After our early night, we are ready to leave the Amazon jungle and this is Day 5.  It has been a long few days.

Birdwatching in the Amazon jungle

©Exploramum and Explorason – birdwatching in the Amazon jungle

We join the others at the bird watching tower after breakfast. This birdwatching tower is not a place to leave children unattended as it has a very little railing.

My son is however well behaved and always sticks near me. How gorgeous it is to see our wonderful Amazon jungle guide lifts him to see a yellow macaw.

World Schooling in the Amazon jungle

©Exploramum and Explorason – leaving the Amazon jungle can only be done by boat – there are no roads in this section.

Our wet clothes are packed in plastic and we are ready to go. As usual, my boy is at the front of the boat so he can glean information from the guide. Awesome greenery surrounds us as we motor the two hours back.

Nature All Around

Gorgeous blue butterflies finally pose for photographs. Bird nests hang from the trees, and we see a lot of various bird life too.

We meander slowly over partly submerged logs and our driver is a champion. I shall miss the lush beauty of the jungle but not much else!

Then another anaconda awaits us, and so does a water snake! It makes me glad to be leaving as I don’t like snakes.

Arriving back at the river border we can’t wait to jump on a bus as we feel so unwanted by some here.

We are glad to be leaving the Amazon jungle. We have encountered incredible rejection and child prejudice the past few days especially from one couple who “hate kids”, and it has left us intensely uncomfortable.

Bus To Banos

©Exploramum and Explorason – the winding road and river

We then catch a mini-van back to the bus depot.  So we purchase a ticket to Banos.

I am a bit shocked as a mother opens the window; then stands her boy on her lap. Next thing he is relieving himself all over the side of the bus, but I guess you have to do what you have to do when you have a child.

A Long Bus Ride

©Exploramum and Explorason – Explorason is exhausted from the stress of the past few days

Our bus trip is supposed to be 11 hours. Children sleep so easily and to me, I still see an infant in him when he is asleep, but for me, alas I get none.

Safety Tip

©Exploramum and Explorason – hanging a backpack on the rear of the seat aids safety

A travel tip is to always hang your knapsack over the seat in front. It is a good anti-theft strategy. It is also to keep it clean as people can become ill. You don’t want vomits on your bag!

Poison Ivy Rash?

As we near Banos, I notice my son is covered on his face, neck, and back with hives or a rash. I also have incredibly itchy lower legs and ankles that are driving me insane. I realize we are needing to restore our health so I decided to pay the extra as we will continue on the bus to Quito. We can stay a couple of days at our old hotel.  I have anti-histamines. I am pretty sure this is from Poison Ivy.

Thank God For Friendly People

We end up meeting a lovely lady on the bus and she talks more to us than we have had from any of our Amazon jungle group the last two days and I can feel I am deep breathing in the relaxation.  We share a taxi at 3:00 a.m. into town – a 14-hour bus journey in total and she ends up staying where we are. It is nice to hear her stories.  It’s lovely too, as we get our regular room back – our home away from home.

The next night as I sit and do my blogs, we meet a lovely and friendly English couple. I have just bought a bottle of red wine and ask them to join me so we sit and chat for a good two hours sharing the wine. They tell me of their adventures and I realize the world is full of positive people.

Reflection

My mother succumbed to cancer so many years back. She was kind, accepting, and lovely to all she met. A good example of how I would like to be to others. I think of her as one of my new friends share how his mother just passed away a few weeks ago.

Comments by Readers

• Have you ever been placed in a situation where you have felt rejected when traveling?  How did you handle it?
• Or, have you ever met wonderful people you just bonded with?
• What attracted you to that person as a new friend?