The moment I’ve been waiting for, for such a long time. A chance to delve deep into the Amazon rainforest, to feel the lungs of the earth breathing around me. Most of the rainforest is in Brazil, Peru and Colombia, but thankfully the western edge of it creeps into Ecuador, and it’s there that we made our adventure.
We took several buses to reach the jumping off point, a river bridge, where we met our first guide Jairo. There are no roads that lead to the lodges deep in the jungle, the only way to get there is by the river. Jairo loaded our bags onto a long thin canoe shaped boat, which thankfully had an engine strapped to the back! Our transport to the lodge was also the first part of our tour, we travelled slowly and purposefully up the river, feeling like Ross Kemp on Gangs. We were looking out for wildlife, and we weren’t disappointed.
We spotted a couple of Anacondas hiding in the branches of the riverside trees, one had a big swollen belly from the meal she’d just eaten. They were both basking in the sun to warm up their cold-blooded bodies.
There was bird life all around us, from the small ducks paddling near the bank side to the vultures soaring overhead, Jairo spotted a recently killed dear in the river which was attracting the latter. This beautiful juvenile heron allowed us to get very close to admire his tiger patterns.
Smaller winged creatures joined us in the boat too. Butterflies and moths fluttered all around us and Charlie attracted this one to his hand.
We were given a masterful demonstration of agility and daring from a troop of tiny squirrel monkeys. They queued up in the trees on one side of the river and took turns to leap across to the trees on the other side, even mummy monkeys with babies on their backs made the jump! (Video on Insta & Facebook)
Back down at water level, we spotted a few turtles basking in the sun on thick branches sticking out of the water. Jairo took the opportunity to explain that reptiles like turtles don’t have pores to sweat out their toxins like we mammals do. Instead they expel the liquid from their eyes, not actual tears, but crocodile tears! Now I know where the phrase comes from. We spotted a bright orange butterfly perched on the head of one of the turtles, he was drinking the salty tears from the turtle’s eyes.
After a couple of hours on the boat we arrived at Guacamayo Eco Lodge where we’d spend the next 4 nights. Not knowing what to expect from a hotel in the jungle, we were pleasantly surprised to find tall wooden buildings on stilts with dried grass roofs; sleeping quarters, a chill out space with hammocks, a yoga platform, and a watch tower high above the canopy. A member of the kitchen staff greeted us with a cold glass of fruit juice and we sat to enjoy a delicious three course lunch. We met our next guide Diego, who’d be with us for the rest of the tour.
We settled in and relaxed for a couple of hours, before heading off with Diego and a boat full of other tourists to the nearby lake to search for more wildlife and to have a little swim. Our first attraction was this satisfyingly aligned pod of five sleeping bats, clinging to the underside of the branch.
We also spotted some pink river dolphins, and although they swam near us for a few minutes, taking breaths up at the surface, they didn’t hang around close enough for us to get good photos. By the time we reached the lake the sun was setting behind the clouds and casting a lovely lilac hue over the lake.
Water is for swimming in, even if it’s a bit brown, so we jumped in and had a splash around. The water was pretty warm at the surface but there was many a cold patch deeper down where the warmth of the sun hadn’t reached.
Our boat hovered in the middle of the lake along with boat-fulls of other tourists to watch the sunset. I was slightly disappointed we didn’t have the place to ourselves, it would have been nice to enjoy the scene with some serenity. The view captivated us all though, those with cameras kept snapping at the sky as the colours evolved, marvelling at the so-called “God’s Fingers” rising up from behind the clouds.
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After sun down we dried off and covered up ready for our creepy crawly night walk. Long sleeves and trousers, caps and bandannas, welly boots and an unhealthy dose of deet!
Diego took us on a slow, silent (ish) ramble through the rainforest with head torches lighting the way. He found us all manner of insects to marvel at; scorpions, spiders, things that weren’t spiders but looked like spiders, big hairy caterpillars!
It was amazing just to walk amongst the old trees and feel the forest breathing around you. The canopy overhead was dense and you could barely see the sky, although a couple of stars twinkled through the gaps.
Back on the boat and heading home for dinner, our last treat was a spotting a Caiman resting by the water’s edge. To my untrained eye these look just like miniature crocodiles, I’m sure there’s more to it though. There are three types here, and none grow above a few metres long. This bub was tiny though, at less than a metre. You can see his left eye shining in the torch light above the thick tree branch at the top, and his striped tail in the bottom right corner.
Our boat driver was afraid that people couldn’t see it well enough though so he darted to the front of the boat, laid on his stomach, and launched himself towards the animal capturing it in his bare hands. He then paraded the petrified reptile down the boat so we could take a good look, and feel, of his scaly skin, if we so desired.
Day two dawned with a loud jungle chorus. I was up doing a spot of yoga on the platform before brekkie, when I saw the tail fin of a dolphin swoosh out of the water then disappear back down into the depths of the river. What a beautiful way to wake up.
Today’s activity was a jungle walk to discover the flora and fauna of the area. We strolled through the jungle under the canopy sweating in the humid air but enjoying breathing in the fresh oxygen from the tall trees.
Diego showed us the sights, like the palm tree which grows new roots to literally walk across the jungle floor. The leafy tree branches move to follow the sunlight, once it is leaning in a new direction it grows a new root to stabilise itself and the old ones on the other side die. He only gets a metre or two in his life time, but still, a tree that walks!
We saw tiny balls of tree sap, a camouflaged toad, beautiful little mushrooms and big red tree roots.
We found caterpillars who move in a pack so that they don’t get targeted by hungry birds.
My favourite of the different types of trees we saw were the ones with huge buttress roots. They grow above ground with thick high sides to help the tree withstand the wind and rain that knocks over lesser trees. One such tree we found had big holes cut in the roots by indigenous people. I used it to frame a self-portrait!
Diego took out his knife at one tree and cut a hole in the bark. We watched a sticky white liquid ooze out, and he invited us to taste it! Apparently a remedy for a number of ailments like diarrhoea and settling a dicky tummy. No strong taste but very sticky on the fingers.
Most of the ground under foot was pretty firm, as we are just between the dry and the wet seasons. However, we had to pass over a swamp area and we nearly lost a boot or two in the sticky mud! Reminiscent of the fields of Glastonbury…
Once out of the jungle and back at the waters edge, we piled into a canoe (with no engine this time!) and paddled our way home. We traversed the big lake we’d been swimming in the night before, and through the river channels back towards the lodge.
On the way we saw a couple of hawks observing the world high up in their tree perches.
As well as a bushy tree almost completely covered in spider webs! This type of spider prefers to live in communities it seems. There are even parasitic spiders who don’t build their own nests, they piggy back on the nests built by other spiders, and eat the discarded legs, wings, etc. of the other spider’s prey.
There’s plenty of spiders to admire back at the lodge as well. Mainly tarantulas, wandering around like they own the place. It’s quite cool to see all their hairy legs up close! Their hair is the most dangerous thing about them so we were told, it can get stuck in your skin, or throat if you breathe it in, and cause inflammation. Jairo found this one and kindly brought it to us in the hammock area for us to admire. To give you an idea of scale, he was bigger than my palm!
Our late afternoon/evening routine was more or less the same again today. Boat trip out to the lake to see what we could see, have a dip, watch the sunset and then instead of going for a walk we cruised around in the boat looking for wildlife. Before dark we found lots of birds, like these so-called stinky turkeys! Not their real name. They have feathers on their heads and produce a lot of methane, nuff said.
We also spotted a tourist bird. Diego recognised him as a Cormorant but not the local species, so his must be a migratory bird.
Sunset was to die for, again.
And the stars in the night sky were a sight to behold. No light pollution for miles upon miles so the sky was lit up with the milky way and more stars than you could ever hope to count! Like someone had splattered silver paint on a black canvas, just breath-taking.
We didn’t spot as much wildlife tonight, but Diego did catch a couple of snakes from the reflection of his headtorch in their eyes. He enticed one of them from its tree onto the end of his paddle then paraded it round the boat for us to photograph.
Day three started with a yoga session on the platform overlooking the river and another glimpse of a dolphin tail. We’re starting to think they move on a schedule, perhaps doing their morning commute when they pass us at 7.30am, just picked up a coffee from Starbucks.
Today was an exciting day, we went on a class trip to an indigenous village. The boat trip would take an hour or two to get there, and of course we looked for wildlife on the way. We started off well as we found a little family of dolphins to play with. They were as elusive as ever though, and I could only get three blows on film (vid on Insta and Facebook), and this very sketchy long distance shot of a snout emerging from the water.
The weather took a turn for the worse though shortly after and we had a rainy ride to the village.
I was doing my best Offred impression, under his eye.
First stop when we reached the village was at a family’s house where the mother taught us how to make bread from yuca plants. First step, hack and heave a yuca plant out of the earth.
Then take the useful bits, the roots, off the plant and remove the acidic skins. We then gave them a little wash and grated them.
Once grated into a watery pulp, mother spread it all out on a length of woven dried leaves, squished and rolled it all together, then hung it up and twisted the water out into a bowl.
While all this was going on, I swear I was paying attention, but I was a little distracted…
The family had the cutest tiniest baby monkey as a pet! He was so cuddly and friendly, we instantly bonded. He was curled into my side while mother was showing us all the yuca tricks, I was so happy!
Once the yuca was sufficiently ringed of all its water, mother took a grinder to in then feed it through a sieve to get a fine ish powder. She then spread the powder over a hot plate on an open fire WITH HER BARE HANDS!
While her back was turned, baby monkey had decided to feed off the scraps of yuca! For which he was sharply admonished.
After a minute or two the shredded yuca had fried into a crispy pancake. Mother flipped it a time or two then set it down on a cooling rack. That was it! No other ingredients, no mixing, just yuca. Diego had prepared a tuna salad for us to eat with the yuca bread in taco form.
Second stop on the village tour was to visit a shaman, the medicine man. He sat with us for an hour or so and described how he started training to be a shaman when he was 8 years old, studying plants and their medicinal effects by day with his grandad, also a shaman, and taking hallucinogenic iowaska by night to connect with the spiritual wold. By 17 he was ready.
The Shaman then performed a healing ceremony on one unsuspecting tourist… video on Instagram and Facebook! He also showed us how to use the dart blower to attack a piece of fruit. My attempt was on target but didn’t penetrate the flesh!
He spent time with us answering questions we had about his work, the communities, etc. He was really fun, making jokes and laughing with us. He was happy to pose for pictures. We each paid $5 to mother and to the shaman for their time and talents. Diego explained that the lodges set up this arrangement with the indigenous people to provide them with a source of income, in exchange for them no longer being permitted to cut down trees and use the natural environment in ways they have done for centuries. While I think it is absolutely right for us, as a global population, to protect special places like the Amazon and prohibit anyone from damaging it. I also think it is sad that because of the actions of the industrialised world over the last few centuries, indigenous people like this have to change the way they live, through no fault of their own. They have lived in harmony with the flora and fauna of the jungle for perhaps thousands of years, only taking what they need and not exploiting the resources. Now, because of the exploitation of greedy westerners, they are no longer allowed to live as they always have.
Hannah and I spent a lovely evening doing some bird watching from the tall tower back at the lodge. We carried the guide’s big telescope up there, along with our cups of tea and our mozzie repellent. We saw, and heard, lots of squawking macaws fly overhead. We could hear countless other birds around us in the trees but they were tricky to spot. The stand out success of the evening was capturing these two Black-fronted Nunbirds singing wholeheartedly from a tree by the riverside. And no, of course we didn’t know what we were looking at the time, we had to look up their name in the big book of Amazon birds!
Our final full day was spent like our first, a few hours of walking through the jungle followed by paddling home in the canoe. We hiked a different trail this day though, the sign says it should take one hour but it was more like three times that.
This tour felt a little different than last time, like Diego had warmed up and was ready to show us the darker sign of the forest. He lit up a twig for us to smoke, it tasted just like tobacco. He broke open a termite tunnel leading up to a huge nest and invited us to pick off and eat one of the fleeing termites – they tasted like peanuts. He showed us the trees in strangely sparsely populated areas of the normally forest, and the ants that live in them which secrete an acid to stop anything else growing nearby. These ants were also on the menu – they tasted like lemon drops.
He showed us the poisonous lianas that the indigenous people use to flavour their darts and paralyse their prey. He showed us these so-called hugging trees that effectively grow around and struggle-cuddle another tree to death, by taking its nutrients. You can see the arms latched onto this half dead tree, already missing a chunk from its middle.
Diego also spotted a poisonous frog for us, the bright yellow patches indicating the danger. It was a male, and was carrying frogspawn on his back, the males of this species do the parental care.
The trail ended in almost 200 metres of swamp that we had to wade through. Several of the males and the children (us women proving to be more sensible) got a bit too gung-ho and ended up trailing new routes and sinking into water deeper that the length of their boots. There was many a muddy sock when we got back on the boat for the paddle home.
For our last evening we took some beers along for the boat ride to the lake and turned the canoe into a party boat.
The sunset over the lake was once again picture perfect, but something got in the way of the view this time.
As well as capturing a homo-sapien in all his naked glory, in the darkness we also spotted several tell-tale pairs of red eyes; Caiman hiding in the bushes at the water’s edge waiting for prey. Diego made a valiant attempt to capture the first one we saw but alas he got away. When we got to the second one though Diego hesitated to go after it. Once we got closer, we could see that it was a huge Black Caiman, and about 2 metres long. There was no way that was coming into the boat!
We also had several good sightings of some much cuddlier looking creatures. Big slow sleepy sloths high up in the trees. The last one we saw was not even hidden, he was hanging out on the end of a tree branch dangling over the river. The whitish hair on the back of his head betraying his advanced years.
Morning number 5, sadly our last day in this wonderful place. 6.15am role call at the top of the viewing platform ready for bird watching. The camp was shrouded in a thick steamy mist, the sun was working its way up into the sky and slowly burning it away.
Armed with binoculars and a telescope, Diego listened intently to the noises of the rainforest and guided us which trees to look in. There were macaws and parrots flying high over our heads, searching for their breakfast. We found lots of little birds sat in trees singing their hearts out, some peacocking with their bright blue feathers, others in darker browns trying to blend in. My favourite was Woody Woodpecker with his big red barnet.
Too soon it was time to say goodbye to the staff and take our final canoe ride back to civilisation. It’s hard to describe this place to really do it justice. We all felt so calm and relaxed here, just being among the trees hearing the birds sing, being by the water hearing the splash of fish jumping. It’s an absolute must visit place for any nature-lover, I’m already thinking about when I can come back.
What else does the Reverend Mother say? 