October 5th, Tuesday

We made an early retreat from the compound of Alberto Taxso as we entered our bus and headed to the airport for our ride into the jungle.  The clouds delayed our plane sitting on the runway with the mountains we must cross looming in the background.  As a party of 18 plus supplies we could not make this trip as one group.  The precarious runway used for our arrival and the reported cloud cover delayed the departure of our first group.  When they finally departed, we in the second group headed into town for some shopping and sightseeing.

The town we entered was Cotopaxi. A small by US standards with buildings made primarily of concrete buildings two and three stories high.  Finding a place to park we ventured into the town to do some sightseeing, shopping, phone booth hunting, and bathroom searching.  Our ventures took us to the local park and government center (this is were we found the bathroom (if you ever find yourself in Cotopaxi and need of one).

Finally time marched on, our plane was expected in and we headed back to the airport.  As we waited we noticed a parade of soldiers passing by, getting ready for the upcoming local holiday.  We did not have to wait too long for the plane telling us our first group had arrived and though the cloud cover was still heavy, we would soon be in the jungle.

Clouds prevented us from seeing much during our ride.  When they finally began to clear we were well into the jungle.  The green of tree covered the landscape, occasionally rivers could be seen cutting their way through the dense growth.

As the door of the plane opened we immediately felt the hot jungle heat as it swept over us, I had made it.  The Shuar community was waiting for us.  Some to help us with luggage and travel down the river, others to watch and see who had come to their land.  The trip down river was easy as we sat three or four in canoes dug out of local trees. The shore landed on was made entirely of rock, a ten minute hike from our compound 

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