La Selva (The Jungle)

Max’s top 5 jungle favorites
1. night hike with lots of insects
2. zoo playing with rescued Amazon animals (leopard, wild peccary)
3. rafting down river on a handmade balsa raft
4. Dodo the pet female parrot
5. Monkeys stealing my popcorn in Misahaulli (a sleeping jungle town; our jumping off point for the Amazon)
6. seeing lizards
only dislike was giant cockroach sighting in sleeping quarters

Jamie’s (Bruce´s neice)top 5 jungle favorites
1. visiting a Quechua shaman
2. night hike
3. day version of the night hike
4. holding the leopard at the zoo
5. Hernan our guide and all his wisdom
Dislike: primitive sewage system and all the accompanying odors in sleeping quarters

Bruce’s top 5 jungle favorites
1. night hike
2. visiting the shaman who was sweet on my wife
3. riding in the motorized canoe 1 hour and a half down the Napo River (a river highway of the Amazon) and shorter rides to hikes and activities.
4. zoo
5. Our staff: Hernan, guide, Yahira, cook, David, boat navigator, and Miguel general care taker
6. Dingle the pet male parrot falling off the roof of the dining hut (apparently he can’t fly)
Dislike: trying to eat when Dingle was lurking.

Beth’s top 5 jungle favorites
1. cacophony of the night jungle and the absence of any human sounds
2. Visiting the shaman’s family and eating platino and palm hearts they prepared for us; hospitality of humble
3. the excellent meals that I did not have to prepare
4. Learning about the amazing amounts of plants and insects that have medicinal and everyday uses that the Amazon peoples have been using for centuries.
5. Hiking with our awesome guide Hernan
6. Going to the local market at the nearby town of 50 people and seeing a Huarani man and part of the daily life of the Amazon people
7. Yahira our beautiful, shy cook
Dislike: being repeatedly attacked by Dingle and pecked at on my foot.

Jane’s top 5 jungle favorites
Jane did not wish to enumerate her favorites. She said she liked everything about the jungle except hiking.