Fitio, Spiritual Offerings, Snake Attacks and more

So, the community turned out to be a very interesting experience indeed. My first week there, I took part in the Fitio, the ceremony in which men from the community go to the 'Casa de Fitio' (Fitio House) and make the hallucinogenic tea, ayahuasca (note, it is called ayahuasca when used with shamanism, when used with the Church of Santo Daime it is called Santo Daime, or Daime for short). Each fitio ceremony goes on for about two weeks, and I missed the first week which involved the gathering of the Jagube (the vine used in the tea) and the leaves and brewing of the tea. The week I was there involved more brewing of the tea and a final day was dedicated to cleanup. The process in which the tea is made is not only very interesting, it is very complex. Once the materials are gathered, the outside of the jagube needs to be scraped off with a knife. At any given time during the Fitio, there were in between 5 and 10 men, sitting on stools, scraping away. Then the jagube is put through a machine which shreds it, after which it is put into big pots along with the leaves in specific amounts. Then water is added into the pots, and the pots are placed over a blazing hot fire. I do not really understand the next part of the process, but I believe that the water is continually boiled down until the final product is reached. Daniel, the leader of the Fitio, told me that over the past two weeks 972 liters of Daime were made. Lots of this would stay in Mapia, but lots of it would also be sent to churches all over the world.

During my three weeks in ´la floresta´, I took part in several 'trabalhos' (works), equivalent to a mass in Christianity. The trabalhos range from few to many hours long, depending on the type. They consist of drinking Daime and either sitting and singing hymns, sitting in silent concentration, or singing hymns and dancing at the same time. Allthough the works were strange and I definitely got the feel that the religion is somewhat of a cult, they were very interesting and valuable experiences.

One night, I took place in an offering to the spirits with Tadeo, the man who helped me on the night of my arrival. We all went out into the jungle, laden with fruit, rice, sugar, crackers, bread, tobacco and more. As we walked, Tadeo stopped several times, apparently deciding whether or not we were in the 'correct' spot. After 20 minutes or so, the right spot was found. Tadeo told each of us to write the name of a deceased relative with whom we want to get into contact with on a candle seven times. Then we laid out all of our food on a bed of leaves, before lighting our candles and placing them infront of the offering. Tadeo then proceeded to chant and sing loudly. Eventually, he proclaimed it was time to close the offering and we all got our things together and walked back, leaving a huge feast for the insects and animals of the jungle. Then Tadeo gave me a cleansing bath, which both strange and interesting. We walked down to a spot right next to an 'igarape' and Tadeo told me to strip down. Then he told me to urinate into a bucket he gave me, which I did, despite my guesse as to what it was for. Tadeo took the bucket from me, poured a horrible smelling liquid into it, and started to chant while pouring the gruesome concoction over me. Once the bucket was empty, he told me to wipe myself off, making sure to wipe downwards. Then he told me to go into the igarape and completely wash myself off three times with the same bar of soap. Once I was done with this, Tadeo instructed me to toss the bar of soap over my shoulder. I did as I was told, but put a bit too much power into the toss and sent the bar of soap over the igarape onto the opposit bank, when it was supposed to go into the igarape. Whoops. Then Tadeo gave me a new bar of soap with which I had to wash myself off once more. I got out of the igarape, and tadeo poured another strange solution over me, this time it was warm and smelled really good, kind of like cinnamon. This second liquid made my skin tingle big time, and left me feeling clean and refreshed. And that was the end of my cleansing bath.

Another night, as we were walking back to our house after a work, we noticed some bats flying around in a feild. We decided to walk out into the feild for a closer look, and turns out there was an immense group of at least a hundred bats flying all over the place! Merle and I walked out into the center of the swarm, and these bats were everywhere, flying less than a foot away from our faces!

During my time in the town, I saw a total of four snakes. The first was a bright green tree dwelling snake that was right by our normal igarape crossing spot. Several people told us that yes, this snake was not only venomous, but deadly. There were about five local kids giving this thing hell. They were throwing rocks, sticks, bricks, and planks of wood at this thing and eventually they killed it. The second was a small, black snake I nearly stepped on on a jungle path. The third was a bright red snake a women brought over to our house, hanging it on the end of a stick after she had badly injured it. Yes, this snake was also deadly. The fourth snake I saw involves a very interesting story. Two nights before I left, there was a very important trabalho in the main church. After arriving, I sat down on a chair on a porch that is part of the church. As soon as my butt hit the seat, I felt something move against my side and give me a quick bit under my armpit. I stood up, half laughing, saying 'Something just bit me!' thinking it was an insect or something. Merle shined his flashlight, and as soon as I saw what was there my smile dissapeared and fear that I have never felt before flooded my brain. 'Oh shit, it`s a snake!' Merle said. There, half in the shadows, was the back half of a grey-brown snake slithering off the edge of the porch. Before I knew it the snake was gone, my heart was thumping like a heavy baseline, and I was struggling to keep a grip. I was so terrified, about to cry and go crazy at the same time. Was I going to die? A guy named Miguel told me to lift up my shirt, and I prayed that there were no bite marks. Apparently my prayers went unanswered, because Miguel started squezzing the spot where the snake bit me and Merle and John later told me blood was oozing out of two holes about three inches apart. That means it was probably a big snake, no baby you`d find in your garden. Then Miguel sucked on the spot for a few minutes, after which we all hurried into the main room to ask for help from someone who knows their snakes. In under a minute, I was surrounded by a crowd of at least twenty people, everyone trying to get a look at the kid that got bit by a snake. I spoke with multiple people who inspected the bite marks, and asked me did I feel pain, what color was the snake, etc. I was told that if I was not in serious pain, I was probably ok. One older women then took me to a separate room, rubbed some herbs on the wound and did some prayers over it for about five minutes. Another women gave me a small bottle of liquid, and she told me to put a few drops in my mouth every hour or so. For the nexy half hour or so, I half expected myself to start convulsing and drop to the floor, but it turns out I was fine. That was definitely the scariest ten or fifteen minutes of my life, and I thank God that the situation ended the way it did.

I ended up staying for three weeks. It was definitely an incredible, extremely interesting experience that taught me a lot of things about myself and about life. I was sad to say goodbye not only to the community, but also to Merle and John, who I would not be seeing for at least another two or three weeks. I know I am a little behind, as I left over a week ago but I will update again in a couple days. Tomorrow I begin the four day Inca Trail leading to the famed Machu Picchu, the great city of the Incan empire. I`m keeping my fingers crossed that I am blessed with a rain-free trip, but do not expect that I will get lucky. Adios!

Going DEEP into the Jungle

So, the flight to Rio Branco presented no problems, except for a five minute scare in which I thought I lost my passport. The flight got to the airport at around 2 AM, and there were no buses into the center. If I wanted to take a taxi to the center and stay at a hotel, I would have spent a ton of money, so I decided to stay at the airport. I befriended the two security guards, who took pleasure in telling me all about the area and about Acre, the state of Brazil I would be going to the next day. They showed me a spot where I could set up my sleeping bag, and I was out like a light.
The next morning, I got a bus to the center, then a bus to Boco do Acre. The bus was hot, smelly, and packed with people. Next two me, two little boys squirmed in their seat (singular) as I tried to get some sleep. Four hours and about a thousand potholes later, we arrived in Boco do Acre. Boco do Acre is a small town just of the Rio Purus in the state of Acre. That night I tried to figure out a boat for the next morning to take me to the small community deep in the jungle where I would be meeting my two friends, Merle and John.
The next day, I luckily met Marcio, a man that could take me that same day. According to him, the trip would take about twelve hours total, with a stopover halfway there for the night. At around 11 AM, I loaded my bag into his small wooden boat, equipped with a 13 horsepower motor. We cruised down the Rio Purus for a couple hours, before turning off onto a small river which would eventually lead us to the community. We stopped at around 6 PM at a small village called Fazenda. We went to Marcio´s friend´s house, ate some dinner, and hit the sack early (the sack consisted of my sleeping bag on a hard wooden floor).
We took off a little before 7 AM the next morning, and didn´t arrive until around 5 or 6 that evening. In total, was a long 17 hours. Once in the community, I set out to find Merle and John. I had an idea of where they would be staying, so, in the dark, I asked around for the ¨Hotel do Cidgey¨and eventually found it. Once there, I was informed that Merle and John were no longer staying there but Tadeo, the man working there, was more than happy to walk me over to the house in which they were staying. Luckily, on the way over to the house, we ran into Inca, the owner of the house, who told me I could also stay at her house. Inca is a kind, middle aged women from Columbia who has been living in the community for two years. She told us that Merle and John were at Oracao (pronounced Orasow), daily prayer from 6 to 7 PM. She showed me to the building in which Oracao is held, but said I would have to wait outside because I wasn´t wearing the proper attire. I waited outside for a few minutes, before a man came out and told me it was fine for me to come in.
As I walked up to the entrance, I saw Merle and John. Merle turned and looked at me, not recognizing me for a few minutes because I was still outside in the dark. Then his eyes lit up and he jumped up, came outside and gave me a big hug. John noticed I was there and did the same. They had been expecting me to arrive several days earlier, and both of them had been thinking some ill fate had bestowed itself on me.
We finished up Oracao, then headed back to Sao Joao, the house in which we stayed. Sao Joao is a fifteen minute walk from town that involved wading across an igarape (small river) and going down a nice jungle path. There was a bridge that went across the igarape the first couple days I was there, but someone knocked it down because it was too dangerous. It was 8 or 9 feet high, and Merle and John had not only broken a couple of the boards simply by walking over them, they had seen an older women slip and fall off because part of the bridge was tipped to the side! There is something I forgot to mention about the community. It is a community set up around thirty years ago by Padrino Sabastiao, one of the main pioneers of the religion, the Church of Santo Daime. Santo Daime is a religion that uses ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic tea brewed in the Amazon using a certain vine and leaf, as its sacrament. It is widely followed in Brazil but also has churches all over the world. It´s main influence is Christianity, with lesser influence by indigenous and African religions as well. The jungle town was originally self sufficient and had nothing to do with money, but since the death of Padrino Sebastiao in the early 90s, things have changed and life there is no longer as simple or self sufficient as it once was.
I have to go now to catch a 15 to 18 hours bus to Cusco, Peru. Expect another update in the next few days!

Manaus, The Jungle City and Isla Margarita, What a Pity

So, I ended up staying in Manaus for about a week. I kind of got stuck there and couldn´t get out. As I said, I was sick when I first arrived so I laid low for my first two days in the city. When I was feeling better, I walked to see the Teatro Amazonas, an old theatre in the center of the city. It was cool, but definitely not incredible. Then, I met Marcello and Carolla, a married couple that are friends with my friends Merle and John. They picked me up by the theatre and took me to their house for a nice meal. Then I met some of their friends in the neighborhood, and walked around and saw the area. The next day, I once again didn´t do too much. I took care of a lot of stuff I needed to do online, and that night I went out with two guys that were staying in the same hostel as me. It was a fun, but slightly expensive night. The next day, I went back to Marcello and Carolla´s house, where we relaxed and had another meal. The day after that was definitely my most productive day in Manaus. I woke up early, and went to a fair in the center with a couple people from my hostel. Basically, every Sunday a main street gets closed off, and people set up stands with all sorts of things all over the street. Many of the stands sold jewelry, while others sold Guarana (a natural, frozen drink made of nuts and fruits blended together), honey (accompanied by a glass box holding a bee hive), clothing, and handmade souveniers. Then, I met up with Renato, a man who I had met on the bus going to Marcello and Carolla´s house the night before. When I met him on the bus, he and his wife, Julia, said they would take me to Marcello and Carolla´s house because the bus attendent told me I was on the wrong bus. I was a bit apprehensive at first, but then decided it was fine because they looked pretty innocent. At first, I actually thought they were mother and son! Renato is a police officer, and Julia is a professional masseuse. When we arrived at their house, I asked Julia if she could take a quick look at my back because it had been hurting me the past few days. She ended up giving me a thiry to fourty-five minute massage, and my back has felt totally fine since. Then, we went to Renato´s parent´s house for a nice, traditional Brazillian meal. Then we went to Renato´s police base and he showed me all the horses they have there. After this, we went to Punta Negra, a nice beach on the Amazon river. It was really nice, and I couldn´t believe I was at a beautiful beach in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest! We arrived just in time to have a swim then watch the sunset, and after this they took me back to my hostel. It is funny, I met these people totally by chance and they turned out to be extremely generous, kind people that really showed me a good time. The next day, I attacked my problem of not being able to withdraw money, then spent time figuring out what I would do for the next couple weeks. I found out the self-sustaining Amazonian community I planned on going to was not what I thought, so I decided to go to an island of the coast of Venezuela to take Spanish lessons for a month. After my parents decided Venezuela wouldn´t be too dangerous, I headed off to the Island! I had a great time in Manaus, but my one regret is that I think I spent too much time not doing much. I could have seen and done a lot more, and from now on I will make sure I do not waste time.
In Manaus, I met a guy named Gustavo who is from the South of Brazil. He is a friend of the owner of the hostel I was staying at, and he was also planning on going to Venezuela. I told him I was going to Isla Margarita, and he read about it and decided to come with me. From Manaus we got a bus (about 16 hours) to Santa Elena, a small town just across the border in Venezuela. Six hours after our arrival, we got another bus (again about 16 hours) to Puerto La Cruz. In Puerto La Cruz, we got a ferry that took us to Isla Margarita! We got to Porlamar, the main city on the island, at about 12 at night and we just got a hostel and fell asleep. The next two days we spent relaxing on the beach, which was beautiful. The only problem was, I found out my money wasn´t worth half as much as I had expected it to be, so I was spending TONS of money. I was worrying about it the whole time we were on the island, and I decided to go back to Manaus with Gustavo three days after out arriving. The trip back to Manaus was long, and we arrived here this morning. I am quite annoyed about how everything turned out. I was really frustrated and worried about what I should do the whole time I was in Venezuela, and it made it hard to enjoy the beauty of the island. Now I am going to fly to Rio Branco and then take a bus followed by a boat to a the self sustaining Amazonian community. There, I will meet my two friends Merle and John. It will be good to see some familiar faces. Wish me luck!

Amazonian River Travel

The next day in Iquitos, I decided to go to the Belem market, a huge market filled with stalls selling anything and everything you can imagine. There was turtle meat, capibara legs, crocodile legs, huge snails, chicken, many different types of fish, all sorts of medicinal herbs, hardware, local handmade crafts, animal pelts, all sorts of fruits, icecream, prepared food, and I even saw a stand selling live animals! This stand had several different types of monkys, birds, and it also had two kinkachoos. I was SO close to walking away with about five monkeys. I felt so bad for them. The vendors didn´t handle them with too much care, and they were kept in tiny cages and boxes. After the market, I went to a place called the ´Serpentario´ via a collectivo in boat form. It was really cool. This place had a bunch of animals and I got to handle all of them. There were numerous types of monkeys, HUGE anacondas, something called an ancient turtle, sloths, and a capibara (the largest rodent on the planet, it is basically just a giant guinea pig). So, I left Iquitos and caught a 9 or 10 hour speed boat to the triple frontier between Brazil, Columbia, and Peru. It was an interesting but for the most part unenjoyable ride. The night before, I woke up and got really sick from food poisoning. Then, right as I was ready to fall back asleep like a brick, I checked the time and saw it was time to pack my bags and head over to the dock! It was not exactly a nice wake up call. I caught my boat no problem, and wanting a nice view of the river, chose the seat in the very front of the boat. Bad choice. I got slammed up and down for the first two hours. Not only this, my seat was right next to the door that was at a 45 degree angle, and I got quite wet from water spraying up on the boat and dripping down through the cracks at the sides of the door. I got my exit stamps no problem, and got to Leticia, Columbia at around 6. Leticia was a pretty cool place, but I didn´t spend much time there. The next day, I left Leticia and went to Tabatinga, a town in Brazil within walking distance of Leticia. Cool thing is, the first time I entered Brazil I did it entirely by foot! In Tabatinga, I found the cargo boat I would be taking to Manaus, Brazil. The boat wouldn´t leave for two more days, but I bought my ticket and strung up my hammock and slept there because it was free. I didn´t do too much over the next two days. I was still feeling slightly drained from the food poisoning, so I took it easy.The night before the boat left, I experienced a true Amazonian storm. It started pouring rain, and did not let up for a couple hours. The thunder and lighting was crazy, and I heard two consecutive blasts of thunder that were definitely the loudest I´ve heard in my life. The four day boatride was a crazy experience. I was in my hammock in a big, open floor that was absolutely packed with people doing the same thing. I had been expecting small portions of boring food, but surprisingly, the food was really good. My typical day on the boat consisted of Portuguesse practice, reading, chatting, writing in my journal, and Capoeira. Capoeira is a Brazillian martial art/dance, and I met a Columbian guy named Alex who is travelling throughout Brazil to train in Capoeira. Every day, he, an 11 year old kid named John, and I would go to the top deck in the morning and in the night and have some fun. I was by far the worst one there, and both of them took time to teach me some of the basics. I also met several other interesting characters. There was Lloyd, a 30 year old Australian guy travelling with his surfboard who works in consulting under half of the time and travels the other half. Another guy was Dustin, a 25 year old guy from California that just got his Masters degree in teaching and is taking some time off to travel. Another nice guy was Keneji, a Brazillian guy who is in the army. Not only did he tell me some crazy army stories, he insisted upon giving me a pair of his military issue camoflage pants. Yesterday, we arrived in Manaus around 8:30, and I decided to sleep on the boat one more night to yet again avoid paying for a room at a hostel. I haven´t yet seen much of the city because once again I´ve been sick, but tomrrow I will definitely get out and see some of the sights!

Bienvenidos a Peru

The first weekend after arriving at the second animal rescue center, I decided to try some ´street meat´ for the first time. I asked a woman what type of meat she was cooking and she said ´carne de res,´ beef. I got some, and I noticed it was tubular and I thought this was strange but did not think much of it. I ate some, and it was extremely chewy and rubbery and tasted very fatty. I asked a local what it was, only to find out that I was eating intestines!
My time at Santa Martha Flor de la Amazonia was gone before I know it, and I was sad to say goodbye to my fellow volunteers, the animals, the center, and Gloudina. I left Santa Martha on Saturday around noon, and did not stop moving until around 4 or 5 the next day in Piura, Peru. In total I took 4 buses that were 2, 3, 11, and 9 hours long.
The next day I left Piura because it was not very nice and went to a city called Chiclayo. I got to Chiclayo in the late afternoon, and decided to check out the nearby beach. The hostel manager told me the best economic way to get there was via ´collectivo.´ The collectivo experience was an interesting one that I would have many times in the next couple days. Collectivos are basically just large minivans run by two people. One is the driver, and the other collects the fairs and constantly screams the collectivo´s route out the window to passerbys. People get PACKED into these things. Once or twice I was one of twenty-three people crammed into the small space. I was also once in a collective that had two many people in it, and we got pulled over by a cop. The guy that collects the fairs just gave the cop ´una propina,´ a tip, and we were on our way. I thought this was hilarious, and everyone started cracking jokes and making fun of the cop, who started to say something about how the police are not controlled by money. Haha. The beach was nice but cold, so I did not stay for long.
The next morning I headed out early to go to the Museum of Senor Sipan, a pre Incan ruler who is called the ´Peruvian King Tut.´ He was ruler of the Machica culture that was prevalent from the first century AD until the seventh century. The museam was really cool, but, unfortunately for me, lacked English translations. This guy was buried not only with tons of riches, but tons of people were killed and buried with him. After I saw this museum, I went to the ruins of Tucume which consist of twenty six pyramids. These ruins were incredible, and totally by chance, I met two girls from Denmark there that I had met on the bus from Ecuador to Peru two days before.
The next day I saw other ruins, the ruins of Sipan (the actual tomb of Senor Sipan), and then caught a 10 hour bus to a city called Chachapoyas that night with a guy from Holland I met the day before. During this busride, we were delayed for about an hour because it rained throughout the night and the road was blocked because of a landslide! This did not make me feel to good or confident in Peru´s public transportation, and I was somewhat uneasy later when we were driving over a muddy part of the road without a guardrail next to a steep hill with a raging river at the bottom.
In Chachapoyas the next day, we did a tough four hour hike up to some more ruins, called Kuelap. Kuelap is a pre Incan fortress located in a crowd forest, and it is not touristy at all. While Machhu Picchu gets hundreds of tourists per day, there were only nine people at Kuelap on the day of our arrival. That night, we stayed up at Kuelap in the house of one of the guards, and it was quite the experience. The house was extremely simple, for example there was no lighting, the bathroom was merely a hole in the ground outside, and the walls separating rooms consited solely of plastic hanging from the ceiling. The only problem with this excursion was that I got quite sick from the altitude, and I was also suffering from some serious diarrhea. My head was throbbing, and all I wanted to do was sleep.
The next day I left Kuelap and that night I got a collectivo and then a bus to a town called Tarapoto. I got to Tarapoto at around 6 in the morning, and I flew out of Tarapoto to Iquitos at 3:30 later that day.
Iquitos is an awesome city, and it holds the title of the world´s largest city that cannot be reached by road! The only means of getting there are by air or by boat. When I left the airport, I was asked by about fifteen different guys if I wanted a taxi. It was crazy how persistant these guys were. I checked into a small hostel near the center of the city, and didn´t do much that night because I was sick.
The next day, I went out with the hostel´s receptionist, Gerson. He took me to his neighbourhood and we walked around, relaxed, played lunch with some locals, and ate a delicious meal cooked by Gerson´s mother. I was DEFINITELY the only gringo in the area. It was kind of annoying, everyone was staring at me as I walked down the street. I literally saw a couple people turn around in their seats to watch me. It shows that they obviously don´t see foreigners very often. I was extremely to surprised to hear from Gerson that he was thirty years old and his wife was only sixteen, and pregnant! When I asked him why his wife was so young, he said that it is very normal for young girls to marry men that are much older in the jungle. That night I went out with another guy to the center plaza, where a clown would be performing. It turned out to be much more than that. There were tons of people there, many different types of acts, and many stands selling various items. I also found a little shop that I both loved and hated at the same time. It sold all sorts of things made from animal parts. Some of the items included masks made from turtle shells, big smoking pipes with attached monkey skulls, the pelt of some sort of large cat, various animal skulls, a toucan´s beak, and a dragon made entirely of animal parts. The stuff was so cool, but it was also very sad to see these things. I´m not sure when, but in a couple days I will be catching a speed boat down the Amazon river to Leticia, a town on the boarder of Brazil, Columbia, and Peru! It should be pretty cool wish me luck!

Santa Martha Flor de la Amazonia

So I left Banos early on the morning of the first of October. I took a bus to Puyo, which was about 3 hours away, where I had to find the bus that would take me to Santa Martha Flor de la Amazonia, the second animal rescue center. I got there no problem, and waited about 45 minutes to get the bus. The center is located 35 km into the Amazon, and it was pretty crazy getting there and seeing where I would be for the next two weeks. The center coordinator is Gloudina, a women in her mid-twenties who was born in South Africa but grew up in Barcelona, Spain. She is really nice and excited about what she is doing. This center is MUCH different from the first one. For starters, its located in the rainforest as opposed to the mountains. Secondly, where there were many big cats at the first center, there is only one small cat here called a Margay. Thirdly, the second center has 15 or 20 monkeys, where there were only 3 at the first center. We also have 2 kinkachoos (viscious, nocturnal animals), 1 coati, 6 peccaries (a type of pig), 3 tortuses, 3 macaws, and many parrots. The schedule at the second center was much more relaxed than the one at the first center, and as a result I had much more free time for reading and spanish practice. Most days, we would work from 8 until around 10 cleaning cages and feeding the animals. Then we had a half hour break, after which we would work until 12. During this time we would either improve cages, dig out fish ponds for the community, or chase escaped pigs back into their pen. During lunch time after I ate, I would usually rest up in a hammock with my book or just sit and hang out with the other volunteers. We would start work again at around 2:20 and finish at about 4. One thing this place had in common with the first volunteer center was the diverse group of volunteers. When I was there, there were two Americans (including myself), two Australians, one swiss girl, five Brits, one Italian women, a french girl, and a girl from New Zealand. Most of them were backpacking around South America like me, but some of them were working at the center long term.
On the first Thursday I was there, we all took the bus to El Triunfo, a nearby town, and played some of the locals in game of soccer. We were initially up 3 to 1, but in the end we fell apart and they beat up 6 to 4. Afterwards, we, the losers, followed customs and bought a crate of beer for ourselves and the winning team. Everyone enjoyed a beer together and then we caught the first bus back to the center.
During the first weekend, I decided to stay at the center to save some money. On Saturday, I went for a jungle hike with Armando, a man in the family that works closely with the center. After about a half hour of walking down a path, Armando cut straight into the bushes, hacking a path with his machete. We climbed down steep hills, walked through chest high grass, and walked down a river surrounded on either side by high, natural rock wall. He also took us to a small waterfall and, after being assured by Armando that the water was safe, I stripped down to my boxers and jumped in the small pool underneith it.
I have more to say, but I have to catch an 8 hour bus to Piura, Peru, in 15 minutes. In the next couple days I will write another post, and, as long as I can find an internet cafe with fast internet, I will put up some photos.

The Hellish Volcano and More

So, as you can probably guesse from the title, cotaopaxi was very difficult. We had a one hour hike to the refuge, and that alone proved to be tough. then we chilled out all day and got in bed at around 7 or 8. At 11:30, we were woken up by our guides and knew that the ascension would soon begin. We ate breakfast (the earliest ive ever had) and left the refuge by 1 in the morning. It looked like a movie. 12 figures, all with headlamps, slowly hiking into the darkness. Once we got to the glacier (the majority of the hike was over ice) we strapped on our cramp ons (basically just spikes on the soles of your feet) and started up. the guides taught us a couple different techniques of walking with the cramp ons and split us up into groups. after an hour or so we started on a steep part that lasted for ever. we finally made it to the top of that, and continued on. The wind picked up, and soon it got a lot colder. The last hour was the hardest part of the upward half of the climb. I felt like my legs were on fire and my lungs would explode. All I wanted was a nice, full breath of oxygen, but could not get one. Once we got to the top, I just fell over and continued my panting. A couple minutes later I started to appreciate the view. I could see so far into the distance. It was incredible. We were well above the clouds, and could see mountains poking through them. We only stayed for five or ten minutes because it was too cold and windy. The was down was by far, the worst part of the day. We were all exhausted, but we had to keep goign and get back down. We had to break every ten or fifteen minutes we were so tired. Our exhaustion also made it slightly more dangerous. I did not fall over once on the way up, but on the way down I fell over at least three times. All in all, I am glad I did it but I don´t think I´ll be doing anything like it anytime soon. Our last week at the animal shelter was fun. It was Merle´s birthday on thursday, so everyone at the shelter celebrated that night in the ¨party room.¨ The Ecuadorian tradition of whipping the birthday boy as many times as he had years of life was carried out. We left Santa Martha fully satisfied. We were sad to go yet ready to move on. We spent this weekend in Banos, a small town about 3 hours south of Quito. It is such a sweet place, but quite turisty and full of gringos. On our first day, we spent the evening in one of the town´s hot springs, that supposedly, are heated completely by a near by volcano. Yesterday, we watched the Ireland v. Argentina World Cup Rugby match in the morning (it was a slaughter by Argentina) and then went white water rafting. Last night, we decided once again to hit up the hot springs. It was much nicer last night because there weren´t half as many people as there were on Saturday night. While there, we were each given plastic cups by two little girls, who then proceeded to get cold water from the shower and dumped it on our heads. A water fight resulted, and the two little girls were sad to see us leave. This morning, I will go to Santa Martha Flor de la Amazonia, the sister animal shelter of the one i previously volunteered at. This one is thirty five kilometers into the Amazon, and should be just as good as the last shelter. Merle and John are going to a small village deep in the Amazon to learn the Amazonian way of life. I don´t think there is internet at the animal shelter, so I will probably be out of contact for a week or two. Adios!

Ecuador!!!

My flight on the 17th was the most hectic one I have ever had. Upon checking in at JFK, I found out that in order to pass through customs in Ecuador, a return ticket was required. This led to a good 45 minutes of stress, which ended in my purchasing a $450 plane ticket. I checked in and passed through security, after which i sprinted barefoot to my gate, boots in hand and worry in my mind. I got on the plane in time, and found out that I had been mysteriously upgraded to Business class. Cheers! Upon my arrival in Quito, I could not find my bag on the carousel. Much to my dismay, I learned that my bag was late and did not get on the plane in New York. Instead, it was flown to Salvador, Brazil. After 2 days and 2 trips back to the airport, I had my enormous bag full of gear and I felt ready to go face whatever lay in my path. Quito is unbelievable. Its a long and skinny city snuggly nested in the Andes. We had a great two days in Quito, walking around the city, visiting churches, playing pool and foozball in Finn McCools (a homie Irish pub), taking a cable car to a mountain overlooking the city, and checking out the city´s night life.After our time in Quito, we took a bus to Tambillo, a town about 45 minutes south of Quito. We came to Tambillo to volunteer at Hicienda Santa Martha, an 120 acre animal shelter in the hills of Tambillo that takes in badly treated animals with the goal of eventually setting them free. After the bus (which cost 55 cents) we took a cab (a white pickup truck) up to the animal shelter. We sat in the bed with our bags and the two daughters of the taxi driver. We conveniently arrived at the center a little while before dinner, and we met the people we are sharing a house with and Lean, the coordinater of the center. The next morning we were given the grand tour, and I couldn´t have been any happier. Lean showed us all of the animals, including 13 lions, a jaguar, a puma, 3 ocelots, 2 andean bears, HUGE tortuses that are over 100 years old, more birds than you can imagine, mammals that you´ve never heard nor seen of, 2 porqupines, and a howler monkey. At one point in the tour, we were walking by one of the four lion enclosures when a huge, aggresive male lion leaped on the fence and started roaring at us, a mere two feet away. This thing wanted to KILL us. Due to the tall grass surrounding the fence, I did not see the lion before he jumped up, and as you can imagine I was shocked. We have been spending our time at the station clearing out an area for the new jaguar cage, cleaning animal cages, and feeding the animals. The coordinater, Lean is an amazing character. He is a 6´5´´ 29 year old from New Zealand, and he has been working at the station for about 3 years. He does things like take the puma for walks and roughhouse with two of the lions that grew up in his bedroom. We have the weekend off, so Merle, John, 5 other volunteers and I are going to climb Cotopaxi, the highest active volcano in the world. It is situated about 2 hours away from Quito, and its peak is 19347 ft. high! Today, we paid for our guides and rented equiptment, which included heavy duty boots, clamp ons, and ice axes. At first we thought this would be a difficult but managable hike, but as it turns out this is a climb that only offers success to about 50% of those who try to reach the top. We are all quite excited, but have some doubts about whether or not we will be able to handle the altitude. Wish me luck, and hasta luego.