Into the Jungle .

So Ecuador is really not cutting it for me. Maybe after chasing the Dakar around Peru, everyday was a challenge and filled with the unexpected excitement and sometimes frustrations and lack of hydration.  Now in Ecuador it is all predictable and the scenery is not spectacular as the rest of South America. Dont get me wrong it has it's own beauty but just not dramatic as I  expected.
They even drive like norml , unlike Peru, so there isn't even excitement on the road, which is a relief after driving 2600 km in Peru with some insane, suicidal Peruvians. The problem is one starts to drive like them and without there experience we had some narrow misses, not really narrow but maybe a little close for comfort.

I decided to head to the jungle, hoping for something different but knowing full well what to expect. We went east of Tena about forty kilometers to Grand Selva Lodge which is $30 a night with breakfast, it did have a nice pool, but a Lodge it was not. We went to an animal rescue shelter which was interesting to see and the boat ride was fun there and back. The next day I foolishly did a four hour jungle walk in the rainforest, those being the buzz words that are overused by everyone here, but sure sounds exhilarating. I see more animals in my garden than I did in four hours in the jungle, of course the day before they saw snakes and all kinds of things,  seems like that happens every tour I take, I guess I am going to have to go a day earlier from now on.

Got back to the lodge and had some lunch and then relaxed around the pool for the afternoon. We skipped the nightwalk in the jungle, the excitement of seeing god knows what was just to much for me and I would not be able to sleep after another thrilling jaunt in the jungle.
The following day we decided to leave and head south to Alaus,  only to discover we had a slow puncture which I got fixed on the way down for $3 and the lady only took like fifteen minutes and we were on our way.