Following my curiosity

Never would I have imagined visiting a place well known for its creepy, crawly possibly poisonous bugs, insects, spiders and snakes and LOVING it. My love affair with the mighty Amazon, the longest river in the world, began in the Cuyabeno Reserve of Ecuador with that first magical ride on a boat, without a doubt one of the most blissful moments I’ve ever experienced. All my senses were engulfed as I absorbed the sheer beauty of the simplicity of river life: the sun gently casting rays through the canopy of trees, the hot and steamy humid breeze upon my face, the sound of birds and insects so loud even over the hum of the motorboat. I would have drunk the muddy water if I could, I was in a state of pure happiness and disbelief that I was actually in the Amazon, someone pinch me. Around each corner I was anticipating what wildlife or views may lie ahead and it never disappointed. I was constantly brushing against low-lying vines and ducking to avoid low branches. Bedtime came early in the Amazon and that's when the fear set in. You see our cabins on stilts were not exactly bug-proofed and baby caimans slept below and did I mention I was alone in the cabin? I'd pray no creature would slip through the mosquito netting and feast on me. The candles were not enough to ease my troubled mind nor were the faint sounds of other guests wondering what this or that noise was. Tales of the scary creatures from the night before were told at breakfast with gusto and perhaps some exaggeration as truthfully, it was usually just a frog in the toilet or some other benign sound, like a bat's wings that caused panic in the dark of the night. The days were spent either on foot exploring the primary rainforest and its gems like cacao beans and yucca or on the boat with our guide, Pajarito, pointing out wildlife like the sloth, monkeys, river dolphins or the baby anacondas in the muddy water.
"Do you want to see my anaconda?" was the joke our guide likely used on each unsuspecting gringa. Trying to choose the highlight between swimming in Laguna Grande with the piranhas at sunset or "swamping" into unknown waters where leeches live with only our yellow, rubber rainboots that weren’t quite high enough is a tough call. So how did I get here? To prove to myself I could be an Amazonian woman after all. And I succeeded! Me Jane, you Tarzan, bugs be damned.