Everyone needs to come to the jungle. Let me re-emphasize that: Everyone NEEDS to come to the jungle. Nowhere else in the world are there such luscious views, such a plethora of insect species, such an abundance of plants and animals, such a sweetness of atmosphere. Our bus slowed down incrementally, and I jolted awake. After a long week at school, my exhaustion got the better of me, and I drifted off during the short, hour and a half bus ride to Mindo, a small jungle town located at a mere 5,000ft. above sea level. I felt the difference immediately upon awakening--my lungs felt almost twice as large as normal. This proved to be an incredible blessing, as the next day, David and I hiked for three hours through the winding jungle pathways to soak in the beauty of the waterfalls, flowers, moss-covered rocks, and glittering, pristine pools that are scattered throughout the jungle.
It was probably the most relaxing weekend I've had the entire time I've been in Ecuador. I suppose it helps that my boyfriend was with me, and he could finally experience the same beauty of the country that I've called "home" for the past month. We enjoyed a lazy, unhurried breakfast, accompanied by the delightful twittering of jungle birds, the sight of numerous brightly-colored hummingbirds, and the playful antics of a striped, beribboned kitten. If only all of life could be this beautiful, this relaxing.Thirty minutes later, we were slightly regretting our decision to ride in the truck bed on the way up a serpentine, dusty road to the cable car that would carry us across the valley, which was situated a precarious distance below. As we bounced along the road (I feared for my life at almost every turn; the road was barely wide enough to accommodate two vehicles, and with all the tight turns our driver made, I was terrified that we would crash into an on-coming truck. Thankfully, though we got close to hitting another car, we weren't harmed), David and I got acquainted with our hiking partners: Rein, a tall, blonde woman from Iceland, on a three-month tour of the Incan ruins and jungles spread across South America, and Charles, a bearded, probably 30-year-old German who had just arrived in Quito the previous day and was on a quest to find animal shelters where he could volunteer. We were glad for their company, and were able to assist each other with picture-taking and climbing the boulders in our path. I remember looking up at the sky, frequently, and thinking, This is so incredible, it can't be real. Every turn brought some new delight, some new feast for the eyes. Beauty unparalleled. The whole forest lives; each plant's breath seemed to sweeten the air, the cascading, icy water refreshing to the weary feet of fatigued travelers, bringing revival. The birdsong is pure and joy-filled and has the power to strengthen and bring light and life to any downtrodden soul. I leaned over to David at one point and said, "If this is how beautiful a sin-wrenched earth is, I can't wait to see what heaven will be like!"
Indeed, in the midst of a broken world, it's rare to come across a seemingly-unsoiled environment such as what we experienced in Mindo. Yet there it was--a sanctuary, a refuge of life and purity--a glimpse of a glorious new earth. I'm convinced that God has given me this awe-inspiring hike to remind me of His wisdom and omniscience in creating earth, and to renew the hope in me that this world is but temporary, and the world to come will be far richer, vaster and more immeasurable than anything we have yet seen or encountered.....
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