Back in Quito

Hi, so for the last 5 days or so of our time at Tiputini, we didn't have communal electricity, so no one could access the internet on their computers, much less write their papers for their projects. Oh well.

I just got back to Quito this evening (the 20th of Jan). I had a fantastic time in the rain forest. Here are some highlights (good and bad):

I saw a collared peccary, a 2-toed sloth, and a pink river dolphin, three things that are pretty rare. Also I saw some nocturnal monkeys (possibly called Owl Monkeys)

My camera broke while I was running with it in my pocket. Stupid me. Someone told me it would be easy enough and probably relatively cheap to send it in for repairs, so I'll try to do that when I get back to the States, but in the mean time, I'll have to pick up a cheap replacement so I can take a bunch of pictures on the Galapagos (I go there on the 24th!!!)

One girl got bit by the VERY painful Conga Ant. She's better now, though.

We went on a canoe ride in a little lake. The canoe was extremely wobbly, and we almost fully tipped over several times. All the while, our guide was telling us about the animals that live in the lake: specifically Piranhas, Caimans, and Anacondas. We didn't see any, but the water was VERY murky and we may have seen a muddy water cloud of a moving caiman. Also I think I felt something brush up on the underside of the canoe, but I suppose it could have been a stick.

The river rose a total of 4 meters during our 2 weeks there. Several lower paths were completely flooded, up past the rope handrails of several bridges.

We went up on the Canopy Walk, a system of 4 bridges that span across the forest canopy. It was super cool.

That's about all for now. I'll post pictures of things eventually. At least I have slightly faster, more reliable internet here in Quito than I did in the rainforest, but that's not saying much.

Happy Inauguration Day, everyone!!!
~Joey