Tena Diaries: Cascadas

I arrived in Tena (a hot and humid city) in the Oriente. The Oriente is one of the Regions of Ecuador, better known as the jungle or rainforest. The moment I stepped off of the bus, I wanted Mr. Freeze from Batman to shoot me with the Freeze Gun. Now, I guess that would make me die...but when I say I was hot...I was HOT!

The city was absolutely hermosa (beautiful). It is a small, poor city, but the people are really nice. Of course, I get my usual stares, but I expect it now. No hay problema.



We decided to hike up to one of the waterfalls just on the outskirts of the Jungle. I don't know the name of the city...it's pretty small and it's not on the map. After riding the non-airconditioned bus for 45 minutes out of the city, I was all shriveled from the sweat that managed to drizzle out of my body. But, the upside is that I lost a good 3lbs of water weight.

After hiking in the jungle to find the waterfalls (no guide), we finally found it. Now, here's the thing, if you know me...I do not like water. In fact, you can call it a love/hate relationship. Being here is especially difficult for me to "like" water. But here in Tena, it's so hot, that water is water. It's cold, but that's okay. Now in Quito...cold water is NOT OKAY.


I was so proud of myself. Wading in the water and avoiding huge bugs that I have never seen before. Pure enjoyment. After the hiking and the falling in the mud...ummm...let's just underestimate and say 10 times. By the way, some of that stuff didn't look like mud at all. Cleaning myself off in the cool water and the waterfalls was absolutely refreshing.

While hiking, I managed to lose some pretty important tools like my fork so I can eat tuna and crackers (small meal for me...I know. So, I had to get a swiss army knife and mix it and together. Talk about Gilligan's Island! But after all of that, Tuna fish in a can never tasted so good. I had Doritos too, but the ants (or something that looks like it) got to them first. I didn't want them THAT bad, I guess.

I also managed to take a few video footage of some important scenes from music videos and Disney movies while I was in the waterfall. You should check them out.....

Although, I didn't want to leave, my body was exhausted and it was getting dark. Plus hiking down hill in the rain is a lot worse than going up. Trust me. My backside will tell you. Who knew how much fun this could be and how much I could actually appreciate cold water on a hot humid rain foresty day.