The Night Hike in the Amazon

The last night in the Amazon was the night we took a hike through the jungle. First we looked at fungus’ that glowed in the dark. We had to turn off all our lights in the middle of the scary rainforest. I didn’t like it. Then we looked at butterfly larva that also glowed in the dark. After that we went to a huge tree used for canopying. We saw a very big spider then my uncle saw a black scorpion. Then we walked around the tree and saw three more spiders. We went closer to the river and saw a couple caiman. Then we saw a toad twice as big as any I’ve seen in the states, it was as big as a small dog. My cousin Damon stepped over a log with a tarantula on it. Next, I almost stepped on it but I saw it and I started hyperventilating then the guide told us it was the type people kept as pets. Then we saw a cool camouflage spider  called the hunter. My cousin Elena and I saw a frog about 3 inches smaller than the toad. Elena started freaking out about a small spider, it was  funny.

Humming bird in nest that we could watch sitting on the toilet

- Andrew

The Amazon

While our cousin, Andrew, was here we took a trip to the Amazon. We flew into a town called Leticia in the south of Colombia. When we were landing it was really cool because there were so many trees, so green and thick. The Amazon. It was a small airport, and going out of it we were greeted by a little boy holding up the sign with our name on it. We hopped in two taxis and went to the boat. It was a pretty good boat, it was long with a motor at the back and a cover over the top. We were stopped pretty soon into the trip at a checkpoint. It took a while and it was really hot because we weren't moving and getting a breeze. Soon we were on our way again and it took about 20 minutes to get to the house boat we were staying at for the night. It was a house type thing floating on top of the water, and a good size. The whole downstairs was a kitchen, tables, and hammocks. The whole house had open walls. We dropped off our stuff and then rode in the boat to some stairs a few meters away to see something (we weren't quite sure what). We walked down a little path until we saw a monkey. The guide said we could hold it, so Dad picked it up and it hung around on him. I was right next to Dad and I wanted to hold Martin, the monkey, so Dad let me. It climbed on my arm to my shoulder, then suddenly decided it wanted to climb down the back of my shirt! I tried to stop Martin at first, but it didn't work so I just made sure he could get out. The others also held him...he was really cute. We continued walking and Martin walked with us. We got to a little hut thing and there were two macaws. I got to hold both of them on my arms, they were heavy! but they were also pretty. We kept on walking with Martin following along...Martin also rode on Dad's shoulders a lot, he really liked Dad! We finally got to the place and saw giant lilly pads. They were huge, and there were a few with red or white flowers. When the flowers first opened, they were white but after a day they would darken to pink. They are the biggest lilly pads in the world. On the way back we had to go over a little wooden bridge. Andrew didn't like Martin, and he was still following us. Martin got on the bridge before Andrew and blocked his way...for a minute he couldn't go because he couldn't get past Martin! We went back to the house boat and got some dinner, then played games before bed. Dad slept in a hammock but the rest of us slept in beds. They all had mosquito netting around them.

The next morning we got up, ate, and went on another boat similar to the first. For about four hours we were on it. We travelled on the Amazon to another river off the Amazon. We got to see dolphins. Mostly they were gray dolphins that we saw because gray dolphins like to jump more than pink ones, but we did get to see pink dolphins too. It was very cool. When we got to the next place, deeper in the Amazon, we took our stuff up. There was a big hut with a kitchen and tables, and on three sides of the outside were hammocks and chairs. When we weren't doing anything during the day, I would relax in one of the hammocks reading a book. To get to the huts where people stayed, you walked down a zigzag wooden path. Our hut had a little porch and on the inside it had a bed with mosquito netting in each corner. There were some stairs to an upstairs with one slightly larger bed (I was kind of glad I didn't get a bed upstairs because it would be closer to the hundreds of spiders living in the ceiling...we did see a huge one up there). Out the back was a line of three sinks in front of a bathroom on the right and a shower on the left. Luckily the bathroom had less spiders than the shower (considering I had to use it more often). Back in the main building, we went out back and discovered some ducklings. We held them and they were soft. We then went piranha fishing, and paddled out in a wooden canoe. When we got to the spot, the guide gave us all wooden fishing poles with string tied to the end and a piece of beef on a hook. We caught plenty of palometa, which they used for soup, and a few piranha (I don't know what they did with those). I caught three palometas and one piranha. It was very cool. We could hear the piranha make little growling noises when we held them. Damon caught a big piranha, and when Dad was holding it, it bit him! Later, at dinner, they brought us soup made out of the palometa we caught...there were two whole fish floating in my soup. It didn't taste terrible, but you couldn't eat the meat without eating bones or skin too, so it was kind of hard to eat.

Monday morning we got up very early (except Andrew, who chose to sleep in) and paddled back out in our wooden canoe. We did it to go bird watching, and we saw a couple cool birds. We stopped at a little place to walk around, but I just stayed in the boat. I saw a hummingbird...it sounded like a bee, except a lower sound because it was bigger. After lunch we rode the motor boat to a huge tree. It was massive, with bats living in it, huge spiders catching bugs, and strong vines hanging from it. Damon, Dad, and the guide climbed a big vine a little ways. After that, we started the 'hour' long trek to the village. It turned out to be more like two hours. The guide kept losing the path and cutting new ones with a machete because not too long before, that part had been under water. It was very muddy at some parts, and we would sink a little above our ankles. I didn't know we would be going on an 'hour' long hike through the jungle, so I was wearing flip flops instead of my five fingers that were perfect for that type of thing. Elena and Mom also wore flip flops, and Andrew wore sandals. I was so focused on watching my step that I barely got to look up. Dad found a stick for me to use for spiders, but I ended up using it as a walking stick...I never would have survived without it! Sometimes it was so muddy I had to take my flip flops off. At last we got to the village and there was a nice wooden walkway for my poor feet. We got to one house where they had a huge fish, longer than Dad was tall. They had just caught it earlier that day. In the village they also had a cat, which made me happy because I was missing my cats at home, even though I didn't pet the cat in the village too much. On the way back from the village, it was getting dark so we went cayman 'hunting'. We looked around a bit and the guide would shine the flashlight on one and it's eyes would glow. I think we tried to catch them, but they kept getting away. Dad got out of the boat where we saw one (on the shore) and caught it. It wasn't very big, but it was cool. I pet it a little. While we were looking for cayman, tons and tons of little of fish kept jumping into our boat. Some hit people, some were thrown back out, and some got stuck under the floorboards...thankfully none hit me. Finally we went back to the huts; it was a long day.

Tuesday Mom and Dad woke up very early to go on a hike in the morning. Us kids just slept. When I went to the bathroom that morning (there was no door on the back) I saw a little brown hummingbird off to the right. Then I saw its nest hanging off the end of a leaf. Later, when Mom and I looked closer, we could see an egg in it! It was cool. After lunch we went to another village and hiked for about 15 minutes to a stream with mud in it that you could spread on yourself. We went swimming and it was nice and cold. We heard a toucan but we couldn't find it. At night, when we got back, everyone except Mom and I went on a night hike. I was glad I didn't go because apparently they saw a tarantula.

Wednesday we ate breakfast and left. On the plane home there was a little boy sitting in front of me and he kept peeking over the top of the seat. A few minutes later we saw a little hand reach over to my mom's tray and take the unopened package of airplane peanuts. We laughed and said he could have them.

We did use the shower, but if we took one at night it was hard because there was no light, so we had to use a flashlight. Also, we didn't realize we had to bring towels, so we had to use shirts. It was cold.

What I thought was really interesting was that the Amazon river floods part of the year. While we were there it was down about 15 feet. We could see the line where everything had been underwater. The houses had to be built on stilts so that they wouldn't be flooded. The first village we visited, they said that year had been hard because it had flooded much more than usual, and their houses weren't tall enough.

Overall, the food wasn't too bad except for vinegar on the salad and corn in the scrambled eggs. I noticed a trend in the meals though: eggs (with corn), arrepas, fruit, juice, and hot chocolate for breakfast. Chicken, plantain, salad, juice, rice, and beans for lunch. Fish, plantain, salad, juice, rice, and beans for dinner. Sometimes there was flan for dessert.

There were some good parts of the trip and some not so fun parts, but it was a good experience.

Horseback Riding

At school we all took co-curriculars two days a week for two hours, Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesday I took tennis, and on Thursday I took horseback riding. The first term Elena took horseback riding with me, and her friend translated for us. There were only three or four of us in the beginner group. We learned how to trot, and after we learned that, it was all up and down, up and down for as long as we possibly could. The better group always said how they were glad they didn't have our teacher because all she did was make us trot...which was true.

The second term we still just trotted. Elena wasn't in it, but her friend still was so she kept translating a little bit for me (the things the teacher repeated a lot I could understand). In the second term, once we did get to go into the bigger area because there were only a few of us...the horses seemed to trot much better in that area: smoother and not stoping/slowing down as much. It was very nice and I felt like I could trot forever, except I couldn't.

During Christmas break in Mexico, we went horseback riding on the beach a little. We galloped a lot, and it was very fun.

We also went to a horseback riding place with some friends once just to take a lesson and see how it was.

In one of the first classes of the third term, I fell off my horse. It was nearing the end of the lesson and my horse still hadn't galloped, whereas some of the other ones had for a few seconds. We were just trotting along in circles, not trying to go at a fast trot or anything, and my horse was very slow and lagging behind a bit...I was at the back of the line of four horses. Suddenly my horse lurched forward a bit and sped up...I hadn't expected it AT ALL considering my horse seemed a bit lazy, so I flew back in my saddle and tumbled off the right side of the horse. I must've had my right foot a little too far in the stirrup, because it got caught and I was dragged alongside the horse. While I was being dragged I was terrified that I was going to be trampled. After a few yards–they seemed to be very long yards–somehow (maybe the teacher helped) I came undone. I got up, I wasn't really very hurt except for a few scratches...I was mostly just freaked out. The teacher made me get back on my horse and we all trotted a bit again (I thought it would would have been better just to walk, but no one asked me), then the class was done.

For a few classes after that I was mostly given horses that seemed kind of slow. Then we kept been given the same horses again and again for the rest of the year. My horse was very slow and very lazy...it even walked slower than the other horses! But then we learned to gallop and if the teacher concentrated on making my horse go faster, it actually did gallop. Galloping is awesome (if you're expecting it...if it's a surprise, it can be scary), and everyone was glad that we were finally doing something other than trotting. One lesson, they even gave me a riding crop (without it I had to literally constantly kick the horse) and I enjoyed not having to tire myself out as much. When I didn't have the riding crop, I literally had to always kick the horse, and the teacher still often told me to kick it...she didn't tell the others that often because they had faster horses.

I enjoyed horseback riding, and all that trotting actually helped me improve. I would definitely like to ride with different scenery, though instead of the usual circles. I'm a lot more confident on horses now and it was a good experience.

My Cousin's School

My Aunt Kris brought me to my cousins school for their last day. We went to an awards ceremony. My cousin Maddie got 4 awards. After that I hung out with my cousin Elena and her friends.

- Cousin Andrew

Salitre Magico

After my cousins last day of school Elena’s friends invited us to Parque Salitre Magico. It is an amusement park in Bogota. At the amusement park I went on tons of rides. Some made me think I was going to die. My favorite ride was the tornado. Elena and one of her friends liked this one boat ride that stayed upside down for a long time but I hated it. I don’t really like heights either. I still had fun.

- Cousin Andrew

The Salt Cathedral

At the salt cathedral I saw the twelve stations of the crosses. They were carved out of the salt. It all smelled like sulphur. Aunt Kris made me lick the wall (yuck!). We also saw a cool tree carved out of salt on the wall.

- Cousin Andrew

US Embassy

The embassy was a huge building except there were a ton of guards walking around with shotguns. All we did was walk around talk and eat it was boring.

- Cousin Andrew