggered my foot I was kinda forgetting about just how wonderful it is to be here.
Pete and Sha helped me a great deal, not just on that front. They cooked me a fantastic dinner; Sha gave me reiki - which was wonderful; Pete tried to fix my computer (after it suffered a nervous breakdown last Friday night).
I felt so comfortable with them that I happily left them staying in my house, whilst I went away for the weekend.
I had hoped to get to the coast last weekend to catch up with various friends. However the roads and the weather were against me - landslides al over the place! So a 'Plan B' was formulated by Jim and Paul. Ater school last Friday we headed up to Papallacta - place of the original staff training and thermal baths! We didn't stay in the same place, but a cheaper hostel down the road. It was nice to soak into a huge hot bath, but I was sooo tired and wasn't feeling overly sociable. I was quite happy to watch and listen to the others. I was also feeling a little down about not being able to see my friends and had also received news that had made me feel far away from people I care about.
On Saturday we got the bus to Tena, along with lots of other people who'd had the same idea - unfortunately they got on earlier than us and had got all the seats. Luckily we only had to stand for about an hour of the three hour bus journey. Whilst on this bus journey I received a call from Pete and Sha to tell me about my laptop - I was gutted. My laptop is my lifeline. However I also knew it wasn't their fault and they stayed an extra day to try and fix it.
We arrived in Tena to find torrential rain and hurriedly got in a taxi to a hostel. Luckly Lani and Paul had sussed out a few place from a borrowd travel guide!
Tena itself wasn't overly exciting, it's basically a jump off point to more adventurous activities. We hung around for a couple of days, waiting to go into the jungle. Too be honest I was bored (forgot to take a book - DOH!). I also discovered that travel companions are not always what you expect. I had a fairly quiet couple of days.
On Monday we headed off for our jungle experience. We travelled for about 40 minutes and arrived at the edge of the jungle. We were meant to be being met by a boat to take us the 5 minute trip upstream to the lodge, but the guy wasn't there so we walked for 2o minutes instead. As soon as I found myself surrounded by trees, my heart lifted and my body relaxed. Nature - I love it and I needed a damn good fix.
The lodge was beautiful, wooden cabins beside the river. I instantly fell in love with the place, despite the humidity and insects.
We went for a few excursions by boat: to a museum where we observed traditional traps and had a go shooting with a blowpipe; to an animal sanctuary; then back to the lodge for lunch. At one point we ran aground and had to push the boat - but it was all quite amusing and I considered it to be part of my experience.
After a late lunch we went for a jungle walk for about 2 hours. It was lovely - our guide was incredibly knowledgable on the plants and animals. We also saw monkeys hiding in the trees which was fabulous having seen them in cages in the animal sanctuary.
After dinner I decided to tune the most battered and dusty guitar I think I have ever seen! Then Paul, Daniel (our guide) and me all took it in turns to play which was cool! Still need to increase my repertoire though!
Tuesday morning dawned with the wonderful sounds of the jungle. We went to see a local indigenous community. This was qiute weird as the adults of the village were out working. The photographer in me wanted to take photos of the children peeping out at us but I knew it wasn't appropriate. We felt like rich white tourists and that we were intruding. We did observe the farm of the community which was interesting and we ate cocoa seeds!
When we left the community we got into rubber tubes and floated back down the river to our lodge. That was my favourite part of the experience. It was so tranquil - apart from the bee which seemed to think I was a very large flower. We floated for about an hour - the water was perfect and it was brilliant to feel cool and refreshed. (I spent most of my time there dripping with sweat!)
Upon nearing the lodge, I had managed to get into the main current of the river and was very happy with the idea of floating away to wherever the river took me. However no-one seemd to take seriously my cries of, "Tell Justin you last saw me floating downstream on a tube!" So instead I had to swim to the side.
My time in the jungle was too short. I would really like to go on a longer trip and go deeper into the jungle. Perhaps in another location in Ecuador. It was a fabulous time which enabled me to recharge my batteries.
Last week I had Pete and Sha to stay, a lovely pair of English types who contacted me through Couchsurfers. They arrived last Tuesday and we all hit it off straight away! In fact we all got on so well that we sat up talking to midnight every night. They are such a lovely couple, who have spent the last 6 years travelling and working around the world - I was inspired!
It was really lovely having people to stay and whilst I told them about what I've been up to since I arrived here and what plans I have for the future, it made me realise again that being out here is a really brilliant thing. I had fell into a bit of a humdrum routine of work and having buggered my foot I was kinda forgetting about just how wonderful it is to be here.
Pete and Sha helped me a great deal, not just on that front. They cooked me a fantastic dinner; Sha gave me reiki - which was wonderful; Pete tried to fix my computer (after it suffered a nervous breakdown last Friday night).
I felt so comfortable with them that I happily left them staying in my house, whilst I went away for the weekend.
I had hoped to get to the coast last weekend to catch up with various friends. However the roads and the weather were against me - landslides al over the place! So a 'Plan B' was formulated by Jim and Paul. Ater school last Friday we headed up to Papallacta - place of the original staff training and thermal baths! We didn't stay in the same place, but a cheaper hostel down the road. It was nice to soak into a huge hot bath, but I was sooo tired and wasn't feeling overly sociable. I was quite happy to watch and listen to the others. I was also feeling a little down about not being able to see my friends and had also received news that had made me feel far away from people I care about.
On Saturday we got the bus to Tena, along with lots of other people who'd had the same idea - unfortunately they got on earlier than us and had got all the seats. Luckily we only had to stand for about an hour of the three hour bus journey. Whilst on this bus journey I received a call from Pete and Sha to tell me about my laptop - I was gutted. My laptop is my lifeline. However I also knew it wasn't their fault and they stayed an extra day to try and fix it.
We arrived in Tena to find torrential rain and hurriedly got in a taxi to a hostel. Luckly Lani and Paul had sussed out a few place from a borrowd travel guide!
Tena itself wasn't overly exciting, it's basically a jump off point to more adventurous activities. We hung around for a couple of days, waiting to go into the jungle. Too be honest I was bored (forgot to take a book - DOH!). I also discovered that travel companions are not always what you expect. I had a fairly quiet couple of days.
On Monday we headed off for our jungle experience. We travelled for about 40 minutes and arrived at the edge of the jungle. We were meant to be being met by a boat to take us the 5 minute trip upstream to the lodge, but the guy wasn't there so we walked for 2o minutes instead. As soon as I found myself surrounded by trees, my heart lifted and my body relaxed. Nature - I love it and I needed a damn good fix.
The lodge was beautiful, wooden cabins beside the river. I instantly fell in love with the place, despite the humidity and insects.
We went for a few excursions by boat: to a museum where we observed traditional traps and had a go shooting with a blowpipe; to an animal sanctuary; then back to the lodge for lunch. At one point we ran aground and had to push the boat - but it was all quite amusing and I considered it to be part of my experience.
After a late lunch we went for a jungle walk for about 2 hours. It was lovely - our guide was incredibly knowledgable on the plants and animals. We also saw monkeys hiding in the trees which was fabulous having seen them in cages in the animal sanctuary.
After dinner I decided to tune the most battered and dusty guitar I think I have ever seen! Then Paul, Daniel (our guide) and me all took it in turns to play which was cool! Still need to increase my repertoire though!
Tuesday morning dawned with the wonderful sounds of the jungle. We went to see a local indigenous community. This was qiute weird as the adults of the village were out working. The photographer in me wanted to take photos of the children peeping out at us but I knew it wasn't appropriate. We felt like rich white tourists and that we were intruding. We did observe the farm of the community which was interesting and we ate cocoa seeds!
When we left the community we got into rubber tubes and floated back down the river to our lodge. That was my favourite part of the experience. It was so tranquil - apart from the bee which seemed to think I was a very large flower. We floated for about an hour - the water was perfect and it was brilliant to feel cool and refreshed. (I spent most of my time there dripping with sweat!)
Upon nearing the lodge, I had managed to get into the main current of the river and was very happy with the idea of floating away to wherever the river took me. However no-one seemd to take seriously my cries of, "Tell Justin you last saw me floating downstream on a tube!" So instead I had to swim to the side.
My time in the jungle was too short. I would really like to go on a longer trip and go deeper into the jungle. Perhaps in another location in Ecuador. It was a fabulous time which enabled me to recharge my batteries.
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