After the Waorani we spent a good day pretty much relaxing at the lodge which was nice and I took a very long nap. We also painted our bowls from the prior day and I went for a starry galaxy design which turned out not great but I was proud of it. When I went to grab my bowl after it had been in the fire the clay master women decided she would paint her own design in my bowl since my artistic ability wasn’t up to her standard which did leave me with a prettier bowl but not the galaxy I thought I would be bringing home.

Our next day consisted of another chocolate tasting and tour of this local factory. We were suppose to travel by canoe but a massive rain storm had canceled those plans as the entire river was flooded and looked like we should be white water rafting down it. We settled for a taxi which blew a tire on the way to the factory which was not ideal but we figured out a plan that involved a crammed van. At the factory it was very wet and buggy but it was awesome to see the variety of plants they grow to incorporate into chocolate and the chocolate tasting was very good as always. The rest of the day felt kind of sad as it was our last full day at the lodge and we celebrated with a nice dinner and a band came and performed some music and it was a great experience.

Travel day was the end and it was anything but smooth. The massive rainstorm delayed our bus about 4 hours and it was looking like we were going to have to take a bus on a separate 7 hour route since the road was closed from the landslides. The bus finally arrived at 2:30ish after being told it was going to be there in 10 minutes every 30 minutes since 10 AM. The bus was very nice and it had a TV with every movie John Cena was ever in while being dubbed in Spanish. The ride was cool as we drove through a few parts that were pretty much a river on the side of a cliff from the landslides and the road was covered in mud and water which was a bit dodgy looking down a thousand foot drop feet away from the tires. We ended up going on the quicker route which allowed for some good food stops and we got to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

This trip really forced me to step out of my comfort zone especially going into the Amazon but I think with every new experience it was a chance to meet a new person and learn about their culture. I believe most people on this planet have good intentions and stepping into their country and territory just shows how welcoming people are. There were parts of the trip I thought were going to be scary heading into but you never know how something is until you experience it and seeing how passionate everyone is about their country and definitely their chocolate just makes me want to travel more and meet more people. I would also like to continue improving on my Spanish as I feel I started to pick up on a little bit and I really don’t want to lose my progress.