Another mad week!! On Monday we were told we were going off into the jungle to collect leaves. I presumed this would be a simple task - I was very wrong! The sorts of leaves we needed to collect were giant palm leaves 15-20ft long! Not only did we have to cut them down, we also had to carry giant bundles over a mile through jungle terrain! It was great fun though! We did the same again on Wednesday but this time we had to go deeper into the jungle. I was quite happily carrying my bundle of leaves back when I looked down and saw a giant orange and black spider on my arm!! It turned out it was dangerous but not venomous…..

Wednesday was a day of activity! In the afternoon we sanded down the concrete walls of the new hospital in the village. That was hard work! In the evening we went to a birthday party of one of the girls in the nearby Shaur community. They were very keen to give us their chicha which is a drink made from yucca - the pulp of the plant is masticated by women of the tribe and then left to ferment. It seems to be an acquired taste but tasted ok!

We spent the weekend in Banos for Carnaval and it was pretty eventful!! I managed to trip over a large concrete block in the middle of the path and fell flat on my face and knees - very painful and now not a pretty sight! Then on Saturday morning I managed to fall down a flight of stairs in the hostel and my back is now giving me grief! I really am safer in the jungle!!! Despite that I still managed to jump off a bridge later on in the day. It was absolutely amazing! Everything happened so quickly that I have no recollection of the first part of the jump only the part at the bottom when I started swinging. Loved it!!!

The Carnaval began in the evening and we watched the procession - lots of dancing and pretty costumes. Then the spray foam came out! We became targets because we were gringos and got absolutely covered in the stuff!! Later on in the evening the flour, eggs and mud came out which wasn't as nice. We escaped to a café for refuge and were then ambushed by a large group of guys when we came out. They poured buckets and bottles of water over us and completely drenched us!! Nice!