Curaray

I went on a flight about 45 minutes into the jungle this morning to pick up some election officials at an airstrip called Curaray. The flight itself was without event, and it was a blast to do. Chad (the instructor pilot) went with me and we stuck some training elements into the flight as well. I was going to have my checkride tommorow with "the General," but upon landing in Shell, we found out that he canceled and cannot come until next Monday. It is always something. You never know what a day may bring, or lack thereof. So, pray with us that somehow next week I can take my checkride and finish my license process.

This is one of the reasons that we fly here in Ecuador. If you don't travel by plane, rivers are the only other option. The man saluting me, and the man behind the girl in the yellow were our passengers from Curaray. We asked one of the guys in the village how many days it takes to make one of those canoes, and he told us about 8 days with a chainsaw. That is impressive! I would hate to know how long it takes with the ol' traditional machete.
These are just some pretty flowers near our hangar. They are actually part of a tree and it blooms like this every few weeks or so. It is very pretty to see.
--Sean