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Published: December 26th 2008
After climbing Cotopaxi we were all looking forward to spending some time relaxing and closer to sea level. Therefore the Cuyabeno was the perfect place. Firstly we had to negotiate a night bus from Quito to Lago Agrio. After having some dinner at the German girls house we were all pretty tired from the last week and all 3 of us fell asleep instantly as we settled into our seats. To our surprise and delight we all slept the entire journey but we soon realised after we disembarked at Lago Agrio that we had taken the earlier bus and we had to hang out on the streets for 2 hours before anything opened their doors.
Luckily for us there was some drunk Ecuadorian guy who was up for a chat so for the next hour he told us about his life and what he had been up to that night. He tried to get into a cab but didn´t have enough money so he chatted to us for a bit longer before he eventually went on his way. After numerous games of cuarenta and trumps we finally jumped on a bus at 9:30 for a 3 hr trip even more
The view up the river from our lodge
Was a great spot to swim and cool off from the heateast.
Sleep was impossible on this leg as the roads were non existent and spending time in the air was more common than on our seats as we were regularly thrown around. A quiet 2 hr boat ride followed up the Cuyabeno River to the lodge that we would be staying for the next 4 days. It was very simple with thatched huts and hammocks everywhere. We were also told we could eat as many bananas as we wanted from the kitchen so everyone loaded up on the potassium.
Our guide was George who has been in the jungle for around 25 years. He had a good sense of humour and instantly latched onto our group of 3 boys and began the banter. On our first evening we paddled up the river in a canoe and saw some monkeys playing, a giant guinea pig and lots of birds. As we paddled back to our huts we were warmly welcomed by the thousands of mosquitos that were hanging around our canoe looking for blood!!! That night we also walked in the bush just across from our lodge looking for all sorts of animals. We saw a rainbow snake in
a tree and George did his best Steve Irwin impression but unfortunately the snake retreated deep into the tree roots. Some of the spiders and cockroaches looked like they were on steroids with regards to there size, they were huge!! After stamping over a deadly ants nest we made it back to our huts safely and had an early night so we could be ready for a full day tomorrow.
Our second day began with a cruise up the river and our first look at the Laguna Grande. This time of year it is around 5m in depth but it does dry up once a year, which would make it difficult for transport. We did a nature walk on the north side of the Laguna and while we didn´t see many animals we could always hear what was going on above. We ate some lemon ants that were quite refreshing, chewed some wild cocoa leaves and munched on a tree that is also used as a local anaesthetic: yes my tongue was numb afterwards.
We then paddled for quite a while to visit the tree in which the anaconda was nesting in at the moment. Everyone took their
An anaconda nests in a tree in the Laguna Grande
I was pretty scared even just taking this photo. Its body was so thick!! turn climbing up on the edge of the boat and looking into the root where it was nesting. Now I am usually pretty afraid of snakes so I made certain that I didn´t come too close when sticking my head in for a peek. I didn´t need to get that close anyway because the body of the anaconda was so thick that a closer look was not needed. Next time we visited its head was looking right at us which was a terrifying site: I didn´t need to look anymore.
Luckily for us we got a ride back to our village in a motorboat where we swum and relaxed in the hammocks for the afternoon. George rounded up everyone later on to do some piranha fishing and swimming in the Laguna. The fishing was fun, I caught 1 piranha that was pretty small but George showed us that it wasn´t all luck by catching at least 5. Davide who is also a keen fisherman nearly caught the same amount. We ate one of the bigger ones later on; it was very oily. The swim in the Laguna Grande at sunset was quite refreshing, but I will be honest in
saying that after seeing the anaconda in the same day I didn´t stay in the water for too long.
There was now at least 20 people in total staying at our lodge so after dinner a few card games were played and a few silly things were done. Unfortunately the beers were expensive which is understandable when you take into account the transport involved. And we had nearly finished all of our rum so it was difficult to play drinking games. One thing we did have in abundance was bananas, which we were told on the first day we could have ¨as many as we wanted¨. So the loser of the game had to eat a banana. Then a banana with tomato sauce. Then a banana with chilli sauce. We ate at least 30 between us and I think Davide had nearly eaten 10. Definitely too much potassium for one day....
On the third morning we visited a local community around an hour inland from our lodge. The Cuyabeno has changed alot in the last 60 years and since the oil exploitation in the region has changed everything, the traditional communities aren´t as ¨traditional¨ anymore. It is purely
a village in which a few of the elders still dress and practice old rituals and where the youngsters are more than exposed to customs of the western world. I am not trying to say it was a sham I am just being honest. They still live off the land, grow all their food and cook in the traditional way. One housewife in the village dug up some yuca from the ground and over the next 30 minutes made it into bread without any other ingredients. It was quite impressive and the end result was quite tasty.
Afterwards we visited a shaman who had a fantastic garden full of herbal trees and plants necessary for making traditional medicine. He was traditionally dressed and his head dress and animal jewellery were passed down from every generation of shaman in the region. He was very nice and duly explained the uses of the plants and his everyday work. Later on we visited the Laguna again and did some more fishing and swimming.
Our final morning was an early one as we arose at 6am to do some bird watching along the river. It didn´t disappoint as the amount of birdlife
Lemon ants...they were really tasty
The ants live in a certain plant and have a symbiotic relationship. that was active at this time in the morning was amazing. In the first 15 minutes we saw monkeys, macaws, kingfishers and lots of other birds that I can´t remember. One bird in particular has over 40 different whistles and it was great to sit there and listen to its repetoir. We also saw some fresh water dolphins at the river junction. We had seen them everyday so far but this time they were really close and were popping there heads out of the water more often. They are odd looking that´s for sure.
A long journey followed back up the river and then back to Lago Agrio where it all began. It was quite amusing on the journey back because a kingfisher bird flew in front of our boat for around 20 minutes. It would fly a few corners ahead, have a rest on a tree, and then resume flying once we came in view. Near the end you could tell it was exhausted but it just kept on going. It was a nice escort safely out of the jungle.
Ryan and I followed the jungle with 3 days in Tena. After arriving early in the morning
on a night bus we did some rafting on some Grade 4 rapids for an entire day. It was great fun and the river and surrounding scenery was beautiful. The following day we did some caving in the Jumandy caves which turned out to be more fun than we thought. We found a guide hanging around one of the pools and for two hours we explored the caves and at times came to some really tight holes to fit through. We barely had enough room to breathe in one section with our whole body under water. We plunged down a waterfall and jumped into a deep section before exiting safely. The most dangerous part of the caves was on a kiddy waterfall that was inside the complex. I followed Ryan down and after it seemed like I would trickle into the water I gathered alot of speed and on the final corner I went up the entire left side before flipping over and landing on my head and somehow managing not to find concrete and hit the water. I was quite shocked considering I thought it was a kids slide but the lump on my head reminded me to not
jump to conclusions quickly.
We watched Manchester United unfortunately beat Liga de Quito in the early hours of Sunday morning before heading back to Quito. A great week was had by all.
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