Ecuador (3): AMAZONAS - CUYABENO

12.02.

40th day

After a pretty bumpy night, we arrive in Lago Agrio at 6:30 in the morning. We are thrown off the bus and sit down in the D'Mario restaurant, where we are supposed to be picked up later. Since all kinds of buses and guests arrive here at the same time, it takes forever to order breakfast and even longer to get it. There is only one waiter. And about 250 people. Respect. On the street in front of the restaurant, there are two stands with the Emoliente offers that I already know from Peru, these slimy Aloe Vera drinks that always leave strings when you drink them and people look at you as if you have a huge problem and then turn away disgusted. Anyway. It's healthy so I buy one and pull my strings. Slowly, some people from the different lodges arrive and gather their respective groups. I know that I am in the Nicky Lodge and since there is this strange guy walking around with a Nicky Lodge sticker on his chest, I go up and introduce myself. However, it turns out that this blond man in his forties is also just a tourist who has been given such a nice sticker by his agency. But he is the only one here with something like that. He introduces himself as Markko from Finland. Other people also speak to him because they mistake him for the leader of our group. But eventually a woman comes who calls us together and we get on the bus. And surprise: my name is not on the list for this tour. But it's not a problem. She will take care of it somehow. During the drive, I chat with Markko and try to get some sleep.

I was afraid that this time the group would be full of Germans because so many people were hanging out in the restaurant. But in our group it's not like that, we are 13 people from the USA, Finland, the Czech Republic, Spain, and Scotland.

After nearly 3 hours, we arrive at the river where we are supposed to change to the boat.

But before that, we have lunch. A bit of rice and peas from a Tupperware. Yummy.

Then we are loaded onto our motor canoe and off we go.

For three hours, the driver steers the long, slender boat downstream to the lodge. I am sitting next to Markko again, we are the only two travelers who are alone here. He is a very funny guy. Has decent Scandinavian humor and we get along great.

Also on board are three young biologists, Jake, Chad, and Benjamin from California, and the elderly retired couple Yannis and Walter who live on Saint Croix. These five people are particularly interested in the incredible number of birds here. They discover so many things that I would never have seen. It's super exciting. Most of the time, I just see a black dot among the other black leaves in the distance, maybe in a slightly different shape. But the five of them sit there, screaming with joy, describing the bird in great detail, and explaining a lot to me about their behavior. However, I still only see a changed leaf. But you never stop learning.

After three hours, hundreds of birds, and monkeys, we arrive at the lodge.

We are greeted with a delicious lemonade. Then we are taken to our rooms. I am sharing a room with Zou from China, who has been here for two days already and will leave tomorrow.

Afterwards, it slowly gets dark and we go on a night walk. Our group for this consists of Markko, another couple from the USA, and a Danish guy, all of whom will also leave tomorrow. It's very exciting to walk through the jungle at night, only with a few flashlights and wandering between the huge spider webs and being attacked by monstrous insects.

Moreover, there are mosquitoes here everywhere. However, I am prepared, always dressed appropriately and use a lot of mosquito spray. We see a lot of spiders, grasshoppers, frogs, and beetles, all in a size that I have certainly never seen at home.

After an hour, we head back towards the lodge. Here, we are greeted directly by a big tarantula on the path, which happily cuddles its way to our rooms.

At 8 p.m., dinner is served. Usually, there is a soup, rice, and something meaty. We are all very tired and after dinner, we go straight to bed. Zou wants to put on a face mask with me. But since Zou is from China, all of her face masks are equipped with the so-called whitening effect. No, thank you. I don't want that. I want to be beautifully tanned. Unhealthy and tan.

13.02.

41st day

Wake up. Shower. I didn't think that a shower could be so amazing. This is definitely the most luxurious shower of the whole trip. It's sort of a rain shower and the bathroom doesn't even have walls, you shower halfway outside. Super nice.

At 8 a.m., breakfast is served at the communal house. It is also designed in such a way that it actually doesn't have any walls, only a roof.

At 9:30 a.m., we take a walking tour through the jungle around the lodge. It's just Markko, me, and the guide Romulo. We're not exactly sure why we were separated from the rest of the group. Probably because the group was too big, but ours is quite small compared to the eleven people in the other group.

Anyway, this is even better for us because we can really take our time with the parrots and insects, and the footprints of the jaguars with their babies are also particularly impressive.

Romulo was very excited because the footprints must be from this morning. After a three-hour walking tour, Markko and I relax a bit in the Cuyabeno River. It's a bit strange because in the brown water, you can't see what is swimming around you, and we know that there are snakes, caimans, and piranhas here. But as long as you don't bleed, they won't nibble, they say.

In the meantime, I'm learning some Finnish. Many words that you better not write here. Haha. At 1:30 p.m., we have lunch, and then we have a lot of free time until 4 p.m. I just chill in the hammock and enjoy the peace and the sounds of the jungle, watching a bird eat a snake.

In the afternoon, we go out again with the canoes for birdwatching and observing monkeys.

After dinner, I sit with the brothers Chad and Benjamin for a while, before putting on long pants, rubber boots, and a long-sleeve shirt, spraying mosquito repellent, and then heading out.

We go on a one-hour night walk, this time with the whole group. Again, we see many spiders, but also scorpions and many other insects.

I particularly enjoy a moment when our guide Evy tells us to turn off all our lights and just listen. It's only 30 seconds. Everything is black and we are standing in the middle of the jungle and let ourselves be attacked by the animals, crawl on us, and we just listen to the sounds. I would almost say that was the best part of the whole trip. I loved it. Back in the room, I almost have a panic attack. Something curly and fabric-like is hanging down from my forehead and no matter how much I shake, it won't go away. Eventually, I realize that it is my own hair, just much curlier than usual. Maybe the heat doesn't suit me so well after all. Haha

14.02.

42nd day

Today we get up early again. At 6:30 a.m., we have a morning birdwatching tour by canoe for two hours. The highlights this time are the toucans and parrots that we see. I will post the pictures later, as they are on the camera and without a laptop, I can't transfer them to my phone right now. But the little bats that cling to the tree are also cute.

After breakfast, we have some time to pack our things, use the amazing shower one more time, and then at 9:30 a.m., we set off.

It hasn't rained much here in the past weeks, so the water level is very low. When the canoe driver has to get out to pull the boat for a while, I jump in and help him. My pants are now soaked up to the belt, but it was refreshing. We have to walk and pull the boat a few more times. The son of a local resident is also on board. He is a curious little man who bombards me with questions in Spanish:

Are there trees in Germany?

Are there roads in Germany?

Are there numbers in Germany?

Such an alert guy.

Then, after three and a half hours, we arrive at the point where the bus picks us up again. Here, we are served some food.

The little boy says goodbye by hugging me tightly. Super cute.

Since we took so long in the boat, the bus races through the narrow streets like crazy. This time, it only takes us two hours to get to Lago Agrio, where another bus is supposed to take us to Quito.

Now that I have internet again, I message Pablo to ask when I can pick up my big backpack tonight upon arrival. He asks me if I have already booked a hostel. Since I haven't, he offers me to sleep in the guest room in his shared apartment. Very relaxed. During the six-hour drive to Quito, I sit next to Jake, the quiet biologist who is currently living and working in Quito. He is incredibly nice but also extremely shy, and having a conversation with him is always a bit difficult because he hardly dares to ask a question himself. We arrive in Quito at 10 p.m.

...continued in Ecuador (4): QUITO