After a great nights sleep, we had a hearty breakfast at the lodge and then headed out.

We canoed down the Rio Napo, a river that feeds into the Amazon river, to a wildlife rescue centre called Amazoonica for injured animals of the amazon. There were wooly monkeys roaming free, and you had to hold onto your bags as they were notorious for stealing your stuff while you weren't looking. One was called Ester and she watched us the entire tour. She tried nicking some stuff off an Asian man Henry (a guy on the tour) but he was to quick. There were loads of other animals that I'd never seen before including tapirs which are like bush pigs.

Next up it was back to shore for an authentic Ecuadorian lunch and onto out next activity - tubing down the Napo river! For over an hour we drifted down the river going through rapids that almost flipped the tubes , eventually stopping off to visit the Santa Monica tribe. It was a 20 minute trek through dense muddy rainforest to get there, all the way I was swatting all sorts of bugs and ants off my bare arms and legs. Let me tell you, I never saw the same bug twice, that's how many species are living in the rainforest! The Santa Monica tribe is named after the founder of this community - Monica. She has 15 children and is now a great grandmother. They have children extremely early in this culture, as it is very important to build the tribe up as quickly as possible. Sergio also taught us methods that the local shaman uses to ward off bad spirits and exorcise people who have demons inside them. This involved drinking a shot of a liana (vine) extract that induces hallucinations of your past, present and future. We tried a small amount (not enough to have much effect, don't worry mum) which made me feel warm and burnt my mouth a bit, a little like a shot of whiskey. To finish up, we were also given the option of taking a shot of "jungle tequila" which of course I didn't refuse, and it definitely put a few hairs on my chest. These people are great!

We jumped back on the tubes for another hour or so of rapids and driving while the sun was setting. It was incredibly quiet and I could have easily fallen asleep at points, it was so nice. Unfortunately when we eventually got off the tubes we discovered our so-called dry bag was completely full of water and both mine and Shirley's cameras were soaked through. So in the next few days I have to find a shop in the middle of the rainforest that sells cameras...I don't fancy my chances, they barely have electricity here. Nevertheless it is a pretty awesome feeling to be so isolated from people and basically living off the land the way the Amazonian people have for thousands of years.

Time for a cold shower, dinner and off to sleep, because tomorrow is another busy day!