Puyo, Amazonia

The past few days have been incredible. This past weekend Al and I went to Puyo with two of the WWOOFers from the Yunguilla farm. Puyo is a city in the Amazon rainforest about 1.5 hours from Baños. The road between Baños and Puyo is known as La Avenida de Las Cascadas, the avenue of waterfalls (more or less) because there are so many waterfalls along the way. so beautiful. In Puyo, we went to El Paseo de Los Monos, a monkey rescue. We spent a few hours playing with monkeys. Best time of my life. The monkeys were free to play, no cages or anything. There were ropes for swinging and places to climb, and of course trees and outdoors. They would swing on the rope and propel off of us. They jumped all over us, played with us, bit our piercings, tried to steal our stuff. A few even wre snuggly. The capuchins were especially mischevious, they can undo zippers. They stole my favorite chapstick and some toilet paper I had stashed in my pocket. Sometimes they bite, but not too hard. I am so envious of the way they can move and play. I wish I could move like that so much. But I do my best! There were wooley monkeys, a few chapuchins, spider monkeys, squirell monkeys and probably some others. At the Paseo we went for a walk through the forest while it poured, totally appropriate I suppose. But it was really warm.
After that we went on a guided tour about an indegenous tribe´s lifestyle. The guide told us about different medicinal and some culinary uses of the various plants we passed as we walked through the forest. We also sat in a traditional housing hut and she told us about some of their customs. It was really interesting. Al and I bought some Dragon´s blood (a tree sap) for bug bites.

Then the next day (Sunday) we went to an Orchid rescue. It was amazing! It is family created and operated. Because so much rainforest is destroyed every day, this family has decided to rescue orchid specimens and species. This also saves other species. Some orchids are only pollinated by one type of insect, and that insect only pollinates that type of orchid, so there is a very delicate and unique equilibrium created. We saw lots of pictures of incredible insects and then walked for about 3 hours through the forest learning about orchids and other species. Some orchids are TINY. Tello, our guide, had a 10x magnifying glass so we could see some of the tiniest species. They are so intricate and colorful. It was so amazing. Really magical. We also saw the biggest spiders I have ever seen in my life. They were amazing. Beautiful and just insane. The butterflies are really amazing too.

Then today after work on the farm, Al and I went with the four WWOOFers from Yunguilla and rented bikes. We rode down from Baños to Rio Verde (on the way to Puyo). We stopped at two waterfalls. At the first we took a cable car thing across the gorge, to and over the waterfall. It was really high and so beautiful. On the other side we got out and there was a swing over the edge into the forest. We played on that for a while and then someone who was working on a building there came and pulled me so I went way far out. It was so fun and exhilirating. I was laughing and yelling. The second waterfall is El Pailon del Diablo, the Devil´s Cauldron. We got there too late to cross the bridge completely but we got on the bridge. It is very powerful and amazing. Though the water is ferocious, it made me calm. I was struck with awe and respect. I had some personal moments with the waterfall.
After the waterfalls we got a ride in a truck back to Baños. I just called my parents to wish them Happy Aniversary!
These past few days have been the best so far I think. So much fun.

This place is sooooo beautiful. But I also look forward to returning to the beauty of my Appalachian Mountains.