Jungle Love

Our jungle adventure started with the infamous night-time bus ride. Danny was so excited about the reclining leather seats that it made the ride almost bareable. I apparently was out cold before the bus even left the parking lot. Thank goodness my new friends know me well enough that they made sure to jack me a boxed dinner when the stewardess came around. This also meant that I was incredibly happy to be greeted with an apple pie-ish thing when I finally woke up.

When we got to the amazon, we had a couple hours to hang out at our new favorite diner. I don't know who wouldn't want cheeseburgers (topped with French fries), empanadas, and ice cream for breakfast.

Eventually, we stopped eating and jumped on a boat that took us to the jungle, where we stayed in an adorable lodge. We were greeted with fresh juice, monkeys, macaws, and hammocks to relax in. We took a short walk through the jungle where I learned several things:

• I really like walking in the mud if I'm wearing rubber boots
• I have virtually no interest in learning about plants
• When there is a guide standing next to me, I'm not afraid of anything...even tarantulas 
• It's hard to argue with people from England, mainly because they say things like, "I reckon..."

After lunch, we headed to monkey island. The name retry much says it all. It was an island with monkeys on it. The little buggers were fierce and had no qualms about showing off their sharp teeth and sneering. I wasn't afraid though, because of the whole guide thing. I got to snap some amazing photos.

After relaxing in the hammock, reading for only the second time this trip (as a side note, I would like to point out that I bought approximately 10 books before beginning this adventure just in case I didn't make any friends. In hindsight, that seems foolish because I've met heaps of amazing people), we went hunting for caiman, which is essentially an alligator. Once again, nor afraid! We didn't catch any, but saw some...and we got a beautiful starlit boat ride out of the deal.

The next day we woke up at a ridiculous hour to get to Lake Sandoval. To get to the lake we had to wear lots of clothing, cover ourselves it deer (dud you know that feet disintegrates nail polish?! So much for that awesome manicure), and weave through miles of mud. It was relatively miserable, especially for Vanessa who got Montezuma's revenge halfway there. I'm not sure that that's what you call it in Peru, but you catch my drift. I think she walked away with only 2 massive mosquito bites on her bottom, so I feel like it could have been worse.  After what seemed like an eternity, we made it to our canoe. 

I feel like our little boat ride could have been a lot of fun had we all not been completely exhausted bs wearing 3 layers of clothing to keep those pesky Mosquitos away. Regardless of the fact that we all had in extra crabby pants, we got to see otters, caiman, and what I like to call flying monkeys.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at the lodge with our friend pisco. It was lovely and probably the most relaxed I have been all month.

The bus ride home was miserable, so I am just going to pretend it didn't happen.

Vanessa and I spent this afternoon finishing I souvenir shopping and finally trying guinea pig. Yes, I ate some little kids pet, and yes, I will probably face the consequences of bad karma for tv least the next 20 minutes.

I am headed to Colca Canyon tonight. I'll be back Tuesday, and then I start my adventure home Wednesday already! Get ready, Durand!