Life with the Shirley Family

Life with the Shirley Family

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Sabado

Saturday was my other favorite tourist day!  The chartered bus that had picked us up Friday night from the Shimpis church also took us around on Saturday.  Our first stop was the Laberintos del Chiguaza.


This place is a type of nature preserve.  There was a pool there that we were going to swim in after our hour hike through the caves.  Well, 3 hours later we finished!  But it was a great 3 hours.  What we thought was a cave exploration was actually a hike through the mountains, but it was an awesome experience!
The bridge to the preserve



The pool





Fossils in the rock











We saw a huge scorpion spider,




walked through a rock maze (only one like it in the world), 






listened to our guide talk about the environment, 


and then walked down the mountain to explore the caves.  It was really more like going into the first part of a cave and then coming out.  

Bats!

Nathan and Alexia
















Colby 




Bats flying!






More caves on the other side of the river






We finished with going into a real cave, squatting down in the dark, the guide turning on the light, and then having the bats fly above us.  You could hear their wings flapping.  It was very cool!



The cave we went in


Only four of us stayed with the guide to go into the cave, while the rest of the group went back.  We walked back with the guide, who ran off and left us when we got on the road....we weren't sure if this road led back to the center, but thankfully it did!


When you touch these leaves, they close




This was truly another jungle hike!  It cost $7, but it was well worth the money!  

During the hike, we saw the type of tree that the Shuar women get beads from once a year in order to make their jewelry.  

While most of the youth went swimming in the natural pool, some people took pictures with a boa constrictor.  They held it around their neck and they said it was very heavy.  



Nathan's Grammie hates snakes and his Gramma hates spiders...he had them both covered on this trip!


Christian

Michelle

Brianna


I kept thinking of the song I sang in elementary school....

I'm being eaten by a boa constrictor and I don't like it one bit...oh no, its up to my toe; oh fiddle, it's up to my middle; oh heck it's up to my neck!












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