breakfast, John and I said goodbye to our Dutch friends. They were a very entertaining group to be with, and it was a bit sad to see them go. A few new guests had arrived to Corto Maltes, but all in all the visitors were sparse and after the family left things felt very quiet. Of our original tour group, John and I were now the only ones left. No one else had opted for the 4 day tour I guess. So, we hopped back on the boat with Luci and our boat driver guy, who was barefoot during the whole day (I am amazed).
We arrived at the residence of a small family consisting of the Grandfather, his daughter, and her two children. Their home was on the riverside, and we had another interesting venture of climbing up a muddy cliff to get to it (in the photo, click to see enlarged version). It was beginning to rain, and the family came out to greet us. We began walking around as the elderly man gave us a tour of his property. They lived in a very small home and had dogs and chickens running around everywhere in the mud. They didn't harvest one thing in particular, and so the land was full of a variety of fruits and trees. I think that the two children, a boy and a girl, lived mostly in isolation. They probably didn't go to school, and only knew their family and the few people who lived around them. It was almost a 
little bit heartbreaking to look at the little girl and think about how her daily life was. I thought about how many opportunities and privileges I was given at her age, and how she will likely never have those same things. She is probably still happy though, because she doesn't know not to be. Despite that, I couldn't help but wonder how her life would be without an education, without access to medical care, etc. and it just reminded me of the stark difference between her life and the lives of spoiled kids in the US. The kids were very excited to have visitors though, and energetically followed us around while their grandpa explained to us what various plants or trees were. He let us try many of the fruits,
which John mostly did. I am very picky, but I did try a couple things! I was a little paranoid about eating some of the fruit because of the whole "you shouldn't drink the water in South America ever" thing, but we were fine. It was definitely a very eye opening visit for me, and it made me think about all the privileges and blessings I have, and appreciate them more. I don't think I have ever really seen firsthand a family living in remote poverty. Even without access to all the things we think we can't live without, and without access to even some basic things, they still manage, and still seem very happy and excited about life. It gave 
me a lot more perspective on things. The old man was a very chatty and happy guy and was really excited that John liked all the fruit he cut up for him. Luci translated for us, but I did try to say a couple things to him and the little girl. After we had explored the property, the rain stopped, and we went back down to the river.We were back on the water for almost an hour, headed towards a local village where the people literally live in straw huts and wear traditional rainforest clothing- like something you'd expect to see in a movie. Sadly when we arrived though, Luci discovered that the villagers were all missing and the place was empty. She told us they had probably headed to visit a neighboring community, which was a bit of a disappointment because I wanted the chance to see how they live. Luci had an alternate plan though, and so we headed down river a bit to a ma
n's house that sat by the riverside. Luci told us she used to come play here when she was a kid, and that she knew about a giant tree that was back in the middle of the forest. We got off the boat, and talked to the owner of the property. He had a fairly big lodge constructed that he lived in, and it looked like it maybe used to be some sort of dining hall for tourists, but I'm not sure. It was a very isolated feeling place, and surrounded by a very dense forest. As we began walking back on the narrow trails I envisioned seeing jaguars or huge snakes or something that would come attack us, but 
luckily that was not the case! After exploring, sweating, swatting mosquitoes, and walking around we arrived to the location of the giant tree! It was really wide and definitely the tallest I have ever seen. We got some pictures in front of it, and if you looked up you couldn't tell where it ended. Luci said it was probably 400 or so years old, and that her friends used to climb it! On the trail on the way back to the home, John reminded Luci of his desperate hunt for a custard apple fruit he loves known as cherimoya. She had the boat driver guy find some, but to John's dismay it was too ripe. To make it up to him though he decided 
to knock down some coconuts off a tree, and let John drink the milk in it. He chugged it down, but I took one sip and wasn't so sure that I liked it.We took some photos and said goodbye, and took a long relaxing boat ride back to Corto Maltes. During the ride I discussed Spanish bands with Luci, and I was excited that she listened to some of the stuff I like. Back at the lodge we had a decent amount of time to kill, and since it was still very hot, we decided to test out the swimming pool. It felt awesome, and I definitely enjoyed it. I could have stayed in the pool for hours, but after about one hour John was bored because he is not as into pools and sunbathing as I am-maybe it's a girl thing? We then just hung out, laid on hammocks and listened to music for a while. Then we 
headed to the bar and lounge room at the bottom of the lodge. No one else was there, so we just relaxed and played chess. John got a drink, and I tried to explain to the bartender what a strawberry daiquiri was. Once he knew what I was talking about he said they didn't have strawberries at the time, but he offered to make me a daiquiri of some fruit I've never heard of. I was worried I wouldn't like it, so I opted out. I was still slightly queasy from my illness so I didn't want to risk any crazy tastes. We had our last gourmet meal up at the lodge later, and I was a little sad about having to leave the next day. We went around and got some final photos of the crazy flowers, and of Pedro the parrot. Then we checked out the gift shop run by a family who lived at Corto Maltes, and I bought a little green bracelet. Overall today was a somewhat low key relaxing day, especially compared to yesterday, but it was still a great day in the jungle. Power went out at 10, so we had to pack our backpacks with the use of flashlight. Buenas noches!
(the video is of the huge tree) :
headed to the bar and lounge room at the bottom of the lodge. No one else was there, so we just relaxed and played chess. John got a drink, and I tried to explain to the bartender what a strawberry daiquiri was. Once he knew what I was talking about he said they didn't have strawberries at the time, but he offered to make me a daiquiri of some fruit I've never heard of. I was worried I wouldn't like it, so I opted out. I was still slightly queasy from my illness so I didn't want to risk any crazy tastes. We had our last gourmet meal up at the lodge later, and I was a little sad about having to leave the next day. We went around and got some final photos of the crazy flowers, and of Pedro the parrot. Then we checked out the gift shop run by a family who lived at Corto Maltes, and I bought a little green bracelet. Overall today was a somewhat low key relaxing day, especially compared to yesterday, but it was still a great day in the jungle. Power went out at 10, so we had to pack our backpacks with the use of flashlight. Buenas noches!(the video is of the huge tree) :
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