Anyways, my valentines day routine was interrupted this year due to the fact that I am in Ecuador. Instead of a fancy night out with wine, chocolate and romance, I spent it on beach in a jungle with Becca and Adam, Tarquino (a new Ecuadorian friend), five kayakers and one of their girlfriends. It was by far the best (or at least most memorable) Valentines Day to date.
I just got back from this four day jungle canyon adventure. We went on a three day class IV river trip, camping at beaches, swimming in waterfalls, drinking beer and copious amounts of whiskey, cooking on a freshly made bamboo grill, and exchanging back massages and Canadian songs by campfire at night.
The canyon we entered yesterday (the first two days were mellow class III river stretches leading up to the canyon) is also called the canyon of the sacred waterfalls. We dropped under a bridge and immediately were surrounded my giant thousand foot cliffs of jungle vegetation. Around nearly every corner a new waterfall would come into view, each one bigger and more spectacular than the rest. We hiked up to the bottom of one double waterfall, each probably 100 feet high. After swimming in our own personal rainbows, we slid back to the boats and had an amazing lunch before entering some cool whitewater. I could go on and on. I probably will, and I will definitely post photos soon (as soon as Becca and Adam give me some of theirs).
Anyways, I think I will try to make a tradition of doing something like this for Valentines Day...I quite liked it, and now have a bunch of new friends super stoked to celebrate my birthday tomorrow. To say I just had four perfect days is quite the understatement. I cannot believe that this is actually my real life. I am one lucky girl.