| Kayaking in the Amazon |
| After leaving Bellavista and spending a couple of days enjoying the restaurants and shopping in Quito, I went to Tena, Ecuador. Tena is in the upper basin of the Amazon jungle. Tourism is big in Tena, you can get tours of the jungle, see native villages in the Amazon, go caving, white water rafting, or my personal choice, learn to kayak with a... |
| Four Day Kayaking School! |
 |
 |
 |
| Ok, so I didn�t have a waterproof camera so I couldn�t take any pictures kayaking. Unfortunatly, as a beginner kayaker, I didn�t look like any of the guys in the above pictures, but if you look at the guy in the picture to the right and imagine him spending most of his day upside down in the water, that is probably what I looked like. |
 |
| Regardless of how difficult it was to keep my head above water, the kayaking school was a fun experience. I learned to do the "eskimo roll" which is a method of rolling rightside up after a current or a rapid has dragged you under water. I can eskimo roll well in still water or in small rapids, but it is really hard in areas with big waves. I also learned how to read the currents and the proper ways to steer and go down the rapids. I doubt I will continue with kayaking as it takes a lot of practice to become good at it and I just don�t have the time practice, and living in Oklahoma doesn�t help either. But I had always wanted to try kayaking so this course was a great experience. The school was taught by River People Rafting, a great family run company and the instructors are realy good. |
| Across the river from my hostel was a zoological park that I visited. The dangerous animals or animals that would hide all the time were caged, but other animals like most of the monkeys and birds like the toucan below were just freely roaming the park. The monkey on the right was tethered to a tree because he kills other monkeys, according to park authorities. |
 |
 |
 |
| This guy, whatever he is, looks threatening in this picture, but he was actually yawning. When I first approached his cage he came out of his shelter and climbed up the side of his cage beside me, he probably thought I had food. |