It’s Not the Destination . . .
It’ Not The Destination . . .
It’s the journey. Such was ours on Monday, Sept 22 when we traveled to the Kapawi Eco Lodge. Located in the southeastern corner of Ecuador, a one-hour boat ride from the Peruvian border, this Lodge is located in prime tropical rain forest which has been untouched by oil companies and cattle ranches. The nearest town is 120 km away (a 10-day walk through jungle) and thus, a challenge to get to.
After a taxi ride to a private hanger at the Quito Airport, we eagerly awaited with 5 others (an English couple and their 29 year old daughter, and two brothers from Turkey – who won their trip to Kapawi in a Turkish lottery!) for our 10:30 a.m. departure. At about 11:00, we were advised it was raining in the Achuar “airport” where we were to arrive on our second flight and since it was a dirt runway, we had to wait until it stopped raining before departing. We were told this could take minutes, or hours, in the Amazon rainforest. If hours, we would just have to depart the following day – weather permitting.
At approximately 11:30, she came bearing good news, that the rain had stopped, skies had cleared, and we would be shortly on our way. So, we sat back and enjoyed awesome runway views from inside the departure lounge- until we witnessed a mid-sized plane attempt to take off, then abort, and end up off the runway. Rescue personnel were dispatched, sirens blared, and the airport was a buzz with action. The 12:00 o’clock news came on (in Spanish of course) with live-action news being reported right at our runway. Luckily, nobody was killed and the airport was operational once more by 2:30 p.m.
We boarded an 18-seater Beechcraft 1900D – destination, “Shell” – an oil community about a half hour’s flight over the Andes Mountains. Being able to look directly through to the pilot’s seat, I was holding my breath that the instruments were in fine working order as we were flying through dense cloud cover (and memories of movies where small planes crash into mountainsides filled my head). After only mild turbulence, we emerged on the other side of the Andes and landed safely in Shell.
We were ushered into an awaiting pickup truck which transported us about 200 metres to our next hanger. Here, we were weighed, including our carry-ons, and they mathematically calculated which 5 passengers would take the first flight, and which 5 passengers would take the second flight. Luckily, Fred and I weighed in to be on the same flight. Fred scored a front row seat in the single-engine Cessna and we enjoyed a spectacular “bird’s-eye view” of the tropical rain forest and the meandering amazon basin. After an hour flight, our aircraft landed safely in the mud and we were taken by motorized canoe (30 mins) to the lodge by 5:30 p.m.
That evening, we enjoyed a captivating “night walk” through the rainforest. It seemed we encountered every species imaginable of creepy spiders, chirping tree frogs, walking sticks, colorful moths, and gigantic grasshoppers. We saw a baby caiman (alligator/crocodile) underneath one cabin (they are on stilts) and looked for others (shining our flashlights for their glowing eyes) and spotted a couple in the distance. They have a few species of caimans in this region, the Black Caiman growing as large as 4 metres.
Throughout the next few days, we enjoyed 6:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. bird watching on the rivers, a 4 hour walk from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m in the rainforest, and from 3:30 p.m. – 6 p.m., either fishing, floating down the Pastaza River in a dugout canoe, or bird watching.
As it has been another long travel day back from Kapawi, I will sign off tonight and continue blogging tomorrow.
Cheers,
Lisa n Fred
Tags: Ecuador, Quito, rainforest, Travel
frednlisa
Hi Lisa & Fred,
Take care of Stanley!! Looking forward to the photos and the students are enjoying their news. Almost one month down!
Take Care,
L abccm
Hi Lisa & Fred,
Survivor Gabon just started…in Africa…you must go to Gabon!! Earth’s Last Eden.
Caroline