Back from the jungle

We made it back to Quito last night after spending 5 days in the Cuyabeno Reserve in the north eastern part of Ecuador.  What a phenomenal experience!

We saw so much over the last few days and I only have a few minutes to write, that I can't begin to accurately share everything that I want to.

Getting there and back was half the fun:

• 35 minutes by airplane
• 2 hours by a hot, bus without air conditioning
• 3 hours by motorized canoe to the camp where we spent most of our time

In the process we went through a number of small towns that primarily serve Ecuador's national oil company - PetroEcuador.  Unfortunately the jungle sits on top of  vast oil wells and over the last 30 years there has been ongoing conflict in trying to preserve the jungle and way of life for the indigenous people while the government wants to generate as much revenue as possible from oil exports.

The people:
We were the only "Americanos" in our group of 11.  The rest were German and Swiss.  Our guide was Ecuadorian and the crew of our tour were indigenous people belonging to the Siona tribe.  Almost everyone was in their late twenties or early thirties with one exception of a Swiss couple that were in their late forties.  We all enjoyed each other during our "fiestas" every night at camp after a day of exploring the jungle.

Animals:
We saw quite a bit of wildlife.  The jungle is always noisy with animals, even more so in the evenings.  Birds of every color, insects everywhere you look on the ground, fish jumping every few minutes from the rivers.  Caimans (related to alligators) on the shores of the rivers .  .  . the list goes on!

Where we stayed:
The first night we paddled 3 hours and arrived at camp as the sun was setting.  Camp consisted of a dirt opening next to the river with small tents next to each other under a a large tarp held up by stick and rope.  The next 3 nights we stayed at an actual camp - where we each had our own room, running water (pumped directly from the river for the showers and toilets and a large common area where we ate our breakfasts and dinners and enjoyed relaxing in hammocks.

Last night we went out in Quito and experienced the nightlife - reminded me of TiaJuana, but much cleaner and more upscale.  Today we're headed to Banos by bus for a few days.

We're having fun and are both healthy and enjoying ourselves.