6.11. Cuyabeno National Park

So, now let's continue with the reports. I don't know how quickly I can catch up.

On November 5th, we left Quito on a night bus. The very bumpy and eerie journey lasted 7 hours. Something was squeaking in the curves (the brakes?) like hell. It sounded like metal on metal. 😬

At first it was very cold (over the passes) then eventually hot and humid. The bus's destination was the small town of Lago Agrio, which means 'sour lake'. Officially it had a different name, but everyone calls it that because Texaco extracted oil here between 1964 and 1992 and left behind a huge environmental mess. They poisoned large parts of the rainforest.

From Lago Agrio, we drove another 2 hours east. A pipeline runs along the roads.

Finally, we reached a boat dock. From here, we took motor canoes for another 4 hours to reach the heart of the Cuyabeno National Park.

Exhausted from the long journey, we arrived at the Nicky Lodge. But it was worth it. It's super beautiful there.

Surprisingly, there were no mosquitoes around. 

But plenty of other interesting insects.

After dark, we went on our first night walk into the rainforest. About 60% of the animals there are nocturnal.

November 7th
The next morning, we went into the jungle with Ebby, our guide, to learn about various medicinal plants. And we also tried some of them.

In the afternoon, we took the canoes along the river to observe animals. It's very difficult to spot the well-camouflaged animals. The guides, however, are surprisingly good at it. We saw butterflies, snakes, monkeys, sloths, and plenty of bird species. 

We often saw and heard weaver birds.
We also had some pets that loved our wet laundry and moved in with us.

A hopper in the panties 😁

However, there were also some not so adorable creatures.

Leaf-cutter ants.....

...a nightmare for any gardener

On the wooden path 😳 Better not step on it 🤪