From Quito we organised a tour to the Amazon Jungle for a few days. We took a very bumpy and uncomfortable overnight bus to the border of the jungle and then spent the better half of the day in jeeps and boats to get deep into the jungle, as far from any of the other tourist lodges as we could. After sitting in the direct, blazing sun in a boat speeding down the river for three hours we were questioning our decision to go to the furthest lodge, but when we finally arrived we were pretty happy with the place. On our way we even saw a huge Black Cayman lurking next to the shore, which the boat driver got quite excited about and drove right up close to.

The first thing we did after we got there was go on a night walk for spider and insect spotting. This ended with a tarantula sighting underneath our own cabin which had half walls and the floors were made up of wooden slats with large gaps in between them allowing free pass for anything that wanted to enter in the night. We were better off than another couple we were with who actually had a huge spider hanging out just above their shower head. Luckily dinner was yet to come, giving us time to adjust to the idea of our sleeping quarters. The night was not over yet though, someone then spotted another Cayman hanging out in the water just by our lodge. They are actually easier to spot at night time as their eyes glow bright orange.

Over the next days we went on various walks in the jungle and river trips to spot animals, including monkeys, birds, turtles and pink dolphins. After an almost successful piranha fishing expedition Sonja requested that we go again in the morning before breakfast and was happy to have finally hooked one. Jansen got pretty close a few times and even pulled one out of the water before it broke free and dived for the water.

The absolute best thing that happened, making the entire trip worth the effort, was collecting a sloth that was swimming across the river. Our boat driver, a local who grew up in the Amazon, decided it was in danger and fished it out with ease. We think he just wanted to play with it for a bit but were happy to feel like we were also helping it out. Sonja tried to help holding the sloth while the driver had to take us back to the lodge but it was surprisingly dangerous. While it moved comically slowly and any swipe it took at us was easy to see coming and avoid, it had impressively huge, long, sharp claws that could draw blood at the slightest touch. In the end, the driver was the only person who could confidently handle the sloth and took him to shore for us to all fall in love with while it slowly and clumsily used its awkwardly long limbs to crawl to a tree before suddenly moving with surprising grace as it climbed through the branches.