Aileen Friedman

2nd January 2016

Our fabulous hosts gifted Ali, me Michelle and Sylvie with a trip to Rio Blanco, a part of the Machililla Nature Reserve.
A 4 x 4 taxi drove us there – not too far from the hotel – on arriving our guide Danny instructed us to remove our shoes and put on gum boots. This produced much laughter and jokes especially when they could not find a pair for Ali, not because his fee are too big but he has a broad foot unlike these small Ecuadorians. Michelle found him a pair of size 14’s (UK), they had the steel caps and weighed a ton.

Off we went and sadly Ali’s knee hurt him so much with those boots he turned back at about the 2km point. The rest of us ventured on and after 4km’s of the amazing rain forest and no monkeys in sight we turned back. We stopped at a rest point we had rested at earlier and guess what – yep there were three monkeys. So in a total of 8kms we saw 3 monkeys, two mules, a few dogs and a Toucan.

It is incredible how many natural medicinal plants are in the rain forest – who needs doctors and pharmacies when it’s all right on our doorstep?

The biggest surprise was the fresh water shrimp in the river, unfortunately I could not get a photo in time before they disappeared under the rock but I promise you they are there. They apparently get sold on the market for anything from $15 to $20 a pound and far tastier than the salt water shrimps.

Before we left an awesome Ecuadorian meal waited for us to eat, it was so delicious and these precious Ecuadorian people made it even more special. An Argentinean couple joined us at lunch they had been on the tour as well with a different guide.

We are grateful that our hosts thought so kindly and appreciated us enough to gift us this tour, we have worked hard here.
Please pop over to our Facebook page to view all the photos and so much more of our travels.
https://www.facebook.com/AliandAileenMissions/
God bless