Jungle trip

Ok the Jungle, there is so much to tell. We arrived there with rain, instantly realizing why they call it the rain forest. For the people living in Europe, well aware what rain is like, hmmm this is different. We sat in a boat and although it was raining cats and dogs, it was warm. Warm rain, like a natural shower, we felt right at home there.

The last part of the boat trip was dry and we arrived at a lodge in the middle of the jungle close to the border with Colombia and Peru. The location was great and the food was even better there. And for all the people we have met and told us that they were killed by mosquitos, bad luck for you I guess. We have in total maybe 5 mosquito bites, together... It had something to do with the acidity of the water there, which the little buggers do not like. I don´t care, I was happy and so was Henk. Oh the lodge on the left was ours, we shared it with Tamar and Elinor, two Israeli girls. The picture on the right is the dining room with a couple of hammocks for the afternoon siestas.



The only downside of jungle tours is that it is so darn difficult to get good pictures of all the animals. But what have we seen than. We saw monkeys (apen), sloths (luiaards), birds (vogels), spiders (spinnen), frogs and toads (kikkers en padden), piranas (piranjas), catfish (meerval), pink dolphins (roze dolfijntjes) and many more. To give an idea what they look like... and try to find the right names.






The night hike was in the rain, but with flashlights we managed to see some nice spiders and other insects. It is amazing how big they become in the jungle, a tarantula as big as my hand or a lobster grasshopper the size of my hand with nasty looking spikes on his legs.
We also went pirana fishing which is a strange thing. Normally it is important to stay silent and wait, but with piranas you just throw in a hook with meat and start beating the water with the stick it is on. Just great!!! They come for the noise and start eating like crazy. The strange thing with piranas is that there are 25 different types in the amazone in Ecuador, but only about 6 are actually carnivores. So most of them will not bite you if you fall in, hahaha.
On another night trip, by boat, we went with flashlight and search in trees for red eyes. Either belonging to snakes or birds and in the water to aligators. The first snake we found was seen by the guide. Imagine pichdark, about 50 meters from the trees and he starts saying.. do you see that. Of course we don´t, but he was always right. So by boat we go to the tree and yes there is a small boa, roughly 40 cm. How did he see that, well all the animals in the pictures are discovered by the guide and none of us was able to see it.

Trees are also a bit bigger than in Holland. One tree we saw needed 20 people to get around it. It was 55 meters big. Most trees are also a complete ecosystem on their own. It contains about 150 different species of insects. It is covered with plants and fungus and other stuff. Plus it is also a refuge for butterflies, birds, reptiles etc... It is just an amazing tour and if you have a change to go in the jungle, just go!!!

Let`s travel by train!

After our cowboy experience we thought it was time for some action, so what do you do? Travel in the cold on the roof of a train ofcourse... The trip between Rio Bamba and Alausi was beautiful! And to show how grateful we were, we gave the local kids, who really came from everywhere, some bad teeth by throwing lollies to them. By looking at the faces, I don`t think they liked the flavor that much...

After the traintrip we had to go back to Quito but it seems that it wasn`t an original idea...

Horseback riding in Baños

Another primera vez, finally we can call ourselfs real caballos... or cowboys!! In Baños we went horseback riding together with two girls from Norway, Janne and Grette, and a girl from Israel, Gali!!

The trip was four hours on the back of a horse, pretty intense for the first time. The horses had the idea of running from time to time, which is kinda scary. Bouncing like frogs on their backs, not knowing when they stop or how to stop them. Just plane crazy.. But it is good for pictures making.

So the trip is with five people on the first one you see Grette, Janne and Henk. Henk already is letting his instincts getting the best of him and scouting for bloodthirsted Indians. The second pictures shows Gali and me, as you can see, I am not so sure of Indians!



On they way we had some nice views on waterfalls and a big mirador to look over the town. Very impressive all, especially the horses since they just did everything, we just had to whisper to them to stay on track.



Well the downsides of horse riding, it messes with your back and it just shapes you. So we walked like oversized pretzels for a few days with a hurting back. Nevertheless it was all worth it!!