On Sunday our activities included hiking through the jungle and tubing. In the morning we did a three-four hour hike through the primary rainforest. So cool! Our guide was using his machete to make a path as we went. He pointed out an infinite number of trees and plants, poisonous things, huge spiders, animal tracks, and more disgusting bugs. We ate lemon ants! They were straight from the knot in a tree branch and sure enough, they taste just like lemons! We hit a huge tree that is used as means of communication; and we got to go inside a little bat cave. I am used to going in larger bat caves where the bats are a fair distance away, but this was much smaller and the bats were flying so close to our bodies! They scared me a little. 
We got to swing from vines and we slipped and slid through all the mud that we trudged through. The jungle always amazes me and I was really impressed with how much our guide knew about it! In the moment I learned a lot from him and it was all so fascinating.The rain forest is just such a giant place and it makes you feel so small, but I like being somewhere that hasn’t been changed by man yet. 
In the afternoon it was our turn to tube down the river! Unfortunately the river was down so the canoe had to drop us off on one side of an island and pick us up on the other; we had to trek across this island which was basically one huge mud pit. People got their boots stuck in the mud, fell over in the mud, slipped in the mud, everyone was covered in mud. But it was hysterical walking across it, just part of the adventure! Tubing was more like a lazy river but it was super nice just to relax and float down the river. It felt
The next day we loaded back up in the canoes and made our way back. We stopped along the way to hike to a waterfall. The funny part was that we all knew we were going to see a waterfall, but no one realized we would have to hike 40 minutes in the mud to get there. They also told us we could swim in the waterfall once we got there, but since no one knew we were hiking, many girls wore sandals and struggled immensely on that hike. They actually fell more on the way back down and I felt so bad for them, but at the same time couldn’t help from laughing at all the people falling down in all that mud! The waterfall was beautiful and the little pool it created was amazingly refreshing. It felt so nice to be out of the bus and relaxing in the chilly water! All that humidity really gets to you and makes you sweat profusely. In general the trip was very refreshing because we were out of polluted Quito in the fresh air and soothing water. Afterwards we continued on our way home and that was the end of our trip! The good news: we did not see one snake the whole trip.
It was an interesting trip with a lot of funny moments. It was hilarious to watch how people act when they are out of their element (including myself) but at least we could all laugh about it and keep going. It was nice to get away from all those bugs once I got home, but the trip was 100% worth it! I recommend seeing what such a diverse and vast jungle has to offer! Feliz vacaciones!
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