Amazon Rainforest, Outside Tena, Ecuador – Greetings from the Amazon Rainforest!! After leaving the Galápagos Islands, I headed back it Quito for a tour of Central Ecuador, covering the Andes Mountains, and the Amazon Rainforest. After a 67km public bus ride, which took a gruelling three hours, we arrived at the luxurious Termus Pallacatta. Here we had an evening and a morning to relax in dozens of different thermal spa pools of various temperatures of warmth. I particularly enjoyed the pools just outside our cabanas which we could access 24hrs. Sitting in the near boiling hot water, with steam swirling around you, the cool air fresh on your face and the backdrop of the Andes mountains high behind was breathtaking.
All too soon we departed the 4 star resort for the total opposite, a remote homestay in the Amazon Rainforest, on the outskirts of Tena. To get to our ‘home’ for the next two nights, we had to lug our backpacks across two makeshift bridges comprising a plank of wood and up a muddy rock trail. The ‘resort’ complex consisted of an outdoor lounge area, thatched covered, open on all sides, complete with seven hammocks, a wood burning stove for cooking and a row of wellies. Off to the right were the bedrooms and the toilet facilities. Genuinely 3 star luxury compared to my last homestay in Cambodia. Here we had twin rooms instead of all of us crashing on mattresses in one big room. The sheets were clean enough that I was happy to sleep in them without pulling out my sleep sheet. There were porcelain toilet bowls that flushed and a shower cubicle with tiles and a shower head that distributed cold water. A considerable upgrade from a squat toilet and a bucket of rain water. In front and to the left was the kitchen and dinning area. It was the only part to have electricity. All around chickens roamed free, plucking bugs off the ground.
It took me some time to drift off to sleep our first night as there was the constant chattering of unfamiliar bug and animal noises outside, all backed by the sound of a roaring stream. We’d also been warned about possible scorpions finding their way into our clothes, so I was a bit nervous about curling up into my bed. Just as I did start to get accustomed to the noise, and had checked my bed linen for creatures, the rain came. It was torrential, or at least sounded that way on the tin roof, and it lasted all night and into the mid morning. Still, I slept well, and was eager for our morning activity – a visit to a local school.
The school consisted of a one room classroom and eight students. Because of the rain, only half the students had made it in today. They ranged in ages from 4 to 14. Their school day was from 7am to 1pm. After introductions, we went through the alphabet, numbers, and the days of the week in both English and Spanish. We finished our visit with a rendition of the Hokey Pokey. I couldn’t help but sympathise with one little five year old boys bemused look through the whole ‘put your right foot in and shake it all about’ body part series. I also empathised with the 19 year old substitute teacher. I have no idea how he himself could teach such a vast range of ages all the subjects with what appeared to be very limited resources. I guess some learning was better than the alternative of nothing. It made me once again realise how as a Westerner I take such things as getting an education for granted.
Our mid morning activity was a cocoa demonstration. I had been particularly looking forward to this since the itinerary was laid out to us two days ago. Our host showed us a cocoa pod he had collected from a nearby tree, hacked it open with a machette, and let us suck on the white goo that surrounded the cocoa bean. This pod was too young to make into chocolate, but luckily our guide had bought some beans in Tena on our way through. We took these beans and roasted them over an open fire until they turned dark brown. We then had to shell them and grind the soft brown bean through a meat grinder it make a ground paste. To this, our host added some milk, and returned the mixture back over the open fire to be boiled. The finished product was a granular bowl of sweet chocolate (I’m sure some sugar was added along the way!) that we dipped pieces of banana into, ripe from the tree in the back yard. Delicious!
Now, we are all chillin in hammocks waiting for lunch to be served. After lunch, we are supposed to head back out into the rainforest, with our wellies on (apparently to protect us from possibly be bitten by a brown snake whose venum can kill you in two hours!) to see how the villagers live off the land. And tomorrow we are taking a walk though the local stream and up several waterfalls. It sounds a bit like canyoning to me! Our guide has assured us that we will get wet and ropes and harnesses are required. I’m not sure I’m going to like this ‘walk’. I’ll let you know! Off to lunch now! Hope all is well!
Flat Stanley.
