Tena – 
Phew, yesterday I woke up several times in the night – even changing the sleeping position in the tent is not that easy. “Sleeping in the jungle” sure is an experience . I believe every muscle in my body is hurting and my legs itch from the sand fly( ? )-stings I got during the rafting, but hey! There is an incredible sunrise as reward!
Soon my stomach also starts to growl: Such hikes definitely stimulate the appetite . Shortly breakfast for champions is served: Delicious patacones and sausages, scrambled eggs, cornflakes and fruits… and coffee that can wake the dead
Today there is no abseiling planned. We will walk through a canyon which also has a creek, but no waterfalls.
After we have packed up the tent again, we start right away: It is now almost 9:00. A 6-hour walk awaits us.
It seems to me this time as if we would less often walk uphill and downhill. Nevertheless the track is not necessarily easy. But today we get much more information about the numerous flora by José. Between the huge mahogany and balsa trees there are also these absolutely strange little trees called cecropia (ant trees). Countless ants live in symbiosis in the hollow branches of this bush – if you touch the branches they will surface through openings to look for the cause. It is interesting to know where to find drinkable water and for what purpose you can use different parts of plants: From disinfecting liquids to insect repellents to natural colours, everything seems to have its use here. Some tracks of forest dwellers are also explained along the way. Numerous animals seem to have crossed our path before us: José shows us some snake, armadillo and even some tapir and ocelot tracks. Unfortunately we don’t see any of those animals. “They are definitely here, and they see us, but we don’t see them!” – I am certain of that… I don’t think I can spot a hidden animal in an ocean of different shades of green .
“We’re doing quite well in time”, says José, but I’m pretty sure that he would have been twice as fast without us – even though he’s clearing the path that had grown over again within a few days with his machete.
Leave me behind! The mission must go on!Mario
Along the way he talks about his son, who runs through the jungle just as recklessly as he did at young age: “He really jumps through the jungle like a monkey from tree to tree” – I believe him immediately. Thinking about the people from the day before yesterday who helped unload the raftig gear… If you can call the jungle your “playground”, you will surely be more sure-footed than we clumsy city kids.
Just 3 hours later we take a break for lunch in the canyon. Like yesterday, we simply eat from tupperware, but the content causes a real taste explosion. There is nothing like homemade . For dessert there is a delicious lemon/orange cake – definitely not baked with any artificial flavours – it contains fruit juice .
After a good further 3 hours, we reach the Mirador* shortly before the end of our strength. The view is once again breathtaking.
About 20 minutes of gravel path to be walked down: We let ourselves be more or less “guided down” by gravity and use the remaining stamina to tread safely with our feet and not to slip and fall. Shortly we reach once again the small clearing where the taxi which should pick us up is waiting for us. Manuel and the driver are leaning on the hood and are chatting.
Wow. just wow – That was a unique and awesome experience. Sure, very very very exhausting, but I want to do something like that again.
We say goodbye and thank them for this unforgettable experience. A short time later we are sitting in the back seat of the taxi. It is unbelievable what a great relief it is to take off rubber boots. Especially when you wore them for a whole day and they were full of water again and again .
Back in the hostel we stumble into the shower first of all. Then we drop onto the bed for a moment to recharge our batteries. “Rock Paper Scissors!”. Ena has to take the laundry to the washing machine. This is also a big plus for the hostel here: There is a washing machine which you can use for free (you only have to buy washing powder).
But before falling asleep we get up to go into town – we should have some dinner: In the “Carnela” we find what we are looking for. A quite cool restaurant in which apparently often live bands perform. Although the food here is a bit more expensive than at the other restaurants where we ate (18,75 USD), the location is more pleasant.
* Ena: You mean actually shortly after we had no stamina left, right ? We were totally beaten.
