Ecuador Road Trip | Four Days in the Jungle
In Ecuador the jungle area is called the Oriente. It is on the eastern side of the country and even though it encompasses almost half of Ecuador’s territory it has less than five percent of the total population. My trip to the Cuyabeno reserve in the Amazon began with a 30-minute flight from Quito to Lago Agrio (I swear when I got off the plane it smelled green).
Outside the airport I met the others who would be joining me on this adventure. Fabian & Nora from Germany and Katie & Megan from the United States (currently living and teaching in Quito). They were all much younger than me, but I did my best to keep up and had a blast.
A bus, a canoe, and a walk across a dry, muddy lagoon.
We boarded the bus for a 2-½ hour ride, stopped for lunch by the river and continued another 2-½ ride by canoe to our lodge.
Katie and Megan – I loved hanging out with these sweet girls!
It was a little disappointing to learn the lagoon in front of our lodge was nearly dry due to the lack of rain, but we decided to make the best of it – after all we went to the jungle for adventure. The canoe took us as far as possible before we got out and began the walk across the now dry lagoon to our huts.
The lodge & huts were actually very nice for being in the jungle and so far removed from civilization. There was a roach about the size of a silver dollar that liked to appear just before dark each night from behind the toilet in my room and a few mosquitoes, but I had mosquito nets to take care of that. After all, I was in the jungle.
My own personal hut – with an open ceiling where I could talk back and forth with Katie and Megan next door.
It was quite an adventure!
The water was very brown due to the fact it was being pumped from the center of the nearly dry lagoon, but jugs of drinking water had been brought out by canoe. Pilsner beer also turned out to be a nice option in the evenings, and I’m not even a beer drinker!
We were fed three great meals a day – amazing how they had brought all of this food out to a remote location and across the dry lagoon.
Another adjustment to life in the jungle was the lack of electricity. Since it was solar powered we were limited to power each evening from 6-10 pm (if there was enough to last that long).
In spite these challenges, it was exciting to be in the jungle and our little group of five had a great time during our four days there.
Inside my room
The sounds at night in the jungle were incredible. If you have ever listened to one of those “sounds of the rainforest” CD’s, you have an idea what it’s like. It took me a couple of days to adjust to the complete darkness and slightly scary animal sounds, but by the last night I slept like a rock.
Early mornings sounded completely different. There were a couple of birds having quite a conversation each morning, wings whirring by my window, raindrops falling from the trees, chirping, whistling, tweeting, squawking, hooting, and scratching – so many sounds!
Mud, Mud, and more Mud
We either hiked through the forest or across the lagoon to the canoes after breakfast each morning. After a couple of evenings of rain, the lagoon became even more muddy. When sinking to your knees in mud, we decided it was actually easier to navigate without the boots getting sucked in and chose to go barefoot most of the time. Megan & Katie even got very good at mud fights using only their toes.
Fabian and Nora – new friends from Germany – felt so bad when she got stuck pretty bad a couple of times and needed help getting out.
Creatures on the ground
Our guide, Jacob (hah-KO-b) grew up in the jungle and did a good job pointing out spiders, snakes, and other creatures on our walks. One of my favorite things to watch were the leaf cutter ants – just amazing how many of them there were and how organized they were. It reminded me of the movie “A Bug’s Life”.
leaf cutter ants
I don’t know how Jacob spotted this snake across our path – it looked just like the other sticks we were stepping over and on – glad he was leading and stopped us.
stick snake
Creatures in the trees and water
On our last full day we ventured further into the jungle on a 2-hour canoe trip. Along the way we had the wonderful opportunity to sit and observe monkeys playing and eating in the trees – it was awesome!
spider monkey
We also saw cayman, a bat, and lots of birds.
cayman
bat
night monkeys in a hollow tree
My biggest regret was that I had not taken my large zoom lens because the birds and monkeys were always pretty far away. That being said, it would have been a real pain to carry it across the muddy lagoon, so it’s probably just as well. Even though I didn’t get the pictures I know I could have with my other lens, the entire experience was one I will never forget.
Making traditional bread from the yucca plant
We continued deeper into the jungle along the river to the Siona Indian Community of Puerto Bolivar. Here they showed us how to prepare casabe, a traditional bread made from the yucca plant.
We first walked out to the field where she cut the plant, pulled it up from the roots, and replanted a new stalk to grow before returning to the hut to prepare the bread.
grating the yucca
Cooking the flat bread. We ate it warm with jelly – it was delicious!
Futball
The village was interesting. Not at all what we expected, and the shaman was supposedly out fishing so we didn’t get to experience meeting him, but still interesting. We spent more time than planned because our canoe driver was involved in a futball game.
While we waited the mayor did treat us to a beer (they were being handed out as part of his campaign for the upcoming elections). I was able to spend some time photographing the beautiful children playing near the field and sharing the photos with their (very young) mothers.
Carrying supplies (and people) up from the river
The stairs up and down from the river to the village were a little intimidating.
Megan decided she preferred riding down in the box pulley normally used for moving supplies.
Much to the delight of the villagers who operated the trip down for her.
Navigating the river and jumping fish
The trip back was beautiful and peaceful as the sun began to set. That is until the fish jumped into the canoe with Katie – it’s the only time I heard her scream the entire trip – wish I could have gotten a picture of that!
Just a word about the canoe drivers – they have an incredible talent. Growing up in the jungle they have learned how to navigate the waters speeding up, slowing down, and bypassing logs and fallen trees. It is quite a feat.
Canoe Guide
Lost in the Jungle
On our last morning in the jungle we took an exhausting 2-hour power walk through the jungle. It was supposed to be a bird walk, but after being distracted trying to chase down some howler monkeys we’re pretty sure our guide was lost for a while. When we asked to slow down or rest he said we didn’t have time, and when we passed a monument for the equator (my 3rd one in Ecuador) he mentioned it was the first time he’d seen that which was a little distressing.
Crazy – this marker for the equator seemed to be in the middle of nowhere in the jungle.
Anyway Jacob got us back safe and sound, but it was the first time I’ve been on a bird walk and not seen one bird. We learned at breakfast that because the lagoon was starting to refill and was so muddy, the lodge was shutting down for a few days to allow it to refill. It was quite a task getting us and our luggage back out and to the canoes waiting at the river.
The adventure comes to an end
One more 2-hour canoe trip, 2 ½ hours on the bus and a short flight back to Quito, and my jungle adventure had ended.
As crazy as it was, I loved every minute and it was some of my best memories in Ecuador. Hopefully I can return someday.
