La Chica Amazona

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Touring through the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve in the Amazon is so far the highlight of this trip. The adventure began from the moment we left the wildlife station, when somehow between my friend Jason from the station and I, we managed to bus 2 hours in the wrong direction only to have to bus right back past the station again to go the other way. I was worried because Jenna was supposed to be meeting us in Lago Agrio and the last I had heard, she was planning on taking the 7 am bus from Quito, which would have gotten her there in the early afternoon and after our little detour we were looking at late evening... but somehow when we finally got on a bus in Baiza we managed to get onto her bus coming from Quito because she missed the early one. So it all worked out, and we finally got into the dodge town of Lago Agrio all together. Its not supposed to be the safest town because Columbia is 15 km away and the border there is super sketch, but we saw no guerillas, only men walking around with fake persian rugs trying to sell them on the street. Up there in one of the most bizarre things I´ve seen... I never would have thought of home furnishings as an impulse, buy on the street kind of purchase... but hey you never know.
The next morning we got picked up by the tour company (you can´t go into the reserve without one), and turns out it is 7 germans and the 3 of us, so for the first time English was the left out language... but everyone was super nice and tried to translate for us. The first day was mostly spent on a bus getting to and into the reserve, and then we transferred to ¨good quality Canadian canoes¨ and paddled down the river to where we were tenting for the night. In the first couple hours we managed to see a ton of really awesome birds (macaws, parrots, toucans... a bunch of others with unfamiliar names but incredible colours), and the sounds were enough to keep me amazed the whole time. We got to our campsite after a couple of hours, and we all went swimming in the murky and potentially pirahna/caiman/anaconda filled river (supposedly they don´t attack people...). I started a trend of climbing up trees along the bank and then jumping in the river, which then escalated into climbing higher and swinging off vines from the tree trunks tarzan styles. I think because I started it and I kept up with the ante, I got nicknamed la chica amazona by the guides and cooks. After dinner, we spent the evening playing cards after teaching the cook asshole, or ¨pendejo¨in spanish, which was a feat in itself given my more than limited spanish.
The next morning we paddled for a few hours to get to the new site, and on the way we saw a black anaconda (small by their standards), squirrel monkeys super close to the shore and more rad birds. Jenna and I also managed to run our canoe into a bush containing a deadly snake while we were trying to figure out what the canoe in front of us was trying to tell us to look at. It happened again with a giant spider, but that one wasn´t a near death experience... I don´t think. We had a little siesta after paddling, and then headed into the Laguna Grande to try our hand at pirahna fishing. I didn´t catch any, but I diiid catch 3 sardines and we all got to partake in the spoils caught by other people more adept at the sport. We also saw a massive caiman that could swallow the ones in the aquarium on the way back which was really cool because generally you can only find them at night. The evening was once again spent with cards, and boosting up my spanish potty mouth. I think that my vocabulary of ¨malas palabras¨ is developing at a rate disproportionate to that of the more functional words...
The following day we had a early morning bird watch, and then a survivor man lesson in the woods, and in the afternoon we were supposed to go paddling again but there was an epic thunderstorm so we just laid in the hammocks while it crashed around, and then we went out for an evening ¨caiman spot¨. We saw a ton of eyes in the flashlights, and one slightly less huge one that we got to get pretty close to and get a good view of.
The last day, we went to this little tiny village (150 ppl) in the middle of the jungle where our boat driver was from and spent the day there. I was concerned that it was going to be one of those kind of cheesy, make the local people into a tourist attraction, kind of things... but it ended up seeming a lot more authentic than I was expecting and the people were so wonderful. We made bread out of Yuca, and then played a game of soccer in 36 degree and almost 99 percent humidity with the kids, and then took another dip in the river to cool off that involved a big game of tag (I guess its an international game). That night was supposed to be an evening nature walk, but once again there was a huge thunderstorm going on so it was another night chilling out in hammocks and working on spanish vocab.
Sadly the next day we had to rock out of the reserve... in the canoe on the way back we saw more river dolphins, and probably the best view of them yet so that was pretty sweet, but it also started to rain so not much else. The adventure didn´t stop though once we left the reserve... we had about 4 hours to kill once we got back to Lago Agrio before our bus back to the station, which meant more wandering rug salesmen, a good amount of wandering, and then finally a late night departure. On the way there was a military checkpoint where we all had to get off the bus, and the three of us were sent into the slower tourist section where they check your bags. Unfortunately because our check was more thorough, our bus attempted to drive off without us, which would have left us stranded in the middle of nowhere at midnight... luckily we managed to chase it down. We finally got back to the road to the station at 2am and then had to hike the hour up the mountain... wouldn´t have been bad except for the crazy fog which made our headlamps totally useless farther than a couple feet. One scare with seemingly feral, dark horses in the bushes but after a small freakout, we figured out what it was and made it back safely. Definitely a night where I was happy to be with other people!
The last couple days at the station finally provided some sunshine up there which was a treat. Days were spent on walks looking for and monitoring bird nests, and one afternoon was spent playing Ecuadorian volleyball (more or less the same as ours, only with a soccer ball which kiiiills. My arms were swollen the next day) and riding one of the guy at the station´s horse to the abondoned school and back. I was sad to leave this morning but I am also excited for all the things to come so I recovered quickly. I met up with Andrea this afternoon, and spent the afternoon with her walking around the old town, and then the night playing pub trivia in our hostel (a couple points away from winning...sad). And now here I am... we´re off to Cotopàxi tomorrow and I guess I´ll write more after all of that. I would also post pictures but they are currently uploading on another computer and I´m going to bed... so imagine.

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