Ecuador Excursion

So today we did some of this

And this

It was definitely one of the most fun days of the trip. Zip-lining was exhilarating! We got to do 13 different runs for only $8!! I love Ecuador! There were super fast ones, one where they bounced the cable up and down so you were springing around just trying not to catch your neck on the cable, and one SUPER long one. Loved it. They also let us do tricks with the guides. I got to do Superman twice. I will attach a video of that so you can see it.

The other trick I got to do was “mariposa” (butterfly). Basically you are attached to the guide and I guess somehow to the cable, not really sure about that actually (hmmm. . . that’s kind of scary now that I think about it), and you are hanging upside down in like a big X (almost like a butterfly, hence the name). The butterfly one was a little scarier and more thrilling, but I liked Superman better because you got to just look down and around you and you really felt like you were flying. Awesome.
The best part was that after we were done, I realized that they never even had us sign a waiver or anything. Things are just so much simpler down here. I love it.
I was ready to do it all again, along with the majority of the students after we were finished, but we had a waterfall hike already planned so we jumped into the back of these trucks (that is kind of the mode of transportation it seems when going out into the mountains or out of the major city).
We took a tram ride over to the other side of this valley thing to start our hike. The “tram” was actually scarier than the ziplines! I think that it was probably at least 100 years old or something. Well, maybe it was not actually 100 years old, but it definitely looked like it was.





Then we hiked around through the Amazons for a couple of hours. The waterfalls were beautiful. It all just seems like a movie or a dream now because it just doesn’t seem real that there are actually places like this in the real world and not just in the movies. I loved it. Hiking back up and out we started getting a little bored, so of course we had to sing a few girls camp songs. Poor boys.

After the adventures, we had a 2 ½-hour ride home back through the jungle and pretty mountains and hills. I snuggled up to the window and listened to Screwtape Letters on my iPod. My favorite. It was a perfect set-up to contemplate my tiny little life and the universes. All in all, I would say it was a pretty darn good day.

A friend we picked up along the way

Okay the smile MAY be a little fake. . . because gross!!