Whitewater fun!

So when we arrived in Tena it immediately started to pour rain and did not stop until Sunday. It rains in the rainforest...who knew.

We struggled to get a taxi to our very nice hostel. Incredibly clean and definitely the best shower I have had in Ecuador. It was hot the whole time with this amazing water pressure. It was an electric showerhead but apparently I have tamed it. Or maybe my standards were lowered in Arajuno's accommodations without any hot water at all. It was wonderful...then we switched rooms the next night to a private room with alternating burning hot/freezing cold cycles...can't have it all.

But on Saturday morning we went rafting. We were going to do Class IV but all the rain had made it too big and dangerous so we did Class III instead but it was amazing. The water was huge. All the rapids weren't so much rapids as like choppy water followed by huge waves formed by giant rocks underneath. I sat in the front of the boat and it was amazing. I would stare at walls of water 8 feet high and think oh dear just don't fall out of the boat and we would break through with a spray of water. It was soo much fun. Then we took a nap and went out to check out the local discoteca nightlife. We made some local friends and they helped me put my salsa class to use...though with merengue and others thrown in I don't know if I really did my teacher justice. All the guides and local people were out. So it was really more Ecuadorians than dried off gringos after a day of rafting.

We just headed home the next morning after breakfast. Bus ride took a little detour when we missed our stop! The bus didn't go where we thought it did, but thanks to some quick thinking by yours truly we got headed back in the right direction.

Made it back to do some laundry before heading to an indigenous Kichwa community tomorrow.