The Amazon Rainforest!!!

We are home from the jungle! And (somehow) the 6 people from my house and I all made it back in one piece :)

This is the only way to get to the reserve! Crossing the river via zipline.

We arrived in the jungle Monday around 1:00ish after a 10 hour bus ride, which was not the most comfortable bus ride I've ever been on. It was extremely bumpy, we were driving along the edge of the mountains and not exactly slow. But we made it. And it was BEAUTIFUL!! I was put in a small bungalow with two other volunteers- we had our own bathroom and beds with mosquito nets. Everyone else was in the big bungalow that housed about 20 people. We were exhausted when we got there so we just rested for the afternoon and went for a short hike to a waterfall where we were able to swim!

The reserve we were staying at had a couple pet monkeys...one of them joined us on our hike, riding on our heads the entire way.

The next couple of days involved volunteering in the morning and hiking/reading/eating/swimming in the afternoon. Just like the rest of Peru, plans are never set in stone :) For example, Monday night we were told to be ready at 9am the next day because we were going on a hike to monitor animals in the reserve area. (And we could not be late!!!) We were all ready with our rain boots at 9am.....9:30am....and finally the guide came over and said plans had changed and that the guys were now going to be cutting down a tree that was about to fall on the volunteer bungalow. It was kind of raining so the guide didn't think we'd still want to go on the hike...but we're hardcore, and we did. So he took three of us girls and we hiked for about three hours, saw a beautiful waterfall, some pretty butterflies, climbed over rocks, scaled rocks, and walked through the river. It was fun except for the fact that I was wearing the rain boots they provided for us....and they were three sizes too big.

Chico the monkey :)

The next couple of days we stayed around the reserve and helped plant trees, weed and plant some vegetables. The guys finally got the tree cut down...it didn't fall on the bungalow but it did fall on the greenhouse. Somehow most of the plants were okay. We cleared an area on the reserve and planted some vegetables and then took plants from the greenhouse into the jungle to repopulate the trees...I have never had so many bug bites. We got ATTACKED. But besides that, it was fun and I learned a little about gardening! My mother will be proud.

The most exciting and eventful day of my trip thus far: Friday. Our last day. We were all pretty excited to leave Friday night because we hadn't really showered, we were tired and eaten alive by bugs. But, home didn't come soon enough. Friday morning three people woke up sick and another girl had accidentally eaten some gluten, which she's allergic to. (not too serious, but she wasn't feeling great) Then, a group of people went on a hike to a vine swing they always take volunteers to. You jump on the vine, swing off a cliff and when you look down, all you see are the treetops. Well, one of the girls fell off, falling 30 feet into the trees and bamboo. SOMEHOW she landed on a branch that slowed her down before she hit the ground but needless to say she was in a LOT of pain. I've never seen bruises so dark and huge!!! She's okay, but she was pretty shaken and hurt. The reserve decided to try and get all of us a 10 person van to get home in since she was in so much pain and some of the people were still sick...but it didn't work. So we had to wait until 7pm to catch the bus home. We thought we were home free once we were finally settled on the bus and ready for our 11.5 hour ride home...NOPE! The bus ride was our favorite and most exciting part...

My house for 6 days!

To make a long story short, our bus ride was an hour and a half longer because 1. we got a flat tire, didn't have a spare so they had to physically fix it on the side of the road. Safe? I have no idea, but I'm still alive. and 2. because we were stopped three times by the police who got on to search for people bringing Coca leaves back to Cusco. The leaves are not illegal (they were probably bringing them back to sell) but they are only allowed to have a certain amount. The first time we were stopped, none of us foreigners knew what was going on until the police started searching our stuff and taking bags of leaves from the ladies around me. I was right in the middle of the action. Before the police got on, the ladies around me started shoving bags of leaves anywhere they could--in the curtains, windows, seats, wrapped up babies...A fight even started when two women started arguing over a bag. A lot of bags were confiscated, but we were extremely surprised when it was the ladies bus stop and they started walking up and down the bus taking bags from every single window/curtain/seat!! (Actually, two of my friends found a bag in their seat before the police showed up and accidentally ripped it...leaves went everywhere and everyone started freaking out trying to clean it all up) They had bags stashed everywhere! It was a pretty exciting 11.5 hours but needless to say, we were exhausted and just wanted to get home. We finally arrived home at about 6:30am, very happy and hungry. The staff at our house fed us breakfast that we devoured verrrry quickly....and then we all took much needed showers :)

Overall, the jungle was a great experience. It was extremely beautiful, and very peaceful falling asleep to the sound of the river every night :) Buuuut, as much fun as it was planting, hiking and swimming, I don't mind being back in Cusco away from the bugs :)

The pictures aren't loading very well right now...I'll do a post of jungle pictures when the internet is better!!