A 10 hour bus ride through the night, and a 5.5 hour ride in a huge dugout canoe took us right into the middle of the jungle. We arrived in the early morning in the town of Coca (the gateway to "El Oriente" which is the local name for the Eastern third of the country east of the Andes) and hopped into the canoe. As we cruised eastward down the Rio Napo we quickly found our way out of civilization; we passed several Texaco drilling stations, some abandond and some still in use, and then finally nothing but jungle surrounding us. Occasionally we would see a little home hidden among the trees not too far from the shore. This is where the Quichua people live.

After 4 (long) hours in the canoe we suddenly pulled over to the side of the river. Everyone began geting off the boat and the guides started walking into the jungle, we all followed. None of us knew where we were going, but we`d been instructed to follow, (I was convinced that we`d been chosen to be on the newest verison of jungle Survivor) As we walked through dense jungle the guides began calling to monkeys. Finally we stopped and looked up and in the trees above us were 4 or 5 monkeys, playing and eating. They were Wooley Monkeys - they are endangered because the people of this region, until recently, used them as food and their fur for warmth. They were beautiful creatures to watch.

Upon returning to the canoe we turned north onto the Yuturi river for another half an hour and arrived at our lodge, Yuturi lodge. Our little cabaña was perfect, we were hot, sweaty, wet and sleep-deprived. After a great dinner we returned to our room only to find everything literally covered in HUGE cockroaches...yuck. Needless to say I had a restless night sleep, I couldn´t stop imagining what type of spiders, roaches, or other sorts were trying to climb inside of my mosquito net.

We got up with the sun the next morning and set out in the canoe for bird watching. We saw so many amazing species of birds. The Oro Pendula (Golden Pendulum) was one of the most impressive we saw, it has the capacity to learn over 30 different sounds, one of which sounds exactally like a huge drop of water...hard to imagine, I know. They build a nest that hangs down one or two feet from the branch of the tree to protect themselves from the nocturnal predators. There were so many new sounds and smells, I wish that I could`ve brought them back. We took amazing hikes through the most dense jungle and rainforest, we had an indigenous guide who showed us many medicinal plants commonly used by the people of the region, tons of insects (never have I seen so many species of ants), and all of their protective mechanisms. At one point he stopped in his tracks and began digging in the dirt with his machete, when he stood up he had a 2 inch long ant in his hand. She was the queen, and edible, supposedly a delicasy at this time of the year. He took her head off and ate part of her...Jim ate the other half, he said it tasted vaguely like peanut butter...I`ll take his word for it! One of the trees we saw had tons of cut marks in it, this, he told us was from people looking for the sap of the tree...it is known to cure uterine cancer. He also demonstrated how they make baskets out of palms and thread and rope out of other native plants.

The next morning we set out to visit some indigenous houses. We headed swiftly into the jungle and after walking for about 45 minutes we came upon someone`s "yard" deep in the jungle. They had a huge garden, many fruit trees, and a little house all a few hundred feet from the river and their small dugout canoe made from a cedar tree. We stopped at the house and were introduced to the woman who lived there, we were led into her house and seated on a bench, in front of us was a wall displaying "native crafts" clearly made for our benefit. The jewelery was nice but everything was greatly overpriced and she refused to bargin. As we sat there, expected to look at the goods, she watched us expectantly. I was more than willing to help support the local economy - that was one of the reasons why we came here in the first place. But we were all a bit stunned. I was confused, and a bit insulted. I guess I`d been expecting to be able to get a glimpse of what life was like here...but how could I begrudge them the chance to make a little money. Was this Eco Tourism? I wanted to have my cake and eat it too...get to see how they live and know what they`re like...without changing them. But just by being present, by having contact, we change them, and they change us. From what I could see, their way of life had already been changed by their contact with tourists.

At the next house we stopped at, we met a little old man. You could tell that he had on his best clothes. Dark green polyester pants- ankle length, a button-down cotton shirt, and bare feet. He looked at us, full of curiousity. He was the community musician, and had played at all of the weddings for the last 40 years. But now, they said, more of the young couples didn`t want his traditional music, they wanted salsa and merengue... His eyes were so sparkly, pure, honest, happy...and very proud.
All in all, we had a fabulous time. Upon arriving back in Quito, I got a little sick...fever etc. So we had our first experience at an international hospital. It was very modern, clean, impressive. Turns out I have a "large parasite"...not a big deal...he should be dead in a couple of days...
The adventure continues.

lisa

THe two of us in our dorky jungle boots in front of our cabana