After our adventures in Jauja, Chelsea and I met up with Cam and Carly in La Merced, a city about 3 hours north of where we were, and in the jungle. The area wasn't rural as everywhere previous had been, so it was exciting to see something different.
We arrived on a Friday, and spent the evening catching up with our partners, who we hadn't seen for about 9 days, and then on Saturday we took the day off from work (we had finished everything needed!) and slept in a little. In the afternoon we took a trip out to see some waterfalls, which was beautiful. On our way there, we got some gas from a local "gas station." 
It took about an hour to get to the small town where you change directions and head to the waterfalls, and when there, we began walking. We must've passed 7 or 8 people who said that we'd need to take rides, but we kept on a-walkin'. Then, about 10 minutes up the road (and past the toll station, who also told us we'd need to take taxis), we finally decided that we really wouldn't make it with enough time to spare (it was about 3 pm and it gets dark from 5:30 to 6 pm), so Cam Nelson ran back and found 2 mototaxis to take us up. Meanwhile Chelsea, Carly, and I kept walking on the trail. Chelsea got hungry, and despite me pointing out real fruit, she couldn't wait.
Cam and the mototaxis finally caught up with us, and it did take a while to drive to the waterfalls. The mototaxi that Chelsea and I were riding wasn't doing so well, the chain was falling off the gear. But we finally arrived, and had about an hour and a half to look at the waterfalls. Before we walked up to the first one, I noticed an older woman in a hut with some items to sell. Even more, I noticed that she had a parrot on each shoulder. So I walked over to her to take a picture and then noticed that additionally, she was missing an eye. I still wanted the picture, so I bought some cookies from her, thinking that it would be more likely that she'd say yes. Well, failure. I guess understandably so. She probably gets asked by a lot of people. But we thought it was cool that we met a "pirate." In the jungle. That has probably never been on the ocean. Anywho, we then walked up to the first "cataratas" (isn't that a fun word?), and they were pretty. 
Chelsea, Carly, and I got in the water and swam around a bit, though Cam stayed aloof. Thankfully, I haven't yet contracted any tropical diseases. I think.Then we went on down to the lower waterfall, called the Velo de la Novia, or Bridal Veil Falls. I thought that was great, since we're students that live in Provo, and Bridal Veil Falls is just up the canyon. The light was fading, and so my camera wanted to take pictures with flash, but they were no good. So here's the best shot that I took with my oh-so-steady hands.
All in all, it was a good trip into the jungle. First time for me, really. On Sunday, we attended church in La Merced and then had a quiet afternoon in the hotel. I also got to call my family on Skype, and it was great to talk to them. Monday morning, we hopped on a bus and headed back to Lima, where we spent the next few days compiling a preliminary report on our findings for PRISMA.
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