Kim, Aaron, and I just took one of the best vacations ever! We flew down to the Amazonian region of Colombia ~ right on the border of Colombia, Brazil, and Peru. It was amazing.
First we flew down to Leticia, a VERY tiny town, where we landed on a postage sized landing strip in the middle of the jungle and took a sharp left turn and stopped in front of the teensy airport. It started raining, which was pretty cool since we were, after all, in the rainforest! Then we hopped in a cab and drove down to the 'dock' where we had to traverse a slippery, narrow plank down to the 'boat house'.
Our boat finally came (it was not one of the canoes that we kept staring at, with just a little fear in our hearts....) but rather a motor boat that took us for an hour ride down the great Amazon!
The popular mode of transportation here is canoe. We saw lots of these!
We stayed in a gorgeous hotel in the jungle right on the bank of the river. The rooms were individual 'huts' with beds covered in mosquito netting.
It was a little weird because we only had power and water for a short time during the morning and evening. There was a cute little path up on stilts, like the hotel, that led through the jungle a bit to where the researchers (biologists, anthropologists, and others) live. Along the path we saw lots of cool things, like army ants and monkeys and cool kinds of trees.
We met some wonderful women at the hotel. Lexi and Vicky are from South Africa and because they didn't speak a lick of Spanish, they were given one of the researcher's assistants as a translator for their whole time there! We had a great time talking with them. They told us lots about South Africa including stories about nights in the bush. I guess one brother is quite the outdoorsman, fearful of nothing, and he is prone to climbing into bed when out in the bush without remembering the adage: when in the bush you must'keep your doors closed, lest the lions come in'!!!!! Yeah....... Actually, the girls and I (and Aaron) can't wait to go visit them and spend an exciting out in the bush amidst the lions and rhinos and, well, everything wild. And while we are there, we might even take in the World Cup!!!! Woo Hoo!
Anyway, the six of us hung out together and we even changed our plans so that we could enjoy the jungle together.
On our first day there, we took a canoe ride down one of the tributaries and spotted all kinds of beautiful moths/butterflies and birds, and lizards, and foliage.
The following is a picture that is to be savored, gasped over, and admired. It is the most elusive ELECTRIC blue butterfly EVER!!!! I'm not kidding. This incredible specimen was everywhere, but I (nor anyone else) could not capture it on camera! Well, except for this rare and amazing photo:
Did you see it? Amazed? Thrilled? Yeah, I know!
There was another blue butterfly that stayed much closer to us. And it was blue too, but not ELECTRIC:
But the best part of the whole day was our hike through the jungle. It was only a three hour hike, which back home was no big deal, but which here with the high humidity was quite the feat!! Our guide was Jackson, a local man who never broke a sweat! We first took a boat ride to the village of Macedonia where we looked at some local crafts and danced with some older women.
Macedonia is one of the little villages that was formed when the government mandated that people come in from the jungle and live together in communities. There were guidelines set for the villages: must have a church, town square.... I am sure that there are many advantages to living together, but I am also sure that there are some difficulties in living together with people from various tribes.
We had to walk through the village to enter the jungle. It was interesting to see how the people lived
and see some of the local children.
We even had the opportunity to watch someone carving the blood wood that is used to create some of the most beautiful animals of the Amazon.
The jungle here is beautiful, edged with majestic palms
and interspersed with tall trees that housed the 'backpack' style homes of "the smartest bird in the Amazon"!
Jackson led us through the dense foliage and across tree log bridges.
I even had a chance to swing on some vines!!!
Although we didn't see much in the way of animals, aside from butterflies, birds, lizards, and such, we saw lots of interesting trees and plants. The jungle really is a different world! One of my favorites was this tree:
As we approached it, I was wondering why the natives had placed all of those poles up against that tree. Then I realized that those were the roots!!! Bizzare!!!! But then there was the spikey tree!!! Scary!!!
And of course, lots of vines :-)
We did find this little toad right on our path. I thought he was so cute, I wanted to take him home!
As fun as it was hiking through the jungle, it was very hot work!
No, seriously.... we were all sooooooo sweaty ~ or as I liked to say, "shiney"!! LOL
We were so glad to be back in Macedonia! Especially where we got to play with a little baby birdie and watch a pet monkey eat a snack!!!
Lexi really, really wanted to walk and see the lily pond outside of Macedonia, and so, being the great friends we are, we schlept our tired bodies once more through a different part of the village to go see. It was well worth it, though, since we got some great glimpses of some kids playing hopscotch
and some very intense soccer players!
