Just had 4 fantastic days in the jungle, we packed in so much stuff and saw so many things it will blow your mind!

The first day we arrived after a short flight from Quito paid the $20 park entry then were loaded into canoes for the 2hr trip down the river to the lodge on that trip alone we saw a tapir, toucan, kingfishers, macaws, monkeys those giant blue butterflys and many other wierd and wonderful things. Our guide Jairo (pronounced Heyro) is cool as.

The next morning we woke up had a breakfast that was too nice to be served in the middle of th jungle then went on a hike where we saw more cool animals like vultures, turtles, sloths, lizards and a very rare spcies of night hawk. After lunch it was fishing for pirahna where Kelly actually caught one, she hooked it through the eye! After the fishing we sat in the middle of the Laguna Grande and watched the sun set over the rainforest. One of the most beautiful things i have seen and when the stars came out they were so unbelieveably clear they were like diamonds in a sea of onyx. Back for dinner then out on a night hike to see what scary things come out at night. This is when we came within touching distance of a massive Tarantula and other beastly looking bugs.

Another fantastic morning in the jungle went bird watching and saw a bird called Hoatzin which is a close relative of the prehistoric bird Archaeopteryx and other beatiful winged creatures. We then headed off to a local village where we were shown the magic of medicinal plants and a 350 year old tree before we saw a shaman and Kelly had her aura cleansed! Haha We got back to the lodge and went looking for anacondas without any luck thn went for an evening swim about 200 meters from where we fished for the pirahnas! We then went looking for caymans and snakes where we found a couple of Amazonian Tree Boas and a Juvenile Cayman that we got to hold.

Had to leave the Amazon regretfully as it was such a beautiful place and because it was 4:30am trid to get a flight to Quito but no luck so had to take the 8hr bus trip which although was cramped and tiring the beautiful views around the Andes made up for it. It was even delightful to be searched by nice Ecuadorian men with machine guns for drugs. It seems all the bus drivers here are practicing for formula 1 and it makes for an exciting ride with drop off and ridges on each side especially as they havent heard or armco on Ecuador. Back to The Secret Garden for a good nights sleep.