Welcome to the jungle

Monday, June 28th
Today the fabulous five (Sophie, Willem, Jos, Ville, and myself) were off to the jungles of Bolivia. Along the way we picked up 3 German's (Melissa, Sandy and Felix) at the airport. Then we had a 3 hour car ride to the river followed by a 3 hour pamapas ride down the river into the heart of the jungle where we would sleep and spend all of our time. The car ride was expectedly bumpy like a buckin bronco. When we arrived at the river it looked exactly as I would picture it. The river was a browish-muddy color and the trees lining the river were various shades of green. The pampas were long narrow boats that sat eight people and when afloat barely rested above the surface of the water. It was a beautifully sunny day for our journey down the river. Within a few minutes of chugging downriver we saw caiymans, alligators, capyabaras, and numerous birds species. If you have seen the movie apocalypse now, you have seen the jungle I have just been floating through. The river was teeming with wildlife and beauty. After about 2 hours down river we came across a family of capuchin monkeys - there were about 20 of them. They were adorable and we got amazingly close to them. In fact, at one point a monkey jumped into into boat and walked on my head. I had no idea it was a monkey until I saw it jump back into the tree. After the monkeys we continued down river and arrived at our lodge. 
The lodge is built on the river bank and is built about three and a half feet off the ground so you won't get bit by a gator. The entire logde is made of wood, tin roofs, and mosquito nets for windows. It's amazing! When we arrived we saw howler monkeys in the trees surrounding the hostel and then sun was just starting to go down.
The sunset here was unbelieveable! As the sun went down it turned neon orange and you could stare right into it. Then the sky and sun turned a orangish-pinkish color. 
After the sunset, we ate a great familial meal. I then taught the fabulous five and our new German friends how to play shithead. So, we played some cards, drank some booze, and had some good laughs. It feels good to be a gangsta!