Jungle

We arrived back in Quito late Saturday afternoon, then traveled to Riobamba Saturday night. We are now at Daniella´s house with her family. They welcomed us with great hospitality. This morning we are going to their church and then this afternoon to Banos for overnight. We had many experiences in the jungle we will never forget including large boas, heavy storms, tarantula spiders, and our canoe that sank in the rapids spilling all of us into the river. We praise God for our safety and for our teachers safety. Several of the teachers did not know how to swim and nearly drowned. It was a week we will never forget! I hope to write more later with some pictures.

Below is a brief excerpt I wrote on Wednesday but could not upload to the internet in Tena because it was too slow.

We arrived in the community in the jungle Sunday evening after a long bus ride through exhiliarating moountain views. On Monday, we walked to a waterfalls along a beautiful jungle path and went swimming at the base of the waterfalls. It is extremely hot in the jungle, but is everything plus much more than we ever imagined! On Tuesday, we hiked about 1 1/2 hours to a cave and then deep into the cave. Today, we are on our way to a second community where we will stay tonight. Tomorrow we travel by canoe four hours to a beach along the river where we will camp. Friday more canoe and return to first village.

The community reminds us much of Africa. The living conditions are very basic. Many stories to tell, but little time now at the internet cafe in Tena. We have had severe thuderstorms, heavy rains, and strong winds. In the community, we have been staying in bamboo huts with thatched or tin roofs. The heavy rains and winds come through the bamboo walls, so lat night was quite interesting. But the next two days could be much more interesting.

It is a great experience to be living right with the people in the community. It has been a lot of walking in high boots through a lot of mud. We´ve given up on keeping our clothes and bodies clean. It has been a great experience, but we will really be looking forward to returning to some of the conveniences we have gotten used to.

Love to all!