Leaving the Rainforest

Monday morning began with a brisk paddle up the river in a kayak. We were hoping to see fresh water pink dolphins, but unfortunately they did not show up. Instead we got a good upper body workout. The trip back was great as the tide was so strong we did not have to paddle.

When we got back to the lodge, we got the good news that we would be able to fly out that day. It had been raining quite heavily and we were concerned that the runway would be too muddy to land a plane. Luckily it had dried out enough and the planes were flying. Before we left the lodge we got one more treat. Celistino gave us a demonstration on how to use a blowgun. He set up a target about 30 feet away and hit the bulls eye pretty consistently. I hit the target but I did not get it inside the rings, however I did better than most of the others how came up short.

The flight back was uneventful. The runway was still pretty wet so it made for a bouncy take off, but once we got airborne and got the a/c going it was manageable. The views from the plane were amazing. The runway we took off from looked so small when we were up in the air. Also the river is really brown due to all the sediment it carries.

Once we landed we loaded up in the bus and headed to Bannos, a little town about an hour away famous for great spas and making taffy . We spent the night at one of those spas up in the mountains where they had several pools with the water heated by the volcano. This spa was one of the prettier places I have ever been. We sat out in one of he pools enjoying a beer and the excellent views as the clouds rolled in around us. Within an hour we were totally fogged in. Dinner that night was great, but even better was the first hot shower I had had in several days.