May 15: Deeper into the jungle!

DR. WILHELM:  Hello everyone.  Thanks for posting comments.  It’s good to know that some people are reading what we have been writing.  This morning was our first morning to sleep an extra half-hour!  We got up at 8, instead of 7:30 a.m.   This was actually good because we are all starting to get a little tired.  My cold started to turn into an ear infection yesterday so I went to go see a doctor who gave me prescriptions for stronger antibiotics.  The visit cost me a whole $15, without health insurance!  Last night Genni also took a slight tumble at the hotel and sprained her ankle.  I’m happy to report that both of us are doing much better today.  This morning we went to a zoo they have, which is basically across the river from our hotel.  They had a lot of animals and even a lookout tower.  I think the highlight of that trip was the zip line we all took at the end.  We just finished lunch and are about to log off for a day or so as we are heading deeper into the jungle for a weekend get away.  We’ll be traveling about an hour or so away from town to a small typical house in the jungle and spending the night on bunk beds.  Tomorrow morning we’ll take a walk to the primary rainforest, where we can see the canopy and different animls that we don’t see around the town.  Then in the afternoon we are going white-water rafting.  I’m really looking forward to this, since I didn’t have time for it when I was here three years ago for my initial research.  The area around here is one of the best in the world for white-water rafting because the mountains are so close.  You can do anything from a level 1 – 5 course.  The kids keep thinking we are going to do a 5, but I’m thinking a 2-3 will probably be all we will do.  After rafting we come back to the hotel to pick up our things and travel to a different hotel.  We decided we wanted a change of scenery so we are going across town to a newer place that has a huge pool and game area.  The room we are staying in is actually like an apartment.  It has 3 bedrooms and then a common room with our own kitchen.  We may try cooking our own dinner one night, now that we have also found the local market.  And the best part is that it is actually cheaper than we are staying now!  One last thing, the American embassy in Quito heard about our research and are going to conduct an interview next Friday, right before we leave the country.  They are going to highlight our project on their website, which will be a good way to end our trip and reflect on all that we have done.  Chau!

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