The Lungs of the World--Los Pulmones del Mundo

So let me tell you about my adventures into the Amazon Rainforest. It was absolutely fantastic. Our trip started on Wednesday night. We took an overnight bus 6 hours to Lago Agrio. On the way our bus driver stopped for about 30 minutes to help another bus driver who had stopped. Apparently from what I heard something had fallen off the engine and they were trying to put it back on. Well, in the end I don’t think it worked at all, unfortunately. So we got to Lago Agrio and from the bus station we were supposed to walk to a hotel. The map they gave us was rather useless because none of the streets were marked with names and it was difficult to orient ourselves to the city. After asking a ton of people and taking the long route we finally found the hotel. We ate breakfast there and cleaned off some of the overnight grogginess of sleeping on a bus. Next another bus came to pick us up and take us to the interior of the Amazon. It was another two hours to Cuyabeno.  From there we took a 2 hour canoe/motor boat trip to our lodge area. It’s quite deep into the Amazon. Our accommodations were huts made of wood with the traditional type palm roofing. It was really cool. The entire place had very little electricity. We ate dinner by candlelight and our hut was lit by candlelight as well. We were in the midst of a flooded forest area so all our huts were up on stilts and there was about 4 inches of water all around. The meals were all wonderful. They were all three-course meals with traditional food. Pollo, arroz, sopas, carne, fruta, empanadas, etc with some other ethnic foods mixed in. There was plenty of hot chocolate, coffee, tea, and clean water. Our shower even had about 5 minutes of warm water with each use. Also, I should mention, I went with Kristen and Livingston. So it was the three of us on our adventure. The camp also had an awesome resting hut with tons of amancas in it or hammocks. They were so comfortable. The first night Kristen and I fell asleep together in one of them. (I really want to buy one here in Quito). Originally we planned to stay until Saturday, but by Friday we were in love and really wanted to stay one more day. We cut a deal with the lodge administrator and stayed the extra day for 40$ more.

So the first day we got there in the evening after our canoe ride into Cuyabeno. There was a baby spectacle owl that was found by the side of the road and brought to the reserve by a man and we were able to see it. It is apparently very rare to see these owls, but later in the trip on the last day I also saw an adult spectacle owl. We saw animals from the river—a baby anaconda and squirrel and capuchin monkeys. Also several different kinds of birds-kingfishers, and other ones which I cant remember the names of. The best part was just how green and lush everything was. It was so beautiful. Getting to see all the different trees and plants—especially the trees with the plants growing on their branches and descending roots down into the water. The air was so unbelievably fresh and clean-hence the amazon being called the lungs of the world. So we went the first evening to the lagoon, which is more or less a large lake fed by the river. And we swam in the middle of the lagoon and watched the sunset. I had so much energy to swim. It was amazing. I think it was because I went from Quito-high altitude- down to a lower altitude. I swam nonstop for like 30 minutes. There were also trees just growing in the water with their tops sticking out. I climbed and jumped off of one. Swimming in the lagoon was awesome and watching the sunset was gorgeous. As it began to grow dark we searched around the edges of the lagoon for Caimans (they are like crocodiles). We even saw the fins of some pink river dolphins-but nothing more. The guide ended up spotting an emerald boa, but no caimans that night. The stars were so beautiful and easy to see. There were so many constellations I have never seen before. But because we are so close to the Equator, we can see a bit of both hemispheres. We came back for a wonderful dinner-soup, a main meal and dessert. We were all starving for it.

On Friday we started off after breakfast to go on a hike in the rainforest. Our guide, Jose Miguel/ Condor, showed us many different plants-some with medicinal or practical qualities. He showed us the bark from which quinine-an anti-malaria med is derived. He also showed us cedar trees, tablaroots, ways to collect water and make shelter. He showed us this sap of a tree that literally when burned smells like church incense—the good kind. Unfortunately I really can’t remember all the names of these plants. He showed us a sour cane that’s a good source of water and a special palm that is used for its fibers to weave strong ropes. If you use this type of thread made from these palm fibers it can last like 100 years. It is so strong. It was a great walk—very informative and beautiful.

Next, we paddled back to our camp. It also wasn’t just the three of us and a guide. We were with a group of about 11. Some of them were from the UK, Australia and a couple of Swiss Germans and some Americans. After lunch, we went out again for some pirhana fishing. It was a lot of fun. We had bamboo rods with fishing string attached at the end and a hook. We used raw beef as bait. You have to be very quick when fishing for pirhana because they are so capable of eating all the meat off before you know it. I kind of caught one pirhana. It was a little one. I went to flip it up into the boat, but instead it flew right over and escaped into the water on the other side of the boat. Condor called it a flying pirhana. Other than that, we just got a lot of the beef eaten off the hook—we were definitely getting bites. That night we again went out to watch the sunset, swim and look for caimans. We actually found a black Caiman, but he was difficult to see. There was also a white baby caiman hanging out at our camp, which was cool. We were continually surrounded by wildlife. It was awesome. We came back that night for dinner and relaxation. We played some card games and relaxed in the amancas.

Unfortunately Kristen and I were definitely talked up by Juan, one of the guides. He was kind of creepy and kept hitting on us. He asked me if I wanted to dance and what kind of music I liked. When we were trying to leave to go to bed at the end of the night, he was like, we could go down by the river and watch the moon and practice Spanish. (He was speaking to me in Spanish). Lol I told him I had seen the river a lot already and I needed to sleep for tomorrow. He was like there is no tomorrow there is only now. You don’t need to sleep on vacation. I mean he was trying so hard. I was also talked up by another one of the guides but he was way less creepy. These Ecuatorian men….

 On the third day we went to an indigenous community. Here we were taught how to make yucca bread from start to finish. You begin by harvesting the yuca which is a root. We pulled it up from the ground and then peeled and clean it. Next it has to be shredded. We all took turned shredding it using a homemade shredder. Yuca is very saturated with water so it was very moist and wet after being shredded. The next step is to squeeze all the liquid out and starch comes with it-it’s a very starchy root. Finally it is cooked in a pan and it makes a bread that has the consistency of toast. It’s very delicious with jam. At the indigenous community, we also saw some parrots and a macaw. The kids there were so cute and excellent futbol players. We went from the community further along the river to visit the Shaman. However, he was sick (he’s in his 70’s). We saw his wife instead and she talked with us a bit and explained the types of things she and her husband do. She demonstrated how they use this plant to help treat muscle pain and arthritis. It’s kind of like a poison ivy. The spines of the plant inject a substance into you that at first burns and itches and then heats and relaxes your muscles. Our guide also showed us the plant that cocoa comes from and also a seed that contains a red dye you can paint your face with. Even though we didn’t actually see the shaman it was still a lot of fun.

We came back from the camp and had time to relax before dinner. Also it rained a lot that day—we were in the rain forest and we had a decent downpour. That’s for sure. The rest of the night we just used to relax and talk and enjoy the atmosphere. I loved it there. It was like camping. That was our last day there. We spent Sunday traveling all the way back to Quito. Our last canoe trip back was really cool though. We saw a river otter and a giant anteater swimming across the river. They were really cool to see in the wild. And there were more monkeys-wooly monkeys this time. They were difficult to actually see because they were high up in the trees, but still really cool. On the bus back I conversed with another Ecuatorian man who sat next to me. He is a police officer apparently and he showed me his ID. He didn’t believe me when I told him I didn’t have a boyfriend. I was thinking I should just start telling all these Ecuatorians that I have a boyfriend and then they will stop trying so hard.

So that was my awesome adventure in the Amazon. I know it would be better told with pictures. That will come once I get back to the states.