I'm flying over Canada (Quebec to be exact) with Polish airlines (Chicago - Warsaw) heading to Lithuania... Ecuador seems far away... (talk about globalization, really, that's a lot of continents in one sentence :)). It's been a bit crazy, but I feel compeled to finish writing about our trip to Ecuador, because last 2.5 weeks were the best! We went to Montanita, where Ainius began learning surfing and we finally got some sun. Montanita seems a little, but not quiet town filled with "gringo" (white people) hippies, drugs and lots of loud music. After two nights we decided to head north for a bit more relaxed pace of life (not that it was really hectic in Montanita!). First we went to Isla de Plata "poor man galapagos", which is part of the Machalilla National Park, the bus trip was nice and short from Montanita to Puerto Lopez (about 2 hours), there was only one problem, I ate something the night before that didn't agree with my stomach, so it was a hard day for me to say the least... Once in Puerto Lopez we got into a boat with only 11 people and we were off. The first pleasant surprise was seeing humpback whales that typically mate around this time of year in the shallow waters between the continent and the island. We were told that right behind the island where the deep water begins is the favorite spot for the sharks to hang out (unfortunately we didn't see any). Once on the island we went for 3 hour hike to observe the birds and any wild life that inhabited the island. Totally loved it! My favorite - blue foot boobies (I'm not making the name!).



Then we went to Canoa... We stayed there for 5 nights because we just couldn't leave, there was a good saying painted on the wall on some house (everything is painted on walls: adds, opinions, political associations, I guess they don't believe in removable signs?): "despues cielo, Canoa... (after the heaven, Canoa...)" We spend our time doing pretty much nothing! It was an achievement if we made it to the internet. Ian learned how to surf without falling, I got a chance to read and sun-bake, (not sun-tan, I got pretty burned...). One day we went to a bigger town 16 km away St. Vincente to get some money because there are no banks in Canoa (talk about being relaxed!) and along the money we got 10 live crabs that were successfully boiled and consumed just an hour later. Ainius was determined to finish every little bit of them, but gave up and there were 3 little legs left... So wasteful :)
From Canoa we went back to Quito, picked up our passports with US visas and without any delay went to the jungle. When I say "the jungle" I really mean THE JUNGLE, not a little park or imitation of it. It was the real deal (with bugs and all!). It took us 8 hours to get to Lago Agrio, hot, dirty oil town. From there another bus and our guide Gairo took us to a place to get a motorized canoe which simply is referred to as "the bridge" (another 3 hours). It was actually really exciting, the weather was warm and muggy, it felt good. It was also nice to escape the noise and confines of the bus (we spent 11 hours in the bus!). Five of us got into the canoe and the first thing we saw were... monkeys! A whole troop of them! They were squirrel monkeys, little brown and super cute. It wasn't the end of the excitement, in total we saw 4 kinds of monkeys on our ride, I couldn't believe our luck! The one thing I really wanted to see was monkeys! In the subsequent days that we spent in the jungle we got to see in addition one more kind. The first night was a bit eery for me :) I'm not a big fan of bugs, and boy did I come to the wrong place to avoid them!!! There were tarantulas in our rooms (on the roofs), cockroaches on the floor and on the walls (they were so big, that I didn't even get a temptation to squash one, too messy...), ants and all other kinds that I can't recognized waaaayy to close to our bed... Mosquito net helped, but there were almost no mosquitoes (!), I used it as a tool for psychological comfort, did not want to face a tarantula in my pajamas!



The next day we had a day packed with adventures. After breakfast we went for a walk in the jungles armed with our boots and insect repelent. It was such a delight to get our of the boat and walk around. Our guide showed us some cool things, like a tree which bark can help malaria, a poisonous frog and a sloth. One memorable experience was eating ants that taste like lemon! (check out a video where Ainius is trying them) After lunch we went piranha fishing. The lake that we swam before (and after) is teeming with these fish. I got three piranhas and even one catfish! Ainius got two nice piranhas also! It was really cool when the guide put a piece of a leaf stem in the piranha's mouth which it promptly bit off with just one bite!!! Everyone was a bit squeamish to swim right afterward, but we all made it out alive! That night we met some more of our roommates, we had tropical frogs in our sink and shower! They have really cool limbs with rounded finger tips that stick to everything! Before going to bed I check if tarantulas were all in their place (they are territorial and tend to stay around one place), I still didn't have much desire to face one in bed...
While we were in the jungle, Ainius had his birthday and got a whole pancake on a plate for his birthday!!! That day we left for Quito...