we found this great lodge called tomas lodge just a couple miles outside of tena.... and being outside of town made such a difference and lent itself to our jungle-lite experience. plus there was no one else there! it wasn't much more expensive than the hostels in town and the facilities were really nice so we couldn't figure out why it was empty.....though we didn't mind having the place to ourselves!
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| jungle sunset from the lodge |
the first day we took a bus about 45min up the rio napo to a biological station and rainforest reserve called reserva biologica jatun sacha. there we were able to take a self-guided hike through both primary and secondary rainforest. we recognized many of the plants that we had learned about in bolivia.
one of the nice things about not being on a tour is that when you are hot and sweaty from hiking in the jungle and you come across a little river you can take a dip to cool off!
the following day we signed up for a day tour. this tour included a visit to one of the indigenous communities where we learned how chicha (a fermented beverage made from yuca...though in peru it's made from corn) is made...
...and how pottery is made from the river clay
....and the kids were able to try using a blow gun (needless to say this was their favorite part)
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| our guide helped lucy hold the blow gun straight |
the afternoon consisted of tubing down the river which was delightful (we were promised that no piranhas, anacondas, or caimen were in the river). we just floated as the jungle passed by with sightings of birds and monkeys. and there was even a stretch of fast water and a rope swing along the way just for fun!
the last part of the day was spent visiting an animal rescue center called amazoonico. most of the animals were in enclosures but it was nice to be able to see them close up. plus we saw several animals that we hadn't seen in the wild at all, like the toucan and the tapir.
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| tapir |
it was a perfect visit to the jungle and we were all happy that we stopped to say hi.
from tena we made our way to quito, the capital city of ecuador. what a change of climate! we went from sweating hot humidity to pulling on our fleeces within several hours!
we only spent a couple days in quito as we don't generally love big cities, but quito actually has quite a bit of charm.
a super cool thing about quito is that every sunday they shut down a huge sections of major streets to cars and only allow cyclists. its called ciclopaseo and we saw hundreds of people happily out for a bike ride though downtown quito!
the city also has a bike share program where you can check out a bike for free at the numerous bike stations around town......love this bike friendly city!
our first day we spent just strolling around the old town which is full of beautiful colonial buildings. we poked our heads into a few churches and visited a couple museums.
the next day we took the sky tram up the volcan pichincha to take in the views of the city......views are hard to come by as this city is usually covered in low clouds but we got lucky with a relatively clear day. it's hard to appreciate the scope of this city from the pictures but it is massive!
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| the city covers the valley floor as far as the eye can see! |
and lastly we found this brewery which was started by a couple guys from oregon.....and i had the first good beer i've have had in months! plus judging by the 70's 80's rock playlist these oregon boys were about our age.......cheers to quito!
tomorrow we head up north to the intaq valley (land of cloud forests and coffee) where we will be for a week at our last volunteer stay in ecuador.
hasta luego!
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