To the Lodge!

The Napo River, as seen from Los Ríos.

I had determined that I would only take my backpack on my week-long trip to the rainforest. Since I don't have a big backpack, I had some issues with packing on Sunday morning, and seriously wondered if I could make it work. I just kept thinking, what do I REALLY need?


Finally! Ready to go. Yes, this contains clothes, shoes, and toiletries -- including my repellant -- as well as the camera, phone, iPod, etc. I did it!

And I was glad I did. Both of our professors had very small bags, but my classmate had two bags, both of which were bigger than mine. Given all the hauling we had to do in and out of buses and canoes and up and down slopes, I was really glad not to have to fight with luggage too. However, what it also meant was that I was missing a few things.....

I don't actually have any photos from the first day, the drive to Tena. It was a beautiful ride though! Mountain roads out of Quito, heading south and east. Hannele had the window (I think she tends to motion sickness) and my camera was securely packed in the bag.... Now it was sort-of accessible, since the pack sat on my lap for the five hours to Tena. Yes, five hours on a bus, no bathroom, no stops, pack on my lap, people everywhere, so unpacking to get to it was trouble. But we drove through the protected Parque Nacional Sumaco, and it was simply stunning.

Arriving in Tena, we checked into our hostel and met my professor, then walked a bit and had dinner. We also checked the bus schedules to see about my return trip and if I could join the COICA ladies in Puyo. (Not on Friday, as we arrived in Tena too late, but very early Saturday morning was possible.) Then off to bed, since we had to leave at 6:15 the next morning for our bus to Los Ríos.

We had a wonderful picnic breakfast on the bus. This ride was somewhere between two and three hours long. We were completely in the rainforest now, and the vegetation was gorgeous.


This was the bus from Tena to Los Ríos. It's the same company that we took from Quito to Tena. I rode buses from a number of different companies this trip, but bus culture is the same.....


The town (?) of Los Ríos, end of this line. Yes, it's very small. But it does have a general store, so if you forgot to pack something, this is your last chance to buy it. Had I known what I didn't have with me, this could have been useful.



This wasn't our canoe, but nearly identical. However, this image gives you a sense of the space in the canoe, and the slope we had to negotiate down to it. Below, the bus timetable for returning to Tena. I love its charm!


After a 25-minute river ride, we were at the lodge! We had a bit of a hike to get up to the lodge and into our rooms, but how beautiful!


Typical views of the lodge grounds.



This was our series of rooms. Mine was the one visible here, in the center; Hannele was to the right, and our professors were to the left.


My room, and my balcony, complete with hammock. As I found out later, hammocks are nice ways to relax.


We had a quick meeting with the lodge manager, to go over questions of meal times, class times, excursions, etc. Here is where I began to understand that I didn't quite have all the right tools with me. However, that was tempered at this point, because of the place itself.


Our dining room and classroom. And, we were the only guests for the week, so we had everything all to ourselves!


And our view. Yes, incredibly inspiration for studying and a lovely backdrop for dinner.

We were in the rainforest!