We are safely back in Quito after a long drive from the rain forest See the picture above, the students walking in the primary forest). Let me catch you up on what we did yesterday afternoon, then finish about today.
It did stop raining after lunch, and we set out on our hike into the rain forest. We saw all different types of native plants that are used for medicinal purposes to the native people. It was quite interesting to touch some of them, and see what other uses they can have. We had a great surprise - crossing a small "canyon" in a zip-line chair! Each student got to cross, and once on the other side got to hold the rhinoceros beetle (it was about the size of your hand!). We also ate some ants that tasted like lemon - really, we all ate them and the actually did taste like lemons! To cross back over the canyon, we walked on a swinging bridge. We finished our hike and road back to the lodge in the canoes. To cool off, most of us went for a swim in the pool - quite refreshing after the humidity of the rain forest. We ate dinner in the lodge, and many hung around to play "Heads Up!" (Quite entertaining, I must admit!)
Today (Wednesday, May 14), we left the lodge in the rain forest, and headed back to Quito. We were supposed to stop at a town square to see wild monkeys that live in the trees, but it was raining pretty hard, and the monkeys were hiding in the trees. We hopped back on the bus to head back up the Andes. We stopped for lunch (and a bathroom break where one of the students got stuck in the bathroom...), another traditional Ecuadorian meal. Actually, most of the students ate hamburgers which I don't think is traditional Ecuador food. For desert, we had banana with a thick chocolate sauce - YUM!!!! I loved it so much, I ate most of the students' extra sauce on their plates. I LOVE Ecuadorian chocolate!!!!
We returned to Quito at about 4:00 this afternoon for some free time in the city for dinner. Tomorrow, we start to head West to the cloud forest. I am having problems with the internet in the hotel, so I will try to post some pictures later. Sorry - I know you want to see what is going on! :(
Dinner at the lodge:
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