Baños - adventure, relaxation and fun (and poncho shopping)
Don't know how we resisted this offer - not sure I like the sound of 'sprinkle wine'!
We'd done the adventure thing in Baños when we were here 13 years ago and had fond memories of the town. This time, our 2 days and one night there, before taking the overnight bus to Coca, were good fun. There were more tourists than we'd seen in other towns in Ecuador, but it was in no way heaving with gringos. We stayed in a cosy, family run hostel, Monte Carmelo, just outside town, and relished our hot shower, the last we'd have for 5 days.
Sunday produce market - cheap, fresh, varied and bountiful fruit and veg - but no communal kitchen in our hostel - dang!
Aren't you supposed to stand in front of the goal? It's pretty small - Fyffe-a-side, maybe?
Perfect little quails' eggs
Stunning backdrops wherever you look
Ecuador is a strongly Catholic country and millions of church candles must be sold each year
Some of the more colourful goods for sale in the supermarket - why not learn English while making chicken stock!
(Those of you who know me and my shopping phobia well will realise that I was off taking photos while Alan, who actually likes food shopping, was in charge of the purchases.)
Selling all kinds of sweets and oranges at the bus station, from early morning till very late
Gulliver's wife doing her shopping
Kichwa, the little veggie cafe where we ate our lunch on both days
That's one good thing about touristy towns: there are always veggie cafes and restaurants. This one, Kichwa, served a menu del dia for $3.50, including a soup, main course and juice. Yum.
Service with a smile: quinoa tortilla and all the trimmings (this is how it arrived - bless)
Mural in Kichwa cafe - the Ecuadorean Julie Andrews?
Fast food cafe opposite Kichwa
While we enjoyed our veggie take on traditional Ecuadorean dishes, this indigenous couple tucked into fast food.
Little house near our hostel
Hanging with the locals
Baños is surrounded by natural beauty
As well as tourist tat
We had a fun time in Baños, though very tame compared to the experience of the armies of thrill seekers who visit the town. The most adventurous activity was shopping for 2 new ponchos in preparation for jungle deluges, to replace our old ponchos, which have gone mouldy and are now more duct tape than poncho!
Off we set on the overnight bus to Coca, transport hub for excursions into the Amazon area, excited at the prospect of our jungle adventure.
Shiripuno Lodge, Yasuni, in the Ecuadorean Amazon rainforest
This was a bit of a splurge, an early celebration of our one year anniversary of travelling the globe - well, Central and South America, at least. We had debated long and hard whether to visit the Galápagos Islands, quizzing other tourists and travel agents, researching online. It seems that there's no real budget way to do it. Even if you don't partake in tours, the flights are prohibitively expensive, the ferries between islands are not cheap and the 'budget' accommodation options are around the $40 a night mark.... ouch. We also feared that the whole experience would be a bit of a circus, with hordes of tourists taking selfies against a backdrop of marine iguanas, turtles and sealions.
We're still not sure if we made the right decision, but, hey, a jungle adventure it is! We opted for the Shirupono Lodge trip, as they seem ethical in their approach to the conservation of rainforest flora and fauna and profits help to support the local Huaroani people who live in the region. In addition, the Lodge is set in an isolated area, with no other tourists around; it's deep in the jungle, a two and a half hour road journey from Coca, followed by a 4 hour journey in a motorised canoe on the meandering river.
It was an inauspicious start, arriving at Coca bus station at 4am on the first day of our adventure. Having slept barely a wink on the bus, due to a mix of excitement, anticipation and hugely uncomfortable seats, zombie-like we headed for one of the stone benches in the eerily quiet terminal. I drifted off somehow, only to be awoken by a policeman tapping me sharply on the legs with his truncheon and Alan protesting loudly. The seats are for sitting, not sleeping, apparently.
Coca, gateway to the the largest national park in Ecuador, and the most bio-diverse place on the planet, is an industrial town. Its main income is not from tourism, it's from oil.
Off to the hotel where we were due to meet our guide. We were three hours ahead of time, but were able to tuck into a hearty buffet breakfast and freshen up, catch up with emails etc. We eyed others entering the hotel lobby, wondering if they were to be our jungle companions for the next few days. Most were Ecuadorean bankers attending a conference, which invoked memories of work, closely followed by jubilation that we will hopefully never again be part of that world.
Our guide, Omar, arrived. Described on the blurb from the organisers as bilingual Spanish and English, we were very glad indeed that we can now get by in Spanish, and his relief, too, was palpable. Our co-adventurers turned up, a friendly Dutch couple a bit younger than us, on their annual 3 week holiday without their 5 kids. Then Pablo, an Ecuadorean bird tour guide arrived, completing our little group. Also nice - genteel and friendly. Phew.
The road journey was an eye-opener. The pickup taxi driver was very informative, relating tales of destruction of the rainforest and communities in the region by oil companies. Companies have funded schools and healthcare, but at a huge cost to the environment and traditions.
The taxi-driver stopped so that we could feel for ourselves how hot the pipes are - some were too hot to touch. This is the temperature of the oil as it is pumped from deep in the earth. The region's climate is very hot, so the pipes retain their high temperature. Every so often local people protest against the danger posed by the oil industry and have damaged pipes to highlight the risk. However, many locals are employed in the industry, in an area where there are precious few other ways to earn a living, so opposition is rarely demonstrated. We passed huge flames, burning natural gas into the atmosphere, creating major pollution, and responsible for the deaths of many, many insects and birds.
Eventually, we reached the entrance to the Yasuni National Park, paid our entrance fee of $20 each and boarded the power canoe for our journey to the Lodge.
Only another four hours to go, but what a journey
Turtles basking in the sun
On the Napo River
We're here! Shiripuno Lodge
As soon as we arrived at the Lodge, bumsore after 4 and a half ours on the canoe, Omar led us through the jungle closeby, for the first 'wow' of many over the next 5 days.
Enormous ceiba, or kapok tree, used in rituals and a myriad other ways
Growing up to 200 metres, this giant tree has many uses. The lightweight wood is used to make dugout canoes and carvings. The oil from the seeds is used to make soap. The silky fibres from which the seeds are dispersed make an effective stuffing for cushions, pillows etc. Other parts of the tree are medicinal. See..... Wow!
'Walking tree' - the new aerial roots grow towards the sun and the whole tree can move 3cm - 5cm a day
Our cabin
Our rustic jungle cabin, no electricity, muddy river water shower, but a flushing toilet and resident frog. Luxury!
Our room-mate..
.... And Pablo's! One of 2 tarantulas in his cabin - the other one was huge, but very shy
Inflatable solar lamp in our cabins... genius
Cosy... Single beds pushed together
The jungle sounds at night were brilliant. A nightjar called all night long, one among the multitude of tantalising croaks, whoops, screams, peeps, tweets etc.
Grasshopper enjoying some hammock time
Over the 5 days we hiked for hours in the rainforest; one day we did three hikes - straight after breakfast, returning for lunch, another mid-afternoon, then a night walk. Fantastic! These are just some of the amazing sights.....
Natty roots
Beautiful millipede on one of the trails
Sometimes, the volunteer, Ezra, from the US, joined us on our hikes. He was incredibly skilled at spotting creatures. Out in the jungle one morning, he suddenly exclaimed 'No way!' and gestured to us to be quiet and still. Following the direction of his pointing finger, we spotted this little cluster of bats, up in a tree, in what Ezra later told us was a 'bat tent'. Holy fantastic spotting, Robin!'. He explained that his friends had been carrying out a study about this phenomenon, which is how he knew what to look for: bats nibble halfway through the base of a leaf, causing it to droop. The bats then shelter under the drooping leaves iin little clusters. How Ezra spotted it, we'll never know, but we were all thrilled that he did.
Impossibly cute cluster of bats in their bat tent
Coral-like fungus
One of many cicada nests - the creatures are deep below the ground beneath their 'chimneys'
At the mirador: well worth the climb
Below us, nestled in the jungle, was the 'no-contact people's land', explained Omar. These people, unlike the Huaroani, have no contact whatsoever with the outside world.
On our last full day we did a very challenging hike to a clay lick, hoping to see numerous birds and animals taking the opportunity to gain precious minerals from the mud. There was no discernible path through the jungle; Eduardo, Huaroani, and born and raised in the area, raced ahead to clear a narrow path with his machete. We were so excited to follow the tracks of a jaguar, who had clearly been stalking peccaries; their tracks were clearly seen ahead of the big cat. There had been heavy rain the previous night, strongly suggesting that the jaguar had been that very morning, or the rain would have washed away the tracks. Cor!!!
Jaguar tracks deep in the jungle
Slithering through mud and teetering across logs over streams, some of us taking a tumble or two into the mud, we finally arrived at the clay lick, Though we could hear the chattering and bickering of what sounded like hundreds of parrots, none were visible.
Eduardo, canoe captain and intrepid jungle guide, demonstrating a seemingly impossible Huaroani leaf knot while we waited for the elusive creatures near the clay lick
Omar, our Kichwa guide (left, nickname 'Burrito' - little donkey) and Eduardo (nickname 'Medio-hombre' (Half-man', due to his small stature)
We waiting silently among the trees for around 45 minutes, until it started to teem with rain, then headed back through the dense jungle to the canoe, then back to the Lodge. That's nature for us... No promise of performing animals and birds at our whim, the sheer verdant abundance of the rainforest was reward in itself.
Our Dutch friend, Hans - Jolly japes while waiting for the creatures to arrive at the clay lick..ssssh!
Orb spider (without Hans)
To invigorate us before the long, hard trek back to the canoe, the guides peeled pieces of bark from a tree, telling us to chew them for energy. Eduardo, Medio-hombre, then burst out laughing, telling us that it was curare, which is what the Huaroani use in their blowpipes to kill monkeys and we'd all be dead in 15 minutes. Ho ho. Turns out he was only half-joking - it was what's used in blowpipes, but is just a mild stimulant to humans in the quantity we'd had. We also learned about other medicinal plants: another bark is used by local women as a contraceptive, other plants as anti-tussives, others as analgesics, anti-inflammatories, anti-hypertensives, blood sugar reducers etc etc.
Rich, red Dragon's blood oozing from a cut in the Sangre de Drago tree
Dragon's blood, the rich red sap from a tree in the croton family, is very effective on skin tissue, to heal cuts and abrasions. The trunks were scarred from many machete cuts to tap the trees. When the nearest hospital is 6 hours away and money is scarce, it's important to know about natural remedies.
Beautiful 'Ojo de bujo' (owl's eye) butterfly
Blue, over a metre long caecilia, or blindworm
Jaguar's breakfast: the remains of a peccary (wild pig) - the white bits are its teeth
One evening at dinner, Ezra, the volunteer, asked if anyone fancied going out for a walk later to see if the tree boa he'd spotted earlier was still there. Not thinking for one moment that it would have stayed put, we all chorused 'hell, yeah!', keen to see the jungle at night. Another superhuman spot by Ezra... It was absolutely beautiful and remained motionless while we snapped away.
Beautiful tree boa at night
Cicada emerging from its skin
Marvellous mushrooms....
....And brilliant bugs
Spider's web sparkling with diamond-like raindrops
Jungle-chic, but soaked to the skin, this downpour had no respect for new $3.95 ponchos!
Little eggs in a nest
Spot the vine snake!
This, believe it or not, is a white stick insect!
Eduardo on his iPhone 6, Shiripuno Lodge limited edition, the Lodge's only form of communication with the outside world
The Lodge's canoes
On a twilight trip on the canoe
Guans in the fading light
Sad to leave: Alinda and Hans, our Dutch friends, on the last morning
Our 5 days were over in the blink of an eye. What a fantastic few days. In addition to the above, we also spotted a slinky tayra (a member of the otter family) in a tree high above, caiman, too fast to photograph as they dived beneath the surface, and numerous other creatures, plants, fungi, including, and this was a highlight...bioluminescent fungus, invisible in the daylight, but in the dark of night, the forest floor glowed like fairyland. Also impossible to photograph were the scores of big, luminous blue mariposas morpho butterflies, which delighted us every day. Thankfully, this rich, diverse and stunningly beautiful place, Yasuni National Park, is protected....for the time being.
So, off we set on our long journey back to Coca, full of special memories, thousands of photographs and some new friends.
On the way back, we stopped, as per the programme, at a Huaroani village. What a strange experience, though. We had not particularly been looking forward to it, as these kind of events always seem artificial and contrived, painting cultures in a very unrealistic light. When we arrived, some of the villagers were gathered around the traditional building, but did not interact with us at all. We all bade them 'buenos Dias' and a couple of people responded. Then Omar, who is from the Kichwa culture proceeded to demonstrate the use of a blowpipe, which are still used to kill animals such as peccary and monkeys for food. The people were dressed as any other modern person: jeans and t-shirt or sweat shirt, and, although they do still use this method of hunting, we read that they also use modern methods: they also kill with guns and transport the dead creatures back to the villages in motorised canoes, which means that far more animals can be killed and some species are now much reduced in numbers. On a table there were offered for sale a few pieces of jewellery and bags made from cactus fibre and seeds, which were very expensive. The publicity information prior to our trip had suggested we bring for the Huorani people toothpaste, toothbrushes and school equipment, such as pencils and notebooks, intimating that these items were either too expensive or hard to come by for the Huaorani people. They may well have been. We had brought some of these items and left them there, but it seemed strange and somewhat embarrassing to do so, when they were obviously 21st century people and not to be 'exoticised' as primitive.
Alan honing his blowpipe skills (but guess who was the only one of the whole group to 'kill' a lemon... Just sayin')
Savouring every second of our journey back, clinging to the magic of the jungle, we spotted toucans, macaws, caimans, turtles galore, and......
What a finale - a two-toed sloth!
Back at Coca, we decided that the planned night bus would be too much of an anticlimax, so we took the 4.30pm bus back to Baños, arriving 2 hours behind schedule, at 12.30am, waking up our lovely hostel manager, who showed us to our room, in her nightie, with a smile.
Next post: Ecuador, Part 4: Colonial Cuenca to Vilcabamba, 'Valley of the Fruit Loops'
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