It took almost five hours in two different types of canoes to reach our eco-lodge, but we are here, safe and sound, in the Amazon rainforest. We have already seen an amazing array of birds and other animals. There have definitely been times where we felt as though we had stepped back in time and were explorers making discoveries around every corner. We have a full itinerary of treks on both foot and canoe and are looking forward to seeing as much during our four days and three nights as possible. It is time for us to head down to the canoe launch for our afternoon excursion, so here are a few photos of our trip down the Napo River (part of the Amazon River) to give you an idea of what it was like to arrive here.
Riding in the Motorized CanoePaddling in the Small Canoe
The answer… when it is a stream, but you still have to hike through it. When we did our canopy tour in Bolivia, we had to hike through a stream and climb a waterfall just to get to the start of the zip-lining course. As far as we know, there wasn’t anything in the water that we needed to worry about, but then again, no one really talked about it. We didn’t have any other shoes with us and we were going to be trekking in the jungle the next day, so we weren’t particularly happy that our shoes were drenched with water. When we returned to our eco-lodge later that evening, we removed our shoes and our guide came up with a creative solution. There were no laundry facilities at the lodge since we were in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, so our guide took our shoes and placed the by vent of the freezer.
Climbing UpThe Hike Begins
We walked back to our room wearing our socks and when we got to our room, we looked down at our feet to see them covered with ants. Certainly not a pleasant sight and getting them off of our socks was not easy as they clang to them with their sharp legs. The following morning we were relieved to find that our shoes were no longer dripping wet. Considering the heat and humidity of the rainforest, our shoes would not have dried without the heat from that vent.
Climbing up the WaterfallStaying in the Shallow Water
You can’t head into the jungle without expecting a few interesting stories to come from the adventure. We are hoping to return to the jungle during our trip to Ecuador that starts one month from today. For Cee’s WhichCee’s Which Way Photo Challenge Way Photo Challenge, we have chosen to share these photos of our hike through the stream in the Bolivian jungle.
Since there are not a lot of roads in the jungles of South America, local residents get creative on ways to cross the many rivers. Especially during the rainy season, these rivers can be quite treacherous, so the last thing that anyone would want to do is take a boat to try and cross them. Instead, cables are suspended across the rivers and then a metal cage is used to transport people and supplies from one side to the other. Since the cage can only be on one side or the other, when it isn’t on the same side as the travelers, someone must pull themselves across the cable to reach the other side and then pull the cage back over. It really was as thrilling as it looks. We decided to share these photos for this week’s Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge.
First Glimpse of the CageOur Guide Crossing for the CageBringing the Cage AcrossStarting to CrossLooking Back
