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.