Hiking in the Amazon Rainforest

As we trudged ankle deep into the jungle, through a dense labyrinth of branches, brambles, creepers, and vines, the rain receded and shafts of sunlight spilled into the forest, streaming past the leafy crowns of trees overhead. We heard nothing else but the sound of the wild--the synchronous whine of a hundred cicadas punctuated by the trill of birds and the chatter of monkeys scattering into the treetops. Surrounded by the magnificence of the Amazon, I knew right then that I was doing exactly what I should be doing in life at that moment.

Amazon Rainforest, Ecuador