Spotting jungle surprises!

In order to get to our intended destination, a Ketchwa cultural site, we must first travel by canoe across the lake and down the canal through the swamp until we reach a walkway that allows us the traverse the swamp without sinking. The canoe ride is around 25 minutes and the walkway about the same. Then we are at the river and continue by motorized canoe for another 35 minutes.
Along the way we spot birds and three different species of monkey, as well as other interesting flowers and insects. This makes the journey even longer than stated, but more fun. We also go off trail, through the mud and jungle for a bit to get a more in depth view. The rubber boots we were equipped with are more than handy, a necessity. While we were trying to get pictures of monkeys high up in the trees, with our cameras looking straight up, Dianne looses her footing and ends up in the swamp on her back. She has skillfully saved her camera and big lens from the swamp by holding it all above the muck, but was unable to break her fall because she had to keep the camera safe. When I turn to see her, she is lying on her back holding the camera above her chest. My first instinct is to aim my camera at her and catch this heroic moment in a picture. Self preservation and the desire to not be remembered as a total cad replaced that idea, and I held out my hand to help Dianne up from the swampy ground instead. The backpack she was wearing kept the back of her shirt somewhat dry but her butt was muddy and wet. Everyone was asking if she was ok, was she hurt? I knew it would take a lot more than a fall backwards into the soft swamp to bring her down. The others were polite and didn’t laugh. One of our two guides, Geranio pulled out his knife and began picking leeches off of the back of Dianne’s shirt. There were only two and they were small. As a group, we pulled ourselves together and continued the journey. This is entertainment.Read more