Ecuador

We had heard that on any amazon tour you get to see lots of animals and straight away when we started the tour we were not disappointed. We got a three hour canoe ride along the Amazon and saw squirrel monkeys playing in the trees, anacondas relaxing by the river, bats sleeping on a log and large spiders in their spider webs before we even reached the lodge. It was quite spectacular. After a seista at the lodge we went swimming in a 'Grand Lagoon' while watching the sun setting. As we were returning back to the lodge we saw a caiman which is a noctorial animal coming out for the night. It surprised me how large the caiman actually was. That evening we got served a delicious three course meal for our dinner which was a perfect way to make us all sleepy and ready for bed.

The following morning we went for a four hour walk through the rain forest. Our guide Elvis showed us a wide variety of trees and plants that are grown in the forest. We learned about which plants were eatable and which plants were useful to make fires and shelters. At one time during our walk Elvis left us to try and find a frog and we got worried that we might have to make use of the survival skills that he had thought us and we had forgotten already.

After another siesta and dinner we went in the canoe to a shallow lake that had piranhi fish. Elvis used tiny cutes of beef to attract the fish before catching one. The piranha was quite small but he had the sharpest teeth I have ever seen. After Elvis put the piranha back into the water we left the lake very quickly to avoid anyone falling into the lake and swimming with the piranhi.

On our third day in the Amazon we visited a indigenous community and got a tour of their backyard forest area where they have bananas, chillies and ucka growing. We watched a lady cut the ucka plant and then make a type of tortillas from the ucka. It was amazing to watch as she didn't use any other ingredients to make the dough. After she cooked the flat dough on a fire we filled the tortillas with tuna and vegetables for a lovely lunch snack. Next we visited the local doctor who showed us how he heels local people using plants. One of the methods to heel a sore back was to hit the patient's with nettles which he demonstrated on Angus, an English guy from our group. What resulted was Angus' back blistering up for the next two days so I'm not sure how successful that ritual is.

Again after dinner we left the lodge to watch the sun setting over the grand lagoon before we went on a night walk of the forest with our torches in search of noctorial animals. It was very difficult finding any animals but Elvis had a good eye to spot some frog, ants, spiders and a stick insect.

On our last morning we woke at 6am for a river cruise in search of animals that are early risers. This was my favourite part of the trip and a wonderful way to finish our trip. We saw pink dolphins swimming in the river and a heron bird nesting beside the river. We stopped somewhere along the river and waited for a few minutes in silence for some animals to appear. Then we spotted a sloth moving in the trees above us, a group of monkeys jumping between trees and finally a pair of macaw birds singing in the trees. It was unbelievable. We didn't know where to look. We returned back to the lodge amazed by what we had seen. Unfortunately we had to leave the lodge after breakfast and head back to real life however I think that we will always remember the amazing four days we spent in the Amazon finding amazing animals and plants. It was an incredible experience.Read more