We left Quito on a bus to Teña at 6.15am. The ride was NOT pleasant!! Very windy roads and FAST!! First bout of travel sickness struck, but despite a little girl on the bus puking I managed to restrain!

We arrived In Teña for lunch, I managed to re-find my appetite for a very cheap and excellent set menu! It was noticably hot In Teña now we had come down in altutude. From Teña we left sat on the back of an open truck for 50mins into our Amazon community. We met our daddy, ´Delphin´ and all his family-sons, daughters, nephews and nieces, wife, sister-in law. His home consists of several wooden buildings on stilts, forming around 10 bedrooms, a dining and kitchen, 2 toilet blocks and a covered area for hammocks! Our beds had mosquito nets hung beautifully round them! There were lots of chickens running around, including some very cute chics! When we arrived we went out for a hour jungle walk in the rain! but it was still very warm!! Rolando (Delphin´s 23yr old son) made me an umbrella hat from leaves!! I also gained plant earings and a leaf tatoo over the trek!! We came across some spectacular views and learnt about some medicinal uses of the plants including having some mud facials from the riverbank. We tried some lemon ants which were yum! We saw a queen ant(massive) and sampled some several weird looking fruits. The rain stopped half way through the trek so we managed to dry off by the end thanks to the heat. We came back from the trek to dive in the pool near to our camp-just a natural pool in the rocks, a little chilly but refreshing and a good wash!!-we had to scrub our clay masks off!

Dinner served was vegetable soup then a white fish (similar to trout) with rice and banana frites, not forgetting some ecuadorian hot sauce! The fish was the tastiest i have ever had in my life!!! That evening we sat and played cards by candle light before heading to bed.

Next morning we were woken at 7.55am by the shell horn (conch). Breakfast was served at 8am: melon juice, hot cinnamon water, scrambled egg with plantane like cous cous and white cheese (didnt really like breakfast that much). We left camp at 9.20am for our longer jungle trek, all wearing wellies! Delphin painted all our faces using pigment from a fruit, to symbolise to the jungle that we are asking mother earths permission to enter the jungle and walk in her rivers-the jungles blood. He drew different symbols on each of us. The crowns around our heads represented we are all brothers and sisters, i.e we are family and the jungle is for everyone to share. We left camp and walked and climbed through the jungle-using ropes to climb waterfalls, jumping into natural pools, tasting cocoa from the tree (which tastes NOTHING like chocolate as we know it!) tasting an avocado like fruit and climbing high into the jungle on a total 3 hour trek. We were soaked through by the end after all the waterfalls and pools! We had a well earnt lunch served back at camp of passion fruit juice, soup for starter, chicken, rice, veg and potato for main with a pineapple desert. We were also served some nasty looking bugs called Zuri, which were deep fried! No thanks! lol. That afternoon we played a game of soccor with the amazon family boys. (i mostly watched!) After soccer we shown a Chamany ceremony by Delphin (the community Chaman-healer). We learnt about the traditions of the Chamany role and how the skills are passed down. He demonstrated a spiritual cleansing ritual, which consisted of lots of smoke and blowing alcohol onto the person. We were served more hot canelazo (alcohol)during the ceremony. We also learnt about community weddings and marriage and got to join in with the community dance! Delphin also treated one of the group members´ knee with what smelt like tiger balm, which massaged in lots and then wrapped is knee with newspaper! During the trek earlier two of the group scratched themeselves quite badly and Delphin trerated this with the sap from a branch of a tree which had antiseptic and healing properties.

For dinner on the second night we had beef with rice, yucca, beetroot and cucumber and desert more fruit. After dinner we headed out on a night trek looking for insects. We saw large crickets, large spiders, large stick-insects and a very large flea!!

We were woken in the same way the next morning by the conch. For breakfast we were served watermerlon, then pancakes with papya, banana and lots of maple syrup! THe family were selling t=shirts and bracelets with lucky beads to raise money for a comunity close by that were under threat to have a road built through their settlement.

After breakfast we walked to the local primary school (which Delphin´s wife teaches at). The children stood and introduced themselves in Spanish, followed by us (in Spanish!) They then sang a song dedicated to a biologist who died in the river (in the Amazon) and to who the school is now dedicated to and hence named after. Two of the boys then sang while the others changed into indigenous dress. They then all sang and danced and got us to join in! Next we played pictionary, first the kids had to guess our pictures in English and then we guessed theirs in Spanish! UP next was muscial chairs, because the kids provided the music when we first arrived it was our turn to sing! lol. We then headed onto their playgound and we taught the kids hoke koke, which they loved and found very amusing. We finished our visit off with a game of soccer, which was great fun! The kids aged from 6 to 10yrs. Their lessons are all taught in the local language Quechua, then repeated in Spanish.

We walked back to camp for lunch, our final meal with the Dephin family! We said goodbye to all the family after lunch, very emotional!! and left in the back of a truck to the jungle lofge, our next stop around 50 mins away.

We arrived at the lodge called Shangrila, which means paradise in English! The lodge and our room had the most stunning views imaginable over the rainforest and he river Nappa. We qucikly got changed and headed down to the river to go tubing (down a LOT of steps from the lodge to the river, we were very high up). They tied large rubber rings together in groups of 5 or 6 and floated down the river, firsdt the river Ansu then into the river Nappa. We had a crazy ´Senor Loco´paddling üs on our tubes through some small rapids for around an hopur. We also jumped off for a bit for a swim. We got picked up downstream and driven back to the lode in another open truck.

Dinner at the lodge that evening was chicken, rice and vegetables, with banana bread desert, juice and hot chocolate. Follwed by cocktails in the jungle bar!

Next day we got onto canoes on the river and headed to the animal rescue centre caleed Amazoonica. We saw McCaws, spider and capuchin monkeys, an ocelot, tortoises, a caiman, a peccary and a jaguarundi. A volunteer guide showed us around the centre, explainign each animals story. It was very, very humid in this part of the jungle/low-lying mountain forest. We took the canoes back to a village just outside of Teña where we had a great tuna and rice buffet lunch in an outdoor cafe on the river, before gettin the truck back to Teña. From Teña we got onto a coach to Baños, a 3 and a half hour journey, where we arrived alte afternoon.