Cuyabeno Reserve Pacayacu Ecuador..

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Wow.. what a experience i had last week..My work was closed for a few days and this allowed for some serious exploring of the world outside Quito. Along with 2 others i ventured to the Cuyabeno Reserve and National Park in Pacayacu region of Ecuador. 4 days of no electricity,tv,or Cell Phones. The adventure started with a 20 min plane ride from Quito to Lago Agrio..a tiny strip of runway.. Greeted by my guide Juan(of course) we ventured down a winding road for 2 hrs..at this point the road became UNPAVED!!! and a additional 3 hrs later we arrived at "the bridge". We then loaded the gear into our traditional dugout canoe and headed into the park. Now our gear consisted of 6 cases of beer,1 case of coke and food stuffs..2 hrs later we arrived at our site Samona lodge.. it was a trip to chug along and see the trees,birds and things. Over the next 4 days we were treated to Pirana fishing,fresh water dolphins,swimming in the lagoon,3 great hikes into the park and a trip to see the community of people who live inside the park. Along the way I met some great people, a dog named Van Damme(yeah after Jean Claude himself)and made bread from the Yucca plant that grows everwhere we went. As usual I took my camera along..this time I was armed with my new zoom lense to increase my photo chances..I was terrified that i was going to drop it into the river. The lodge had no electric power except for 2 car batteries that powered the frezzer. The lights were solar powered and only cold water showers. The lodge was very rustic..hard wooden bunk beds and lots of hammocks.I took every chance to nap in the sun and these hammocks provided ample snooze...over the 4 days I saw..pirana,sloth bears,parrots,hawks,vultures,dolphins,spiders,tree boas,killer ants and caimans. I took over 700 photographs and have limited it to just 20 here.If anyone is interested id be glad to share many more..Please feedback..i am very curious of what others think of this..

T

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Photos

Cuyabeno park sign
me outside the park

cruising down the river
trekked 2 hrs down the river in this fancy boat

sloth bear
Its hard to see him but look close..

along came a spider
a nasty little guy

Samona lodge
Home sweet home..

Sunset
Day 1 sunset..

day 2 6am
I was up early so out came the camera/tripod. Along with my many many new misquito friends i was able to play with light..

monkey in the tree
I think we woke him up from a nap.. he started throwing things at us..

pirana fishing
I once caught a fish this big...

day 2 sunset
We spent the late afternoon and eveing in the lagoon..Sunsets are just great..

sunsets cuyabeno lagoon
more of the great sunset

cuyabeno sunset
Add a tree and the picture gets even better..

Caiman
We spotted this guy trolling the waters of the lagoon..great eyes..they gave him away

tree boa
On the way home we stumbled upon this nasty fellow.. Harmless to us but to the others in the park...

Yellow flower
.This amazing flower was sitting all alone in the center of the lodge.. thanks Nikon..

Timo the photographer
Off I go into the wild jungle..

Butterflys
I took this from a good distance away.. the new zoom really makes it easy

peek a boo
Along the way we met some people who live inside the park.They helped us make Yucca bread.. this little girl was soo shy but as usual with kids she warmed up..

last sunset
on the last night we went swimming again.. the gods blessed us with another beauty..

love birds
What a pretty pair..