http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Ecuador , East , Tena en-us Fri, 24 May 2013 15:22:46 +0000 Fri, 24 May 2013 15:22:46 +0000 Today was an adventure. We got to take a canoe trip after all We took a canoe.. yes 16 people in one canoe.. to a community on an island that looked much like San Rafael. We did much of the same things we did on day 7 fluoride albendazole toothbrushes toothpaste etc.That evening when we returned we went to the community that hosted us for the health promoter training the previous two days an http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-744311.html Our original plan for today was to take a canoe trip to the zoo before an afternoon and evening of training with the health promoters. However even though we are in the rainforest it has not rained since weve been here. In fact it hasnt rained in a week and the locals are getting worried because the river is so low. Instead of canoeing we went spelunking. It was awesome. Ive been to M http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-744308.html Today we began a two day training for the health promoters similar to the one we did in Quito. Because Tena is so much more rural that Quito it is imperative that the health promoters have a more solid education especially about when it is important to get someone medical attention and how to keep them healthy until that can happen. For today we focused on first aid. We talked about breaks sp http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-744306.html Today is our first day of clinic in Tena. Tena is much much much more rural than Quito. This trip is cool because we get to see an urban setting and a rural one. Every day in Tena we will have breakfast at 7am and dinner at 7pm. Needless to say by 7pm I am ready for bed. We pack so much into one day but I like it that way. Three of the ten students are sick.. hoping I make it at least until we ge http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-744304.html Ein groer Affee begrte uns nach einigen Stunden Busfahren. Wir folgten einer Auffahrt zu einem bunten Garten aus Bananenpflanzen Lulostruchern PapaChinas und vielen anderen ntzlichen Pflanzungen. Es begrte uns ein Haus das mit seinen Hngematten im Verandabereich gleich sehr einladent aussah. Die obere Etage bestand aus den getrennten Schlafbereichen fr Mdchen und Mnner und http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-744297.html From the Jungles of Tena to HomeWell our day to start home had finally arrived. We ate our last breakfast in the jungle and got on the bus by 630am. The bus had arrived last night with the driver sleeping onboard. After a very long rough ride out of the jungle we stopped in Tena to drop off our interpreters before heading to Quito. The ride from Tena to Quito wasn39t nearly as interesting http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-737696.html Day 23 The jungles of Tena Day 5Another similar start to our day except this morning I was up even a little later. After a breakfast of eggs little sausages and pancakes with syrup we loaded up the boats and headed upstream for our day with the community. Because of the low water situation we had to get out of our boats twice and walk across land or beach so the boats could be dragged upst http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-737257.html Day 22 The jungles of Tena Day 4Since I got to bed a bit later last night and read for a while I didn39t get up until almost 630am. Of course Manoli was there ahead of me. Same routine as yesterday coffee breakfast bathroom and off in the boats. This morning39s breakfast was pancakes with syrup scrambled eggs and fruit. We only had a few houses to visit between us all so we kne http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-737256.html Day 21 The jungles of Tena Day 3Today started pretty much the same as yesterday except Manoli get up before me so I was the second one up and about. After a cup of coffee and checkiing out the sunrise and local flora the rest of the group roused themselves out of bed and we all ate another hearty breakfast. Breakfast this morning was scrambled eggs french toast with syrup and a plantain mi http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-737114.html Day 20 The jungles of Tena Day 2I think I must have gone to bed a bit earlier than normal cause by 530am I couldn39t sleep any more. Apparently I was the first one up and about so I wandered around and sort of watched the sun come up. By 6am or so I noticed someone in the kitchen room and went to investigate. It turned out to be the host Thomas Moore getting coffee. Of course I had to http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-736798.html Day 19 Quito to the jungles of TenaWe all left on the bus at 8am. Although it was a 28 passenger bus with only 22 passengers because we had so much luggage we filled the rear storage compartment the back one and half rows of seats and still had to put some on the roof. The trip was supposed to take 4 to 5 hours but with all the bathroom stops congestion and road work we didn39t even g http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-736794.html ltstrong stylemsobidifontweight normalgtThe following day we headed into town early to pick up some supplies for the following days bus trip and get Joshes hair cut for 1.20 which is difficult when you dont know how to say stop After Joshs hair looked like he was joining the army we headed back to the lodge for lunch which consisted of fish cooked in banana leaves with chill http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-715133.html ltgtltxmlgt ltwWordDocumentgt ltwViewgtNormalltwViewgt ltwZoomgt0ltwZoomgt ltwTrackMovesgt ltwTrackFormattinggt ltwPunctuationKerninggt ltwValidateAgainstSchemasgt ltwSaveIfXMLInvalidgtfalseltwSaveIfXMLInvalidgt ltwIgnoreMixedContentgtfalseltwIgnoreMixedContentgt ltwAlwaysShowPlaceholderTextgtfalselt http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-695073.html We arrived at the station after a 5hour bus ride and a taxi ride in the bed of a truck with the luggage. We met some of the volunteers as they came back from their day in town and at work. We made plans with the rest of the group for the weekend to see some areas around the station. On Saturday we had a surprise visit from some local students around 14 and 15 years of age. The teacher requested t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-653018.html Ive now completed my four weeks in the Amazon Rainforest. It is a tragic story here in one of the most biodiverse places in the world. Continuing deforestation and segmentation of the rainforest in these areas make a bleak future for the rainforest.There has been an airport built near the Jatun Sacha Amazon station. This is between this reserve and another one. Air and noise pollution road expa http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-653017.html In the last few days I was able to finish painting and posting the chichico tamarin monkey crossing signs to post near the reserve with the help of a fellow volunteer. The manager of the station seemed very happy about this. He had a huge grin on his face when I walked by with the 10ft post with the sign nailed to it over my shoulder to put it in the ground on the side of the road. A car drove b http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-653016.html August 6thWe were introduced this morning to Gus short for Agustus who is our truck and will be our home for the next 3 weeks. As a great introduction we were stuck on there for 6 hours as we drove to an incredible eco lodge Shangrila just outside of Tena where we will be for the next 3 nights. It is an amazing colection of tree house type structures situated on a cliff above a huge river and http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-637118.html Absolutely breathtakingWords cannot describe the sheer scale and beauty of the Amazon rainforest and I was only scratching the surface FridayArrival in the Amazon gateway town of Tena on Friday and spent the night sampling the local nightlife... bumped into a couple of Italian fellas and their Ecuadorian entourage and had a fantastic night with them. One of the Italians mentioned that he new http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-592451.html Do not ever use Taxi Express to get from Quito to anywhere they arrived early wandered aimlessly around Quito for almost 2 hours cramming people in and taking ages to place and cover luggage that they had put on top of the van. We missed our transfer to the hacienda and when we finally got dropped off there every item in each of our packs was soaking wet. grrr.The Hakuna Matata hacienda was bea http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-554477.html A large group of us loaded up in a safari like vehicle that one of the brothers owned and and headed out for preaching in the jungle. Upon arriving we had to cross the river on a wooden bridge then walked for a couple miles with the houses scattered. Then we went to an anniversary party in Rio Bamba. Josh gave the talk saturday then we headed home. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/East/Tena/blog-550102.html