The Jungle

Finaly, I got to the Jungle. It really is amazing how life can´t seem to stop here. There are so many differnt plants insects and birds.

Today, I took a bus from Baños to Tena. It was one of the most scenic trips I have done. I even saw some wild parrots. I suspect I dropped in elevation a bit as it is slightly uncomfortably humid and warm at 8:30 pm. Back in Baños and Puyo, the temperature was perfect as it has been most of the places I have been. In fact other than Boliva, which I was slightly underdressed for, the weather in Western South America is close to perfect. Daytime highs average around 20-25 degrees and at night it´s usually about 15 degrees.

I was in Baños when Ecuador tied Uraguay in a soccer (futbol) game. People were extatic. All of the taxis had Ecuador flags, some covering the whole hood (bonnet for Brits) of the car. About 1/3 people where wearing the jersey of the national team. Some women had Ecuador flags painted on their cleavage, making me excited for the country as well. The reason they were so excited about a tie was that it secured a spot for Ecuador in the world cup. I have come to appreciate watching soccer although it´s nothing like a good hockey game.

I sure wish I had more time. I guess I have to come back. Two months seemed like a lot, but Now I think that an average of one month per country would be more realistic. I´ve seen the Jungle, now I have to get to the beaches. I´m going to do this primarily on the Atlantic side of Columbia and Venezeula. I hope my passege is safe. I´m going to have to be smart in Columbia. I wish that there was onlt one kind of militia in Columbia, but both the left and right are represented. If it was just the FARC, I could wear a Che Guavara shirt and feel a little safer, but there are right wing militias as well. I´ve been told that grungy backpackers are rarely a target and that the vast majority of the 8000 kidnapings a year are Columbians with a minority of forgien oil workers. To put things in perspective, it´s estimated that 8000 people die in car accidents in Brazil each year. I´m sure very few of the kidnapped find it to be their final story.

Having said that, Columbia boasts the greatest variety of plant, bird and animal species per unit area of any other country in the world. I´ve also been told that Columbians are among the friendliest and most outgoing in South America which is really saying something.

Some of my most enjoyable times have been on the busses. If I do more than 8 hours, it can be too much, but I have met so many wonderful people on busses and seen incredible landscapes. A couple of days ago, I was fortunate enough to have purchased a reserved seat on a bus that really filled up as we went. There was a mother with her one year old that was being squashed against my leg. I picket him up and put him on my lap. He Quickly feel asleep. Later on, I think the mother went to the back to go to the bathroom. Later still, I saw her walk past me and off the bus. I don´t know if she forgot or was just putting her bags down. The driver started to pull away and I yelled, ¨¡Parada, parada!¨
The bus stopped and the mother ran to me and grapped her child.

Ecuador hasn´t been to eventful so far, but it has been very pleasant. I don´t need any excitement here. It´s nice to relax after the ups and downs in Peru. I would recomend this country for travel to anyone. My hotel in Baños was $5 a night for a really beautiful room overlooking the town and the valley. I´m sure the room would be well over$100 in Canada. It even met Canadian hygenic standards. I wish I had time to go deeper into the jungle. It´s good to keep time precious though. Every moment is a gift.