Ecuabooe: Was that a puma or is your stomach growling?

Our first retiro, or retreat, was this weekend. All of us somewhat sluggishly got in a van at 6:30am on Friday and headed to the north bus terminal in Quito. From there we caught 2 buses, packed into the back of a truck for a 30 minute ride into the forest, and hiked over a mile into the woods to get to our hosteria. I guess you could say we were a bit secluded. We stayed in cabins and the shut of the electric generator at 10pm promptly. We sat around a fire and played lots of Phase 10 and Catch Phrase. We laughed and enjoyed some great canned figs and peaches (this past statement is dripping with sarcasm... for some unkown reason, Ecuadorians love their syruppy canned fruit for dessert. It is gross). AND, we hiked, and hiked, and hiked.... and hiked.

The first day we arrived, the girls strapped on some rubber knee-high boots and headed into the virgin forest while the boys napped. We hiked for 2 hours, while we sank into mud, forged a river, battled vines and fallen bamboo, and tripped a lot. The next day, however was our hike of epic proportions. We left camp at 9:30 and returned 14km later at 5:00pm. Our guide had a machete to clear out some of the brush (and probably to defend us if we were to encounter a puma). We saw some beautiful birds and a 3-foot long worm, but we missed the larger animals. Although we saw some fresh tracks, the tapirs and oso de anteojos (relative of a panda bear) must have been scared and hiding just beyond us in the dense forest.

I'm not the most coordinated of people, so tripping was a problem on said hike. Imagine the setting from Apocalypto, you can't see past the trees and moss and ferns that grow like a wall on either side of the 3-foot wide path. It wasn't a pretty sight to watch me trip to gracefully avoid roots, rocks, and cut-down bamboo while lugging around in heavy rubber boots. My best fall left me with some scars on my face, as I fell face-first into a tree. Glad my parents decided not to call me Grace; I would be a walking contradiction. Our time in the cloud forest was relaxing and a team-building experience (pulling each other out of mud pits). It was great to be in such raw nature and enjoy the tranquility of God's creation. The retreat was also a well-needed break from the business of work. Now we're back into the swing of things, yet I feel as if I'm taking on my tasks head first with a renewed spirit and in awe of the beautiful country which I call home.