Amazon Rain Forest, Ecuador
Our travel mates, Joe and Diane, my cousin Bill and his wife Sandy, Dan and I departed Quito and took a 35-minute flight to Coca, a small city in eastern Ecuador. The air was thick with heat and humidity, and a light drizzle began as we walked around town. Our luggage was loaded onto a motorized canoe, and 13 of us headed to Yarina Lodge, an eco-lodge nestled in the Amazon jungle on a tributary of the Napo River, which flows into the Amazon River. The Napo River was wide brown and murky and had a significant amount of tree debris in it. The current was strong from the recent rainfall. We passed a large oil and gas mine, which had orange flames from gas burn off in one of the stacks.
Headed to the Yarina Eco Lodge
After a 45-minute ride, we arrived at a small tributary and continued our journey to the Yarina Eco Lodge. It has 22 cabins made from bamboo and toquilla straw, and we were assigned Cabin #21. The room was spacious but simple, with two queen beds draped in mosquito nets, an area to hang clothes, small nightstands, and two fans for air circulation. The cabin had a private bathroom, but there was no electricity during our stay except for the generator, which ran from 6 am to 10 am and 6 pm to 10 pm. Flashlights were a necessity, especially for navigating the path back to our cabin after dinner. The food prepared by locals introduced us to unfamiliar fruits and vegetables.
The grounds had flowering trees and plants.
We were fitted for Wellington rubber boots—essential for keeping our feet dry and free of insects during nature walks. Dan brought insoles, and I brought my own since I can be difficult to fit. We tucked our pants into our socks, then put on the boots.
We did a two-hour nature walks each day. There was a walking path across the small tributary from the Lodge around Sapococha Pond. Dampness was a constant companion while we were in the Amazon. We had two days of sunshine and one of pouring rain. Rain jackets were necessary but very hot in the high humidity. We packed our clothes in dry bags, but as soon as they were removed, they were damp.
A naturalist local guide was assigned to us who had an amazing ability to spot insects, birds and animals. He showed us poison and non-poison tree frogs, insects and identified trees and plants.
There was a three-story platform close to the pond which provided a good vantage point to spot many bird species which were new to us, like Muscovy ducks, hoatzin (stinky turkeys), social flycatcher, magpie tanager, orange – backed troupial, greater ani, masked crimson tanager, wattled jacana and red- capped cardinal. (There will be a separate post on the Amazon birds.)
One day we took the motorized canoe, crossed the Napo River and took the Guamayaku River to see fast moving black mantle and gold mantle tamarins and a slow three-toed sloth.
On our return, we stopped at a sandbar in the Napo River and had wine/beer while we watched the sun go down. As darkness fell on the way back to the lodge, we traded the motorized canoe for a canoe and paddled around Sapococha Pond, to listen to the symphony of sounds of nocturnal animals and watch firefly larvae glow on top of the water.
The tour company, Overseas Adventure Travel arranged for us to meet students and visit the home of a local. This Napo River area is home to about 40 Kichwa families. At the local school a dedicated teacher educates 11 children in grades 1 through 5. If no one was home to watch younger siblings, the older ones brought them along. We brought a soccer ball, musical instruments, books and toys as gifts for the children. The students played Jingle Bells with color-coded hand bells and while the teacher pointed to the notes on a music sheet. We sang “heads-shoulders- knees and toes” to teach them some English words.
After the school visit, we stopped along the Napo River to visit with a Kichwa family for lunch. Our hosts showed us their garden of fruits and vegetables.
The house was elevated on wooden stilts to protect it from the high water from the Napo overflowing its banks. There was a large thatched covered open-air cooking and dining area with a dirt floor and wooden benches around the perimeter. There was a large wood fire grill on one side.
The host prepared catfish folded into gigantic green leaves of the bijao plant cooked on wood fired grill. Some members of the group helped with preparation, wrapping the fish in the leaves. Dan was given the task of preparing live beetle larvae which were several inches long by pinching off the heads, placing a skewer through them and grilling. The host’s husband ate one of the larvae raw. Once grilled, they tasted like bacon. Our lunch included plantains, yucca and catfish, roasted coca… all eaten with our fingers, served with tea.
We had a chance to use a traditional blowgun. It was more difficult to use than it looked. We tried to hit a papaya with the dart. Only two travelers were successful, one of whom was Diane. We heard a lot about it for the rest of the trip.
For dinner, the guide introduced us to Ecuadorian chocolate. We tasted 100%, 70% (the favorite), and 60% cacao, some with added orange, lemongrass, espresso beans, ginger, chili, salt or mocha. Dan ground roasted coca which the kitchen used to the make a non-sweet syrup for our dessert.
We returned to Quito for a few days to visit Old Town and Papallacta Hot Springs before heading to the Galapagos for 8 days…
