The "THE JUNGLE" jungle lodge - Ecuador!

Day 0:

TeleferiQo cable car

                 We woke up and got ready and left for LAX airport. After some time we boarded. We are now on the plane to Houston, Texas and then we will take a flight to Quito ("Kie Thoe"), Ecuador. From Quito we are going to the Amazon rainforest by stopping in Coca! We will: canoe, do our thing, meet tribes, hike and more!

Day 1: (Reached Ecuador)

              We are staying in Holiday Inn Express at Quito. We ate breakfast after we got ready. I ate a "cheese inside bread" sandwich. I had great (really sour) orange juice. FRESH SQUEEZED!!! Then we went on a tour.We saw church, after church, after church in old town Quito. There is also a modern Quito. We saw a Bishop bless people (The town had graffiti everywhere, there were cobblestone roads and the buildings looked old), We then went to trams TeleferiQo.  We had a ride, lunch on the top, and another ride down.

Walking on the equator

I GOT MY HIGHEST SCORE IN FRUIT NINJA WHEN WAITING IN LINE TO GO TO THE TOP AND MOM COULD NOT BEAT IT!!!!!From TeleferiQo, we went to Equator Museum and did experiments. I stood on the Equator. Then we went to a tribal kitchen and saw...REALLY REALLY CUTE GUINEA PIGS!!! They are my favorite animals now.


My parents (at the hotel) were super hungry (so was I). So we decided to eat in "Spaghetti" restaurant. Mom thought they could get the food delivered. Dad thought we could go by taxi. In the morning I actually spotted "Spaghetti" right next to our hotel. So i interfered and led my parents (hungry ones at that) to Spaghetti! Mom/Dad thought I saved the day! Oh, we ate icecream, I played in the park and went to bed.

Day 2:

     

     We started at the hotel and ate breakfast. Then we left for the airport and left for Coca by Aerogal aeroplane.  Scary flight with too many dips and turns. My ears hurt and got clogged in the end. They got better at Coca airport. We went to a boat dock and...SAW A SQUIRREL MONKEY!!!!! I then took a 2 hour boat ride and hiked and took a canoe. In the boat we had a burrito, vegan cake and juice for lunch. We, after all that reached La Selva Jungle Lodge or The "The Jungle" Jungle lodge. We found out our room had a tub and a hammock!!

Our Suite

Then we had an evening activity (canoeing around and looking for birds). We found a kingfisher, ani, anhinga, hoatzin (stinky turkey), and lesser kiskadee. We even found a howler monkey and a spider skin. Then we had a 4 course dinner with mousse. After that, sleep.

Day 3:

                I first ate pancakes for breakfast and then we hiked to a butterfly farm where we saw caterpillars and .... butterflies!!! A tiger butterfly landed on me!! It was creepy! Oh, and ... I COULDN'T GET IT OFF OF ME!!!!!

Caught in a storm in the lake!

After we got it off, I went back to the caterpillars. Then we took a walk. We saw a tamarin monkey, a screech owl and more. When we came back, my dad and I went eco-fishing where we let the fish go after we catch it. We didn't catch anything. It was so fun. Then we went on a boat ride (evening), and saw a PYGMY MARMOSET MONKEY!!!!!!!! Then when we went exploring, we had turned back because it was pouring rain. We got dinner at the lodge and then comfortable sleep time.

Day 4:

Caught a Piranha!

                 First we ate breakfast and then walked to the watchtower. We saw a falcon, a kite and more. Then we took a hike. We saw some more tamarin monkeys, heard oropendula and more.Then we came back and ate lunch. We went on a boat ride and saw hoatzins in a nest, and a swimming anhinga. Then we took a night walk and saw a scary tarantula, glass frog and a cute mouse opossum. Then we came back, ate dinner and went to bed.

Oh! I forgot to mention, we caught a piranha during fishing! we let the fish go after that.

Day 5:

               Today is DAD's BIRTHDAY! I planned a birthday cake surprise! I worked with Patty our guide. The activities(for dad) was a birthday treasure hunt, I made. Then we ate breakfast and left for our first nature activity. We went to the Napo river by hiking and canoeing. Then we took a boat ride to clay licks. Parrots come there to lick clay. Bunch of parrots came. More came to the top (canopy) like always. They were slowly coming to the lick and making sure it is safe. Then one by one parrots started licking. Soon hundreds were there. Then we left the clay licks and we went to a community (tribe).
We visited part of the Sani community. We walked around, saw a school and its kids, saw a Yucca plant, bananas, palm, and sugarcane (we got to see them harvesting Yucca). After all that, we bought souvenirs and ate "lunch". Then I made chocolate. We took it back to the lodge. After, we ate lunch as in lunch, lunch. Then we tried fishing. No luck but lots of tugs. Then on a boat we went and saw two pygmy marmoset monkeys! Then we took a night boat ride and saw a frog.

We went back for dinner. I brought the chocolate. I gave it to the kitchen and wrote my dad's name down. Soon the whole cake came in and everyone sang "Happy Birthday". It was his first birthday cake EVER!!! He was embarrassed! Then we went to bed.

Day 6 (Saddest day of my life - almost - in 2014):

We went back to Coca the way we came to La Selva (See Day 2). Then we took a plane to Quito airport. Flight to Houston was 12 hours away. So we took a taxi...to...OTAVALO MARKET!!! I took a lot of pics, bought a painting, and a traditional Quechua community dress (costume). I did this with a lot of bargaining! Then we went back and went to the Quito "Airport Center". We got dinner there and ice cream and chocolates. Then we went back and took a flight to Houston, Texas.

Top favorite things:

• All animals (especially pygmy marmoset, hoatzins in the nest, call of the oropendula, Howler Monkeys)
• The company there
• The Hammock and Tub in my lodge room
• The guide (Patti)
• Catching the Piranha during fishing
• Fishing
• TeleferiQo tram
• Guinea pigs in Equator Museum
• The whole Otavalo market and costumes and things i bought
• Pancakes everyday
• All Desserts
• Planning the Birthday cake surprise for my dad

Butterfly landed on me!

Top Funny Things:

• Seeing my dad get embarrassed with his Birthday cake
• My friend Darcy saying "Stinky Turkey" (Another way to call Hoatzin) all the time
• The butterfly landing on me
• Leading my parents to Spaghetti restaurant
• My dad taking too many pictures of one thing

Top Curious Things:

• Graffiti everywhere in Quito
•  The Quito airport is actually outside Quito
• Waking up to the Howler Monkey Noise
• The Tarantula nest we saw on the night walk
• And that's it!