Welcome to the Jungle

Recent weather: 60s-80s, intermittent rain
Recent reads: Luke, "American Assassin" by Vince Flynn (a real conversation starter with locals, ha!), "A Foreign Affair" by Caro Peacock, " In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez.

It's almost midnight in Mancora, Peru and my bus to Cuenca, Ecuador has finally arrived. It's just me, a German girl, and an Aussie couple hopping on. We hand our bags to the co-pilot who chucks them in the storage compartments and we board the bus. It's almost completely full and, with the lights off, it's difficult to tell which seats are available. I find a seat next to a snoring girl. If she's out cold snoring already, chances are my snoring won't wake her. I pull out my neck pillow, hug my backpack and almost instantly fall asleep.
I am bolted awake by the copilot yelling "Inmigracion!" Half asleep, I stumble off the bus towards the source of light at 1am. I wait in the "salida" line to exit Peru and then the "ingreso" line to enter Ecuador which move rather efficiently.
I walk back to the bus, step up and take my original seat. Immediately, I wonder if this is indeed my bus. The copilot walks by but I don't recognize him. Maybe this is the actual driver? I hand him my paper bus ticket and ask if this is the correct bus. "Cuenca?" He asks. "Cuenca," I respond confidently. "Cuenca," he says again, mimicking my confidence. With no reason to question it further, I take my seat again noting that the seat is exactly how I remember it. The foot rest pulls out the same too. There's even the "Sonrei :) Te estamos filmando" sticker above the door just like I remember.
And then the bus takes off. The bus is half empty and the snoring girl is not next to me! Now I know this isn't my bus. I immediately get up and tell the co-pilot that I am definitely on the wrong bus. "Cuenca," he says again really meaning, "We just went over this, gringa." Obviously, there is more than one bus to Cuenca. "Tranquilo," he says. He tells me that they can't turn around now but there is a spot coming up where I can get off and wait for my bus. Get off and wait on the side of the road for my bus at 2am just across the Ecuadorian border? I don't think so! As we continue driving, (I am now wide awake at this point) I see that we are on a fenced-off road with cones and lights directing us to a vehicle border check point. Convinced that my correct bus will have to stop at the same obligatory check point as well, I get off the bus. The Ecuadorian border patrolman points to a table with chairs where the other 3 military officers are sitting. I plop down at the table with them and they ask what I'm doing here. I explain my story sheepishly and they all laugh. They all guess where I am from, the majority consensus being Australia. "Los Estados Unidos!" I blurt out, first excited that I fooled them and then embarrassed again as I am now the stupid American tourist. They tell me this kind of thing happens every day and it's usually Australian girls who don't notice until much later. We all laugh about it and I feel better about the whole mixup.
Cars, trucks and semis pull through and each officer takes his turn checking them out. The officers recruit me to be their poker deal which passes the time but whenever I hear a vehicle approaching, I look over my shoulder wondering if it's my correct bus approaching. I know the Aussie couple, among others, were behind me in the immigration line so I am sure that my correct bus is still coming but as time goes by, my confidence level is decreasing. The patrolmen offer me a soda and a sandwich so I help myself.
A poker winner has been crowned and it's been an hour later so my concern is growing. One officer votes that I should have just stayed on the wrong bus since they were both going to the same city. Another officer reassures me that my bus is still coming. Finally, just after the guys brought out their 3am bowl of popcorn, my bus pulls in. I confirm that my backpack is in the bodega and board the correct bus. The driver looks at me and I get on. I tell him I got confused and he just giggles. Clearly he had no idea I was even missing. I find my seat and take comfort in the familiar snoring of the girl in the window seat next to me. I pull out my neck pillow, hug my backpack, and almost instantly fall asleep.

Once in Cuenca, I set out for an afternoon stroll. It's a cute little town with colonial and baroque architectural influences and lots of lovely graffiti art for my viewing pleasure. I visit a few museums and Inca ruins the first two days. Then, I start to feel ill. By the time the fever and body aches set in, I had quarantined myself to bed. Nothing worse than being sick except being sick in a hostel in a foreign country. Within 24 hours, I was feeling much better but ready to vacate the bed, hostel, and city that got me sick. On to Baños!

Pumapungo ruins 

After a 7 hour night bus to Baños and a subsequent nap, I was ready for some more nature. I rented a bicycle and headed to Pailon del Diablo, a waterfall. Well worth the trek.

Then, I was off to the jungle! On our way, we drove through a town called Shell, as in Shell gasoline. And actually, that's how the city got it's name. Unfortunately but not surprisingly, Shell used this city as its base when it harvested oil from part of the rain forest. Shell is one of the last cities with roads and has an important airport and school of aviation for flying to jungle cities.

We stopped at an animal rescue center along the way. Many of these animals were found injured and rescued but few will ever be able to be released into the wild again. Some of the animals are endangered due to various reasons. For example, there is an indigenous group that believes the penises of a certain species of monkey are an aphrodisiac and increase fertility. They kill the monkey, disintegrate the penis and add it (along with a whole concoction of other things) to women's cocktails in hopes of spreading their seed. True story. My favorite animals were the ocelot and the caiman. The monkeys were hilarious to watch but only because there was a fence between us.

Yes, that's a cow's head there.

So much monkey business going on here.

Fresh talapia: lunch is served!

For our treks, we donned our knee-high wading boots and made our way through the jungle, crossing ravines, wading through streams, schlepping through mud pits. At one point, we needed to make our way up a stream towards our waterfall destination but the water was going to be a bit more than waist deep. So, there we were, in just our swim suits and boots, with our backpacks above our heads, wading upstream. We made our way to several breathtaking waterfalls-partially because when the water is that cold, it really does take your breath away!

No filter needed.

These boots were made for wading!

Success!

In the jungle, we grabbed handfuls from a fallen nut the size of a beach ball and rubbed it over our legs and arms as natural mosquito repellent. I chewed on a fat stack of leaves with analgesic properties until my tongue was numb. We even rubbed clay from the stream on our faces to clear our pores!

Walking tree.

Let your mosquito net down and stay a while.

I was amazed by how lush the jungle really is. It sounds silly, but when you have the opportunity to look out at a vast portion of the jungle, the whole flat expanse of green is just overwhelming.

The jungle soundtrack would complete this scene.

Reflecting on an afternoon well spent.

Putting my feet up...

Once back in Baños, I did a couple more hikes with views of the city and visited the infamous swing over the edge of the world at La Casa de Arboles to round out my time here.

Not safe to drink but very nice to walk to!

Lovely little hike for a view of the city.

Sweatin' it out.

Don't worry, this is why I have travelers' insurance!

Next stop: Quito!