Pictures are worth a thousand words but these can't do justice to how large these trees were in the jungle.
Fridays are our free days here in the jungle. Believe me, we need them! After a week of hauling rocks and dirt, visiting families, preparing messages in Spanish, hiking mountains in boots and a skirt and translating languages 24/7, I was ready for some rest- mentally and physically.
That’s when our contact, Ivan, asked if we wanted to go for a walk in the jungle to take pictures and see a waterfall. Um, who wouldn’t want to do that?!? Around here, anytime you can be surrounded by water, you go. The bucket showers just don’t make you feel real clean…
So I went. Katie and Glenn came too. Ivan said to wear our boots, so I wore my boots (plus, that’s what everybody wears anyway). I can’t say it was a stroll in the park, but it’s an experience I’m glad I had!
Thinking the waterfall was only a 45-minute walk, we were a bit concerned when we reached the 4-hour mark and still had seen no water. We went with some neighbor folk who were chopping down banana trees. It’s true, you really do need boots and a machete to get through the rain forest.
The terrain started out rather easy…grassy fields with some large trees. Just watch out for the random patches of mud- they’ll suck you right in! Then came waist high grass and lots more mud. I was sweating quite profusely at this point.
Then the forest- trees and animals I had never seen before. Tree trunks stretched to the sky but protected themselves with espinas or spikes. Birds flew from tree to tree and you had to watch where you were walking or you’d get a giant spider web in your face!
Just one of the many spiders I saw on our hike through the Amazon.
Just when I didn’t think the foliage could get any thicker, it did. We were in the jungle…for real. This is when I passed off the machete I had been carrying the whole time to a seasoned professional- an Ecuadorian. The gringos, well, let’s just say we’re not too skilled in the art of the machete…
They chopped and hacked our way through the jungle until we met up with a different path. We spent a bit of time trying to figure out where we were. That’s always a great feeling, when your native guides don’t know where they are and you’re too far in to figure out how to get back on your own…
They pointed down a trail and said, “Cascadas” or waterfalls. The three gringos looked down it and looked at each other. It was pretty much a straight drop, 90 degrees, and if we attempted to scale it, we’d have to hang on to the tree roots to keep from falling. They said it would get easier the further we went…right. The lady giving directions said she had done this with a baby on her back; I don’t doubt her for a second. These jungle people have some skills!
So we went. We didn’t die but we also didn’t find the waterfall. We only glimpsed it from the top. But, where there is a waterfall, there is a river. And a river means you can clean yourself up or just sit in the cold water to wash all the sweat off your body. And we did just that, before hiking back up the steep incline. In rubber boots. With a machete.
I’m telling you, my girl scout skills are coming out.*
It was a long walk and we never got to stand under cascading water but I wouldn’t change it. I got to see and experience la selva with the natives- it was better than any tourist attraction I can think of! The whole time I felt like we should be taping for the next Planet Earth episode.
Another jungle friend.
So, 6 hours after we left, we returned home to our humble little tree house abode to take bucket showers and share pictures. As I reflected on the walk that turned into an excursion, I realized how it reflected our walks with God.
There are times when all is well and all you have to do is walk. There are difficult times when you need a helping hand as you get your boots out of the mud. And then there are times when you need someone to carry you. Isaac, Ivan’s 4-year-old son, came on the hike. There were times when his father needed to carry him over obstacles in his path in order to make it to our destination. Our Heavenly Father does the same.
This analogy or word picture became the basis for my next message at church on Sunday. In true teacher fashion, I made some visuals and drew out pictures to make sure they understood my ever increasing Spanish skills.
Sometimes we don’t know what we’re in for when we start but we see how it refines us in the end. I’m glad to have been lost in this translation.
*I was never actually a girl scout and pretty sure they don’t have a “Machete Badge” to put on their sashes.
Marsha Van Ark, I posted the pictures of the bugs just for you. They're BIG aren't they? 🙂
Also, be sure to check out my video from Quito when we went up a cable car to the top of a mountain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v​=R_QVYTfVpas and my video on staying clean in the Amazon on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=732062670231&comments
