Our weekend in the Amazon jungle

MONKEYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When Mike and I began planning this South America trip back in January we decided to save as much as we could so we would be able to do cool things and not be stressed about money. We've figured out our 'cost and worth' dynamic with food, living and activities and I'd say we've got it pretty good! Like example: we take buses everywhere instead of taxis and planes, we share every meal because it's cheaper and they also give us so much food haha oh and we stay in inexpensive hostels instead of fancy hotels. Ok ANYWAY back to doing really cool things with all the money we've saved up!

We decided to do an eco lodge experience in the jungle instead of a hotel or resort. It was awesome-we stayed in grass huts and rode the river everyday! We took a 7 hour bus to get on another 2 hour bus to take us to a 2 hour boat ride to finally get to our eco lodge. Our hut wasn't as bug infested as I expected so that was a welcoming bonus! 

We ate lunch at the main grass hut lodge and had a siesta (thank goodness after two hours of sleep) then we took a tour around the river to a massive lake. We witnessed a beautiful sunset as we jumped in the warm water. We swam around without thinking about the caimans (Ecuadorean alligators) that could be swimming near us haha just kidding our guide assured us many times that they don't swim that far out. It was such a beautiful night. 

The next day we set out for a morning hike through the bush. We saw so many ants, bugs, birds and more ants. We didn't even get bit a lot and that was the crazy part. 

Our guide was crazy. He would tell us to sniff something and then later tell us it would give us hallucinations. He would start running without warning and we would slip trying to keep up. He would rip open ant farms to show us then lick them up with his tongue!! 

The highlight of our walk was the invisible frog. We were walking around when our guide gasped. In the leaves there was this amazing toad that was camouflaged to perfected. It was so difficult to find it amongst the leaves Mike couldn't see it for a while!!

the photo won't go sideways so the frog is facing upwards haha can you see it????

WE SAW AN ANACONDA! it was a baby one but OH my gosh our boat guide took us WAY too close to that thing hahahahha ahhhhh

Right before we went back on the boat we swung on some vines like Tarzan. It was so rad! 

After lunch and another siesta we took off for another sunset swimming session. 

 It was so magical and peaceful. The sunset was a simple purple and pink but it reflected against the palm trees and made it seem as if we were on another planet. Then during our night hike, the world seemed even more alien. Since the river was so high it was fact that we were swimming amongst the tree tops. We drove in our boat in between the tree tops like we were in a flying boat. It was so unreal. I think my favorite moment was when the night clouds opened up and stars glittered across the WHOLE sky! That was just so incredible I was speechless.

Today was a massive day. We visited an indigenous community and a shaman. It took ALL day to get to each place--the amazon is BIG hahaha




We searched for monkeys and Tucans. We rode the boat for so long but it was still so nice to be on the river. On our way back from swimming at sunset, our boat "ran out of gas" none of us believed our guide but we paddled along for a bit anyway. It was still really funny and definitely a memory : all us in our swimsuits paddling along laughing. 

It was the perfect end to our jungle experience.