The first stop was a monkey sanctuary where they keep 55 rescued monkeys, five different species. Most were kept illegally as pets when they were babies and then when they grew up they were no longer wanted by their owners. After they bond as family groups at the shelter they are released back into the jungle. We had monkeys climbing all over us. Some were content to just sit on your shoulder with their tail wrapped around your neck. Lisa had four monkeys on her at one time! It was a unique experience watching the monkeys playing with each other and with the dogs. Many of them preferred to be riding on us humans!!
If they take your glasses you won't get them back.
The smallest monkeys here were the squirrel monkeys, my favorite.
A great neck warmer.
On the road again to the first pit stop where we all donned rubber boots and began our walk through the jungle. Our guide showed us plants along the way and their uses for medicinal purposes - cure for sore throat, diabetes, ulcers and intestinal problems to mention a few. We finally ended up at a beautiful waterfall.
This tree is endangered now, especially in Brazil, because it is used for hardwood floors. It is used medicinally to cure intestinal problems and acid reflux. The hatchet marks are from harvesting sap for medicine.
Another Ecuadorian waterfall.
We walked through a stream for part of the way back ... sometimes the water was up to the top of our boots. I was afraid of falling and getting my camera wet, but managed to keep it dry. We made it back to the place for lunch just in time because it just poured!! We ate lunch under a shelter with a tin roof and we couldn't hear each other talk...it was that loud. It rains like that every day in the jungle, but never lasts long.
A parade of leaf cutting ants crossed our path. They take the leaves back to the nest. When the leaves decompose the fungus that grows on them provides their food.
Check out the flower on these bananas!
Stream we walked through, crystal clear water.
Next on the agenda was a trip down the river in a dugout canoe. The owner's little dog was the first in the canoe. The trip didn't last long enough for our liking ... great fun! Again, we felt like were in a movie ... going downstream with natives lurking in the underbrush waiting to blow poison darts at us, ha ha.
This is how we transported ourselves and the canoe to the river.
Drifting down the river in a dugout canoe.
After canoeing it was off to annother lookoff and it was time to let the Amazonian games begin! We all tried spear throwing and the art of dart blowing.
On our way up to the lookoff.
Hammock with a view of the Amazon basin and jungle.
Amazon woman.
Where is the target?
I gave him an ankle wound.
There's Jane ... but where's Tarzan?
Last stop of the day was an Indigenous village. The tourist place we booked our trip with had pictures of naked natives advertised but at this village they were clothed. Apparently you have to go on the 5-6 day tour deep into the Ecuadorian jungle to get to those natives.
Look close (click on photo). This man is putting the finishing touches on his roof.
View of river from the village.
The front of the house.
Contrast in living - open fire pit for cooking and TV in the corner.
On the other side of the room, a shaman (medicine man) using a cell phone.
Main living area. The baby had some sort of eye infection. Wonder if it has anything to do with playing on the same floor as the turtle?
Pet parrots outside in the trees.
There was a store where you could buy crafts made by the Indigenous people. For $25 you could buy this assortment of preserved bugs - they sure grow them big in the jungle!!
1 comment:
Oh my, oh my, oh my, that is totally awesome. THe parrots, the monkeys, the scenery...it is all too much to take in.
Creation is just amazing!
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