An Ecuadorian Jungle

While not a large country, Ecuador possesses an array of natural diversity, from the mountainous highlands to the tropical Amazons. Go east to the Oriente ("The East" in Spanish) region and one can find the jungles of the Andes. It's hot and humid, ants are the size of American flies, plants can do strange things to your body, and monkeys try to steal your dinner, but the experience is quitesentially Ecuadorian. The following are pictures of the jungle and some of the animals found there--though some were admittedly found in a local zoo.


Whatever this plant is, it looks dangerous and is probably not appropriate to touch.


This croc can be found in the rivers of the jungle, but don't worry, they're actually small. You might lose a hand, but that's all.


This boar was found in the hotel grounds. Then again, the hotel grounds was found in the jungle.


This animal, which is not fully grown but is already half the height of a human, was running around loose at the zoo. It seems to have a diet of human pants.


This monkey or one of its friends ran down a pole in the dining building, grabbed a handful of rice and quickly flew up the pole. The monkey has good taste because the rice was pretty good.