WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, BABY

When I last left you,my dear readers, the sun was setting here in Tena, Ecuador. I was walking back to my hostel when all of a sudden I hear a ´tsss tsssssss! Jungaal tur??¨ I look over at a skinny Ecuadorian who´s enjoying a cold Pilsner with two of his short goofy-looking buddies. I show a bit of interest and negotiate a price of just $25 for a full day jungle hike including lunch. When I have a bit of trouble with the language barrier, out pops a tall white man from the back of the room. He´s the owner, a German named Yens, who´s been living in Tena for 14 years. He finalizes the details of my trip for me and  before I turn to go he insists I eat at his friend´s restaurant on the riverfront. 
        Dinner on the riverfront was a bit comical. There I was, the only diner in the whole restaurant, eating a whole pizza alone by candlelight. I misunderstood the menu. I thought I was ordering one slice, but alas, it could have fed 13 people. I also had ordered a salad, which in itself was another meal. People walking by on the streets passed my open-air table and laughed at me. I thought of my sister, and laughed too. She would have found this pretty funny.
         I settled down for the night in my hostel by 8:30 and finally dozed off to the sounds of the rushing Tena river and sounds of the jungle from the other side of it. I was awoken around 5am by sounds of screaming ciccadas and other strange creatures that hooted, howled, trilled, cried, and whined. I thought I also heard some roosters for a few minutes, but then they were quiet. Perhaps they got eaten. By 6am, the town was alive with human sounds and ¨Boots with the Fur¨ played on loud-speakers in the next building. It was time to get up.
            By 9am I was in a town 45 minutes away called Misahualli. (Mee-sa-wa- YEE) There I met my tour guide from the night before with his two goofy friends. His name is Hanibal Lektor, he says. He laughs, but his real first name is indeed Hanibal.They took me to a small shack where they served breakfast. The owners, a couple with an 11 yr. old son, looked at me and then at Hanibal. ¨Will she eat what we eat or does she want an American breafast?´ said the dad not knowing I understood him. I opened my mouth to say ¨American¨ but Hanibal beat me with the words ¨Make her what you have ready.¨ I was served scrambled eggs with fried banana and onions. It was delicious.This town is famous for monkeys hanging out everywhere, but I didn´t see any at all. Hanibal explained they were all at the beach stealing picnic lunches while unsuspecting tourists swam. 
               We met up with two German couples for the hike. They both had two kids, so there were us 5 adults and four kids. We all changed into knee-high rubber boots and were whisked away in a pick-up truck to the middle of nowhere. Hanibal revealed his machete and gave us an evil laugh. We all looked at the sharp edges and gave him a nervous laugh, yet we followed him into the Amazon jungle. The first 30 minutes, no lie, was paved. There was a narrow sidewalk right in the middle of the rainforest. I was rather put off by that and wondered why we even needed these stupid boots. Another hour later, Hanibal´s two goofy friends were hacking new trails for us with thier machetes. The mud was almost a foot deep and there were biting or poisonous bugs everywhere. I never got bit once. 
                 We hiked though the primary jungle for FIVE full hours. The highlights were swinging on jungle vines like Tarzan and climbing a 50 foot ladder up a 600 yr. old tree to a platform with amazing views. Then we hiked to an open pasture where there was a covered picnic shelter. It had an interior kitchen and Hanibal and his two goofy aquaintances disappeared behind the swinging door to cook lunch for our group. I wasn´t really sure what to expect, but when the kitchen door swung open and there stood one of the goofy guys holding a bowl of plain spaghetti noodles, I was about to cuss him out. I was hot, sweaty, tired, covered with mud, and absolutely starving. I did NOT want noodles!!! But Hanibal followed behind him holding another bowl. It contained a delicious chicken stew that was to be poured over the noodles. They also brought out a cucumber salad and fresh-squeezed lemonade.There we dined overlooking a view of the tree-tops.  It was a luncheon I will never forget. It was the kind of day that will never again be repeated in my life and I treasured every second. Tena and the surrounding area is starting to grow on me like a wart on your face you eventually accept as a beauty mark. 
                As the sun set I walked alone to catch my bus back to my hostel. A lone female monkey named Petty (¨because she like to be pet¨, a man told me) came up to me covered in beach sand. Thus ended an incredible day.