Rainforest - Day 2

Last night I woke up to torrents of rain, one could barely hear themselves think. This morning we had breakfast and then got ready for a four hour hike. The river was really high due to the rain we had gotten the night before, so our plan to swim later in the afternoon was abandoned. For the hike, we took a motorized canoe up river about 2 kilometers. When we got out, it looked like our trails had been washed out, but we managed to maneuver up the hill with little difficulty. The hike was AWESOME! We saw some birds, learned about more plants and trees and we even saw a poisonous snake! Toasted the end of the hike we had to wade in water up to our waists. While hiking in the stream we saw a walking stick and we got to sample a few edible plants. We were also taught how to quickly weave a basket out of palm fronds. It started to rain a little as we finished up, but we didn't care as we were already wet from the stream and sweaty from the hike. When we got back to the lodge, we ate lunch and took a small siesta. Next, we went to visit our forest guide's family to get a better idea of how the people from the area live. On our way we walked near a hornet's nest and five of us from the group got stung (including Susan and I). While we were there we learned how to prepare dark chocolate and make chicha, a drink made by fermenting yuca. After returning to the lodge we had dinner and celebrated our last night in the rainforest by having a few drinks. Our guide taught us an ecuadorian drinking game and we were in bed by eleven. Another great day!