Indescribable...

Do something you've never done before. Do it today.

Do something each day that you've never done before. That is what I decided as I was standing under a waterfall in the Amazon Rainforest. Did I mention that I hiked to this waterfall? Leo Val and Irene Val are their names. It was amazing.

Today's? Smile all day long. At every one you meet.

Yesterday's? Get your picture taken in the jungle.

Tomorrow? Who knows. But the point is do something new. Big or small. Brave or not. Challenge yourself and just do it. And as for the jungle? It was insane. Amazing. Awe inspiring. God Breathed.

We started out Friday morning about 11:00, which was a little late but the bus company sent too small of a bus, so once we got that sorted we were on our way. The bus ride was a little intense. We were crammed like sardines into a bus with all of our stuff (we packed light and still it was jammed) and it took 3 hours to get there. Most of this was on unpaved roads. The last 28 kilometers of the trip took 2 hours!!! Basically a dirt road straight up a mountain. I thought I might die. I definitely wanted to get off the bus. We finally get there and it was spectacular. And there were these funny black birds running wild all over the place, I have pictures. There were also monkeys that we could see from the porch of our house. We could see them in the morning as we woke up, monkeys playing in the trees. We could hear them at night as we slept. Do you know how surreal that is?

So we're there and the first thing we did is move all the mattresses out from the bedrooms onto the porch. All the single ladies stayed in the same house and we slept on the porch. It was about 80 degrees all weekend so we could sleep outside. In fact it was cool compared to the city. I wore long sleeves and yoga pants half the time. After arriving it was about 3 so we had a nap on the porch and then we had supper. After supper we played cards for several hours then we went to bed. That ended our first day in the rain forest.

The second day was amazing. We went on this killer hike to see two waterfalls, not tonnes of water coming from them but I have great pictures. I stood under a waterfall in the Amazon rainforest. And as Becky says I survived the hike. And this was not your average stroll through the woods, this was up, over, down, around... it was intense. I have some pictures. When we got back it was lunch time and then shower time. Which was really exciting because up till that point we actually hadn't had running water. We were really roughing it. And the electricity only turns on at night. So basically I was camping in the jungle. And I loved every minute.

As I was headed up to our other house where the families were staying and we were eating, I met a nice man from Holland who assumed I was British. Must of been the way I said hello. So we talked for a while about what we were each doing there. Turns out his daughter lives in Paramaribo and he comes every 6 months and stays for a fornight each time to visit. I guess I have the family "talk to strangers" gift! The girls got a laugh out of him thinking I was British, but then they made me say hello exactly like I said it to him and they agreed with him. Of course then that started the accent game, of how do you say this, what's this called, pronounce this... It's their favourite game and it just makes me laugh.

We had spaghetti for supper with mashed potatoes. It made me think of Gram. Then there was wicked lightening storm and the power we did have went out. So we were completely in the dark except three kerosene lanterns. Watching the lightening up there it makes you feel like you are in the middle of the storm. It started to rain as well, but we stayed dry. We played cards by kerosene lantern for most of the night. It was so much fun. Then we slept on our porch, and stayed dry but we went to sleep hearing the rain and knowing you could stick your hand out and get wet. It was so cool.

The next morning we woke up and had a small church service. We sang a few hymns and prayed. Then we walked up to the overlook and got more photos. I actually got some really good ones. Then we packed up, got on the bus and took almost 3 1/2 hours to get home. Getting down that mountain takes longer then going up.

That's it. The rainforest in a nutshell. Which is way to small of a description. You can't even begin to imagine the size and scope of this. It was surreal and stunning all at once.