jungle fever

The last week was different than the other weeks here in Montañita. The other day we came back from our spanish class and heard that there was a shooting right next to the school. Apparently two colombians got shot during the day. They said it was about drugs and mafia, even though this was the first time that it happened in Montañita. Right afterwards they said there is a tsunami coming to Montañita in the afternoon bc of another earthquake in Japan.
So the whole school was standing on the roof terrace of the school watching the waves. We weren't allowed to go surfing afterwards bc of the really high waves. I couldn't go surf anyways since my knees are totally messed up bc of the surfing the week before. Surfing is a great, but really painful sport.a) you can break your knees or b) you can step on a stingray believe me.. my foot wasn't really happy about it. it burns like crazy.
Our dive instructor made up for this though with showing me a living starfish which he put on my hand.

We also went to Isla de la plata, which is called the Galapagos for the poor man.
We drove an hour to Puerto Lopez and then further to the Island which is like an hour away...
On the way we saw the whales which are on their way to the south right now with their babies... it was amazing. We also got to see dolphins and huge tortoises..

On thursday we left for our long weekend to Baños, a city is the mountains of Ecuador..It is known as the "Gateway to the Amazon", as it is located on the Pastaza River in the Amazon River basin. The first day we arrived at 6am after sitting in the van for 12 hours and went straight to bed. But just for about 30min bc then they started roofing on the house opposite of our hostel. nice. Plus we were 10 people and they had 6(!!) beds for all 10 of us. Which meant that Nora and me were sleeping for 3 nights in a single bed. great.

But the trip was totally worth it.
We went to the jungle for one day were we swang on ropes over the canyon of the jungle, ate termites and lemon ants, which really teaste like lemons. Some of us did swing jumping, which is almost like bungee jumping...
Diego, our guide, was amazing. He showed us what to eat when we are lost in jungle (you never know, right?), which tree gives you shadow and how you can call for help...Then we got to swim in a sensational waterfall until it got dark... I wouldn't change it for anything. The way back was again a ride of 12 hours but one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.
Our little group was great and we had tons of fun. thanks guys!