sorry for the extra odd format on this one...
I think I am made for the rainforest.
being a pisces, I love
all of the rivers and water... yes, including the humidity.
and as an oregonian I have been acclimated to endless rain my
whole life (see: RAINforest). and fit the female stereotype
and always complain of being cold (reference: pete), which is
never an issue in the amazon - amazing!! raised on the
willamette, I love boats; the main means of amazonian
transportation, and I don't mind walking everywhere else.
finally, I happen to look pretty darn good in knee-high
galloshes. and so, for all of these reasons, I think I have
finally found my habitat - the rainforest. truly the only
issue I see is the whole bugs deal. me and bugs, we don't get
along so well. and bugs of all kinds and alarming sizes tend
to be overly plentiful in the rainforest. so I suppose I'll
hold onto the bug memories, particularly those of the large
spiders, just long enough that I willingly get on the bus and
don't run into the jungle to hide out until the rest of the
group leaves... dont worry ma, I'm writing this quito, so
they did get me on the bus, despite my reluctance.
our bus ride was one of those experiences I have mixed
feelings about. my plan was to sleep; which, not to brag
but, I am really good at - practically a professional given
that I can sleep almost anywhere these days (likely explained
by the chronic sleep deprivation that has come with my last 4
years of medical school). the problem with sleeping on this
bus was that the view from my window was impossible to look
away from... basically the entire drive until probably the 15
final minutes when we were in the city was too gorgeous to
miss for something as silly as sleep. dense jungle, with
endless interesting plants, turned to massive cliffs, somehow
still coated with plant life despite the vertical angles of
the mountainsides. we crossed rivers on bridges hardly fit to
walk across. we passed the waterfalls seen on our drive down,
and then some (after the recent downpours). I couldn't peel
my eyes away from the side of the road, always searching for
cows and horses and llamas tied up and grazing. I could spend
all day watching for the variety of mix breed stray dogs just
doin their thang in the villages and along side the road -
what freedom these dogs have, and for the most part they look
surprisingly healthy (though some, not as much, and it is not
an easy life for a dog here - if only amani realized how
terribly spoiled she is)... the river we followed for a good
portion of the drive was wild and angry, fueled by all of the
runoff... apparently this is a huge destination for kayakers,
but let me tell you, I couldnt be paid enough to get in that
water - that's just askin to die... that river looked mean...
but oh so beautiful.
we hit a little 'situation' around our halfway point. well a
few situations. one was that the bus ride was so insanely
windy, and our driver was driving like such a maniac (he must not be paid by the hour), that
half the bus was blue and on the verge of leaving their
breakfast on the side of the road. the other situation was
that, unluckily or not, after 3.5ish hours on the road, we
hit a traffic jam and came to a complete stop... in the middle of nowhere. apparently the
area is well known for landslides... lovely. we had actually
passed a few not long before. tons of mood spewed out into
the road, trees still standing upright, but considerably
transplanted from their origin of growth. our driver had
navigated these with little difficulty. he definitely
believes in the big car rule and would drive that bus just
about anywhere short of off the side of the cliff. his theory
appeared to be that if you honk, they will move. which
fortunately for us, seemed to work. but when we hit the
traffic jam, his honking just didn't do the trick. we were at
a standstill. he left us on the
bus and went to investigate. turns out there was a mudslide
ahead (what we didn't know at the time was that it was miles
ahead and we were at the end of a very long lineup of cars,
all impatiently waiting). our driver, upon his return,
started up the bus, cranked us into the oncoming traffic lane
(thankfully there was no oncoming traffic - I wouldnt put it
past him), and we drove up several miles until we came to the
other cars who had done the same thing. this was some serious
cheating!! but it did get us way ahead, and when you're on a
9 hour bus ride, you'll take what you can get.
they eventually opened the road and we made it through. another hour
of driving and we stopped for a lunch break. this place, Gina's, was
crawling with kayakers, in their broke down vans with their dreads,
totally fitting the long time traveler stereotype - they were living the
dream. this restaurant was known for its trout and everyone in the
group seemed to order it a different way. they were all delish, despite
the fact that your fish was served, head and all, which I felt a little
bad about...
the rest of the bus ride was more beautiful landscapes and crazy
rainbows and interesting clouds and then this section that looked
exactly how I imagine new zealand looks... straight out of lord of the rings. I drained my camera battery taking so many photos out the window :)
in quito we checked into our hostel - the most amazing one in quito
as far as I'm concerned. the side patio is gorgeous and the rooms are
clean with comfy beds and the shower was hot! yeah I'll admit I missed
hot showers. feeling finally clean and more importantly dry for the
first time in a week I began to unpack. I was amazed that everything in
my backpack, even clothes I never took out in the rainforest, was
soaking wet!! that humidity is something else, certainly nothing I'm
accustomed to having grown up in oregon.... aside from being dizzy all
night (either from the bus ride or returning to such altitude, or a
combination of both) I felt great and slept like a baby in my fluffy
white bed feeling totally spoiled :)
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