Sunday morning was a 5:30am start. Just before sunrise we were off to a canopy tower to do some bird watching. The tower went up higher than the trees so we had a great view of the jungle. However that's how it stayed, it started to rain and not a single bird was out flying around.
After breakfast we took a sunny walk to a fruit field. Giant lemons hung from trees and pineapples grew up from the ground. One tree held strawberry shaped fruits and inside they contained tiny red balls with the texture of powder paint. Ecuadorians use them to paint their faces at festivals and Enrique set about painting patterns on our faces.

We set off walking again and just before we entered the jungle, Enrique stopped us and lowered his voice to a whisper.

"I need you all to be very quiet for the next 5 minutes. Its very important you remain silent. I want no noise as you walk along".

"Why?"

"There is a large drugs factory nearby and men with guns, tourists have been shot"

"Riiiight..."

"No, only joking, its because we want to see the world smallest monkey and we have to creep up on it"

We found the monkeys who looked like little rats, very shy but great to watch. We soon arrived at the indigenous community settlement where the Don lived. It was great, we talked to the monkey boy, played football on their pitch, watched the TV and drank cold beers from the fridge. Looks like even Amazon tribes cant resist the temptations of the western world.

That evening the guides showed us how to make a fire by rubbing a stick on top of another. After three of them struggled for 30 minutes they finally got the spark going and the paper lit. 'This is how we make fire in our country, how do you make fire in your country? said one of the guides. Someone held up a lighter and everyone burst into laughter.

Cooper Out in the jungle

Love Dan & Kat