June 4, 2019
Today was the longest driving day of the entire trip. Driving in Ecuador is not difficult it is just a little hard on the nerves. The roads so far have been great, but no one drives the speed limit, either too fast or too slow. If you are going to slow they will pass you even on a blind curve. We encountered very little traffic on our 200km trek from the high Andes to the upper Amazon.
Our drive took us through the avenue of the volcanoes from Chilcabamba we circled Cotopaxi on our descent. We continued to drop until we came to a town called BaƱos, baths not bathrooms, and there the descent really began. The next portion of the trip took us down the route of the waterfalls where there are hundreds of waterfalls pouring into the river and several enormous falls on the main river. We had decided to get to the hotel and then find an excursion so we didn’t go to see the falls.
The hotel we had chosen to stay at was the Oro y Luna Hotel, which is located in the Amazon Jungle. The hotel is out in the middle of nowhere next to the Anzu River. The drive to the lodge was concerning as the road went from paved to dirt and dead-ended at a footbridge across the massive river (That cars drive across). It took Kevin a while to figure out the entrance to the lodge was actually between the suspension cables of the bridge.
When we arrived at the hotel we were greeted by three dogs announcing our presence, this made Annaleigh very happy. Our hosts, Jorge and Maria, meet us and escorted us to the dining area for some iced tea. Kevin was able to arrange a late lunch for us of fish, a dish we eat very little at home. Annaleigh had a hard time with the bones and Sarah wasn’t sure about the fish with its head still on. After eating it she decided it was the best meal she had had on the trip so far.
Before and after lunch Jorge and Maria took turns showing us the grounds and leading us through the jungle. We saw hundreds of orchids and other flowing plants. There was also a multitude of other fruit trees, Noah was in heaven. The lodge is home to some parrots that are free to fly about during the day and return to cages at night for safety. These birds were once pets and lack the know how to avoid predators at night.
Besides the local parrots we saw monkeys, flocks of parrots, flycatchers, and some blue headed Finch sized birds. On the walks, we were shown five different varieties of lemons and we took some back to try. We also had the chance to try the cocoa fruit, the seeds are wrapped in a sweet juice and you just suck on it. Noah had an entire cocoa pod by himself.
We definitely knew we were in the rainforest as the rain only stopped for a brief time. We continued to walk around with Maria and Jorge until it was getting dark and the parrots needed to be caged for the night. Maria went out and called them and they came flying in. Noah and Annaleigh got the chance to give the macaws a nut and Jorge got one of them to dance.
Jorge made parrot beaks for us from the local plants and wove crowns for Sarah, Noah, and Annaleigh. Noah was having a hard time disguising that he was having fun. Kevin stayed and conversed what Jorge and Annaleigh and Noah decided they wanted to swim even though it was pouring rain, so off they went into the pool.
We ended up having a very nice day and learned a lot about local plants, animals, traditions and medicines. We had dinner and headed to bed with the sound of the rain coming down.