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Published: April 4th 2011
Strange fruit
Nest of the oropendula birdI am pretty sure it's in the rules that if you come to South America then you have to visit the Amazon. I hope it's OK if you visit the Amazon Basin rather than the actual river. I suspect, though, that the real requirement is that you get yourself onto the water, stay in the jungle for a few days, see some of the birds and other animals and get acquainted with a few of the insects. Anyway, if that is what is required then we have done it. I do admit though that we still have a little idea that we will find the time at some stage to get a look at the actual river, perhaps a little closer to its mouth rather than up here at the source end, so to speak.
The Amazon Basin is, as everyone knows, a very large place. You can visit it in a number of countries. Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil are all on our list of places to visit this trip and all of them have a slice of the Amazon. We could, conceivably, have spent the entire time in South America in the Amazon but we came to
Cooking Yuca Bread
The flour is piled onto the pan and then flattened quickly. There is enough moisture in the flour for it all to stick together the conclusion that wet rainforest jungle in this part of the world is going to be about the same whichever part you strike into – and if it isn't we are unlikely to be able to tell the difference. So we made our decision on criteria unrelated to the quality of rainforest and more on the cost benefit … or, more precisely cost to us.
There are more than a few operators in Quito in Ecuador who arrange trips to the Amazon Basin. We did the normal – checked out reviews by others, looked at the size of the operator and the tours they offered and considered cost. Draecana was our pick and they were able to fit us in for a 5 day trip. We had considered a 4 day trip part of which would have been a full day on a bus getting out there but reconsidered when we found that the cost of that day of travel with a hotel for the night would come out at about $40 per head where we could fly for $70, be there in an hour and add an extra day of jungle time. Seemed good value and turned out
Heron
Above the Rio Cuyabeno to be so.
Just a little confession here. We do read the warnings of our Foreign Affairs Department and its travel advisories. Like most such agencies they are very careful always to tell you to be careful, sometimes they tell you to reconsider your need to travel to an area and, less often, they say do not travel to this area. Ecuador seems to be full of places where you should reconsider and a few where you shouldn't go at all. Lago Agrio is in an area where we are strongly advised not to travel. The areas near the borders with Colombia and Peru apparently are where there are guerrillas currently operating. The area we were going was within about 30 km of one border and 60 of the other. I am sure that the warning is given on the basis of good advice and there clearly is a risk. We thought about it, figured that we would be with people who knew what they were doing at all times and that it was unlikely that any self respecting guerilla would be interested in us. So we went.
The decision to fly was a good one. It took
less than an hour to get from Quito to Lago Agrio on a local domestic flight, thus avoiding a day in a bus. We were picked up in a mini bus containing 3 other couples and then spent the next 2 and half hours travelling along progressively deteriorating roads to a place that may have had a name but, for us, was just identified as the 'port'. The party was off loaded from the mini bus, well fed and then loaded, after a proper time, onto a long canoe, about 10 metres, with a 75 hp Yamaha outboard on the back.
Steering a 10 metre fibreglass canoe laden with 10 passengers and their gear plus provisions for the camp along a flooded river clearly requires skill. You need more if you are to avoid the various hazards, sandbanks, floating logs, other boats etc. Our boatman was well up to the task although for a lot of the trip he lay in the bow lazily raising a finger every now and then to indicate to the temporary helmsman that he needed to steer a particular way. We travelled down the Aguarico River for about an hour and half. Then we
Birdwatching Tower
An interesting 28m climb turned into a slightly smaller but much cleaner looking river – less mud in the water that is – which turned out to be the Cuyabeno. Another half to three quarters of an hour and we duly arrived at the camp/lodge at about 4.00pm.
The Aguaricao River was about 100 metres wide although it has to be said that it was in flood. It flows into the Napo which is said to be substantially bigger than that and the Napo flows into the Amazon somewhere in northern Peru. Compared to these the Cuyabeno is a baby but it was still carrying a lot of water.
The banks of the rivers were dotted with indigenous and other farms, as well as communities, a military base and a substantial ranger station. The mouth of the Cuyabeno River marked the boundary of the Cuyabeno Reserve and, here, the huts and farms stopped. There are still Indignenous people living in the reserve but, while we came across people fishing and travelling, we didn't come across anyone actually living inside the park.
The camp at Nicky Amazon was basic but set up with care and thought. Huts had comfortable beds, good mosquito
Black vulture
Drying its wings nets, thatched roofs and en suite bathrooms. There were 3 staff: a guide who spoke excellent English and knew his jungle well; a camp manager who was a jack of all trades, capable and efficient; and a cook who cooked us some of the better meals we have had in this part of the world. There were 10 guests in our group. The camp can apparently take about twice that number. I am not completely convinced that it would be as comfortable with that number though.
Obviously, in a jungle the size of the Amazon, there are going to be many differences from place to place in the numbers and distribution of the various types of animals that will be found and, probably to a lesser degree, the variety of vegetation. The area utilised by the Nicky Amazon Lodge had plenty of vegetation but it seemed to me that there was pretty strong evidence that hunting of most of the wildlife had not ended very long ago, if it had indeed finished.
We went for a number of walks through different parts of the jungle in the early evening, at night and the early morning. There were some
Cloud with a halo
Taken from the Birdwatching Tower. None of us knew what caused this coloured cloud. larger animals, mainly monkeys of different types and birds, but we spent a lot of our time getting an insight into the activities of various types of ants, spiders and other bugs. The area had an abundance of these creatures, many of them looking quite nasty. Our guide, Andres, was very knowledgeable about the jungle and, most importantly could tell a good yarn or make up a good story if the need arose. He also was very good at keeping us all quite safe.
Caiman were about. We spotted a couple of small ones near the camp where I suspect they are encouraged by regular snacks but, those we actually spotted in rivers wouldn't have raised a second glance on any river in the Northern Territory. There could, however, have been a lot about. The water was very high and there was a lot of it back in jungle and off the main river. The river apparently drops to become just a few metres wide at some times of the year and, if you were interested in spotting caiman, this might be a more productive time.
Monkeys weren't hard to spot. We had seen howler monkeys pretty close
Creek Crossing
Andres and David showing how it's done up in Belize but I had never really heard them sound off. They are able to make a noise when they are marking or defending territory that can resonate through the jungle for some kilometres. It is an impressive display and even a little eerie when you hear it early morning or at night. The other types of monkeys we spotted were smaller but there were plenty of them about.
Macaws and toucans are impressive birds for us. Up and down the river in the early mornings and late afternoons we were able to spot a number of these – although the blue and yellow macaw that may appear in a photo is a ring in. We actually found it in Cuenca at a museum
The only slightly sour point of our time in the jungle was a visit to an Indigenous community. There was no hostility but certainly no welcome. I felt like an interloper and am sure others felt much the same. We had been told that the village would be happy to see us, partly because the village received some income from the tourism venture and a number of people from there were employed and
Creek Crossing2
There were very bitey ants on the upper log - the only handhold also because we might buy some artefacts that are made locally. The shop was closed and I am pretty sure that we were just a nuisance. Fortunately, we weren't there very long.
A great deal more interesting was a visit to the house and farm of an Indigenous lady who demonstrated the making of yuca bread. Yuca – we call it cassava – is a root vegetable that I used to plant about our block in the Northern Territory as a sacrificial termite indicator. We knew that it was a staple food and had seen plenty growing but had no real idea how to make bread from it. Well, for those of you who might visit us in the future – provided we do actually go home and build a house – we now know how to make yuca bread. We were shown the lot. How to plant, dig it up, peel, grate, strain the fluid out, bake and eat. Not bad either, and would be a lot better with a bit of spice or perhaps jam and cream – but then what wouldn't be better with jam and cream.
Klaire demonstrated how to catch piranha for the
Creek Crossing 3
Adam trying not to get bitten by ants rest of us and followed up with some catfish. We could have spent a lot longer at this activity but I suspect we weren't going to catch a lot with the water high and relatively muddy.
Generally, the weather was good. There was a decent storm one night and I was interested to see how the palm leaf thatch held up with some real rain. It worked pretty well. There were a few bugs, spiders and bits and pieces that appeared on the floor next morning but nothing of great note. I should say that we were well kitted out for wet weather with rubber boots and ponchos supplied.
The holy grail of animals in this part of the jungle was the sloth. My expectations of jaguars, tapirs and capybaras were completely unreal. On our last day we spotted a brown throated, three toed sloth high in a tree by the side of the river. I will say that there were those in the canoe who were pretty much convinced that the supposed sloth was a leafy branch but I choose to believe our guide and boatman who have been looking at these animals for a lot longer
Creek Crossing 4
A different crossing - vertical sticks to hold on to, and no ants than us. I admit that the photo – mine I will point out with my little camera – is not all that conclusive but the three toed sloth is on my list of animals I have seen.
Our trip home was a repeat of the trip out without the flight. This time we took the night bus from Lago Agrio to Quito. A dodgy boat motor held us up for a while in the morning but Alex, the boatman, got it working with the assistance of a local mechanic on the side of the river. The bus trip to Quito was all the longer because there were a number of police stops. They were looking for guerillas. The last stop was at 3.00 am at which point I was prepared to admit my part just for a bit of sleep.
If you are looking for a place to see the jungle where you will be well looked after, be comfortable, and have the opportunity to see some birds, insects and animals that you may never have seen in the wild before I can recommend this mob. They did it well.
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Sarah
non-member comment
Pocket Monkey!
That is clearly a sloth. Also, I would like a pocket monkey. That is all.