12/3/2013
Tena to Limoncocha
Being introducing to my guide at the bus station by Eduardo, he was going to spend 3 days showing us around Limoncocha, it turned out there would be 3 of us, an English guy and his dad with myself. A small group was ideal.
Catching the bus, bag in hand to my seat, which made me feel better having it on the bus. Moving to my booked seat, there was a guy standing in the aisle. I asked him to sit next to me, he accepted my offer. Any way he was totally boozed. Being tired and trying to get to sleep, he was trying to do the same but kept uttering to himself, when he did fall asleep minutes later, he was all over me every time we went around a right hand bend.
Putting up with this and the strong smell of alcohol was only bearable for so long. Two in the morning saw me give him the hard word. Upon my wanting to move, he offered to. From here a good couple of hours sleep was had.
Arriving in Limoncocha, Jaime, the guide and I spent the night, or what was left of it in someones house.
Arising, somewhat tired, we got a pick up to where we would be based for 3 days.
It was in the forest in fairly humble lodgings, though typical for here.
A wooden building on stilts with a palm thatched roof best describes the shelter.
Beds with good mosquito nets were provided. Mosquitoes made up a large part of the welcoming party.
I was introduced to Simon and his son Ferguson. Ferg has been teaching English in Guayaquil for sometime,south of here.
To cut a long story short, the 3 of us made perfect company, we got on well and our hosts Pedro and Jaime enjoyed the company.
That day saw us wandering through the jungle after having used a canoe to access part of it.
Now in the lowlands the rivers were flowing quietly through thick vegetation, carrying the colours of wood tannins, that of a rich brown. Both Jaime and Pedro were great easy going guys, we spent alot of time laughing between the detailed description of our environment that they afforded us. We learnt about medicinal plants, fruit, animals and insects along with their lifestyles.
We also learnt alot about sweating profusely and mosquitos in uncountable numbers.
Talking to a nurse on the bus, she said Dengue is the big problem here in Amazonia, malaria, though present, is not nearly as bad. The guys were on malaria tabs, I was taking the punt.
Spending a few hours trundling through thick vines and other vegetation, all the while Pedro ensuring our passage was unhindered with the adept use of a machete, its sharp blade severing any obstructions in our path.
We were given gumboots to wear, apart from keeping us out of the mud, they kept the mossies from the area usually attacked first, our ankles.
The jungle was wet, dark, and full of plants, some quite common, especially on the forest floor where diffenbachias were everywhere. The have been one of the most popular house plants. Their ability to survive in such dark conditions makes them idea for indoor plants. The guys, too knew of their poisonous nature.
Heading back, a swim was had in the silent swath of brown water that will ultimately visit many places on its way to the Amazon delta.
We ate well, had a few beers and retreated to the insect free zone beneath our nets.
The next day say us wandering along the road, waffling on about all manner of shit, now that we were getting to know each other better.
From here, entering a farm track, Pedro continued to brief us on the plants of interest. This took us to a few huts and another family group. We hung about, played a bit of bush cricket using unripe oranges as balls, bamboo as wickets and a piece of palm trunk as a bat. A six was awarded for full destruction of a given “ball” obtained with direct contact.
We started getting through a few “balls” and figured in the interests of our guests food supply, it was decided, the poms needed six off two balls. The juice of an orange flooded the crease on the first ball. One nil to the northerners!!
We all headed down to the jetty on the lagoon, needing two canoes for five of us. One was a two man job, the other could handle three, both were fashioned from whole tree trunks.
We grabbed a few fishing poles, bamboo with nylon tied on the end, with 3m of line terminating in a hook, secured by about 50mm of wire.
We were going to try our luck at Piranha fishing. Pedro cut up some meat.
It was a laid back affair, our bigger canoe had a hole on the port side just above the water line, No sweat. Me, Pedro and Simon would just have to keep our weight to starboard, it worked a treat.
Getting to a good spot among fallen trees, we lodged the bow on a submerged branch.
Catching these infamous little creatures, involved bait on the hook, furiously slapping the water with the pole tip and in no time jaws containing many small sharp teeth were nibbling at the bait.
You never really felt their weight, they had an uncanny ability to take the bait unharmed.
Simon caught a couple, while Jaime and I, though getting bites managed to catch a boat load of timber!! Oh, Jaime caught a couple of unmentionable specimens.
Running out of bait, wanting to see if they were fond of each other in a culinary sense, they soon gave us the answer with much enthusiasm.
Pedro and Ferg joined us, Ferg had caught a fairly large specimen.
We rafted up to each other, waffled on and let the afternoon take its course.
On the way back, two Toucans were courting each other in a tree, Simon had binoculars, with these we had a great view of this white breasted species, for me this was a highlight, monkeys were also spotted, though it was the Toucans that received most of our attention.
Getting back to the huts before dark. A tropical deluge, just a lazy two inches drove us to shelter, along with every mosquito in the area.
They were having a field day, biting straight though clothing. If we were going to catch something, it was now.
Soon the rain stopped, about 1900, the owner of the property came in a thirty foot canoe with high gunwales, we were later to be very thankful for this feature of the craft’s design.
Sitting on the jetty the whole shoreline of the lagoon was lit with larvae possessing the same natural electro features as that of fireflies. It was like something out of a fairytale. The larvae were also present on all the floating weeds in the water.
Bats darted through the dim light present, in search of insects on the wing.
Frogs in their hundreds, celebrated the rain, this celebration revealed many species in attendance.
Jaime said there were 93 species of fish in this stretch of water. It’s difficult coming to terms with the richness of biodiversity here, everywhere you looked there was a living thing, especially insects.
Heading off in the dark, Caymans were the reason for our excursion, they live in the water hyacinth and other vegetation reaching out into the water, as do Boas. At night they venture out of this refuge.
Soon eyes of a Cayman were located by our torches, their owner was lurking just out of the vegetation in the open water, here they feed on small fish.
Getting close to the 2m plus specimen, he showed no timidness and with a little bit of time near him, the cheeky bugger launched himself at the canoe, jaws apart trying to take a chunk. Those high gunwales came in bloody handy.
We discussed with much laughter the consequences had the creature ended up in the canoe, "mayhem" and "capsize" were two words that I remember being exchanged during the conversation.
Ferg got that photo at the top of this page.
It had been an unreal day, the richness, adventure and grandeur of the Amazonia region of Ecuador had been truly experienced. All in good company.
The next day Pedro spent time telling us more about medicinal plants, he is a shaman and only uses natural medicines and a alot of spirituality. He had some bazaar stories to tell about making contact with the spirits.
The next day we caught a bus to Coca then onto Quito, where Simon and Ferg planned to launch a Galapagos trip, whilst I caught a bus onto Manta.
Starting at 1200 and arriving in Manta at 0530 the next day.
A great view of Cotopaxi was seen from the bus.
My bus from Quito had brake problems at the rear, we all thought it was on fire with the strong smell. A few passengers near the rear panicked and ran off the bus when it stopped. We were two hours from Manta, two hours, where the driver kept brake use to a minimum. Better here than on the descent down from Quito.
There had been a heap of rain in Manta and Octavia had had a dose of Dengue and been in bed with fever for two days.
Me, my fingers are crossed. I have to wait here for the airbed, if I have something it should be revealed during this wait, I hope not.
Tena to Limoncocha
Being introducing to my guide at the bus station by Eduardo, he was going to spend 3 days showing us around Limoncocha, it turned out there would be 3 of us, an English guy and his dad with myself. A small group was ideal.
Catching the bus, bag in hand to my seat, which made me feel better having it on the bus. Moving to my booked seat, there was a guy standing in the aisle. I asked him to sit next to me, he accepted my offer. Any way he was totally boozed. Being tired and trying to get to sleep, he was trying to do the same but kept uttering to himself, when he did fall asleep minutes later, he was all over me every time we went around a right hand bend.
Putting up with this and the strong smell of alcohol was only bearable for so long. Two in the morning saw me give him the hard word. Upon my wanting to move, he offered to. From here a good couple of hours sleep was had.
Arriving in Limoncocha, Jaime, the guide and I spent the night, or what was left of it in someones house.
Arising, somewhat tired, we got a pick up to where we would be based for 3 days.
It was in the forest in fairly humble lodgings, though typical for here.
A wooden building on stilts with a palm thatched roof best describes the shelter.
Beds with good mosquito nets were provided. Mosquitoes made up a large part of the welcoming party.
I was introduced to Simon and his son Ferguson. Ferg has been teaching English in Guayaquil for sometime,south of here.
To cut a long story short, the 3 of us made perfect company, we got on well and our hosts Pedro and Jaime enjoyed the company.
That day saw us wandering through the jungle after having used a canoe to access part of it.
Now in the lowlands the rivers were flowing quietly through thick vegetation, carrying the colours of wood tannins, that of a rich brown. Both Jaime and Pedro were great easy going guys, we spent alot of time laughing between the detailed description of our environment that they afforded us. We learnt about medicinal plants, fruit, animals and insects along with their lifestyles.
We also learnt alot about sweating profusely and mosquitos in uncountable numbers.
Talking to a nurse on the bus, she said Dengue is the big problem here in Amazonia, malaria, though present, is not nearly as bad. The guys were on malaria tabs, I was taking the punt.
Spending a few hours trundling through thick vines and other vegetation, all the while Pedro ensuring our passage was unhindered with the adept use of a machete, its sharp blade severing any obstructions in our path.
We were given gumboots to wear, apart from keeping us out of the mud, they kept the mossies from the area usually attacked first, our ankles.
The jungle was wet, dark, and full of plants, some quite common, especially on the forest floor where diffenbachias were everywhere. The have been one of the most popular house plants. Their ability to survive in such dark conditions makes them idea for indoor plants. The guys, too knew of their poisonous nature.
Heading back, a swim was had in the silent swath of brown water that will ultimately visit many places on its way to the Amazon delta.
We ate well, had a few beers and retreated to the insect free zone beneath our nets.
The next day say us wandering along the road, waffling on about all manner of shit, now that we were getting to know each other better.
From here, entering a farm track, Pedro continued to brief us on the plants of interest. This took us to a few huts and another family group. We hung about, played a bit of bush cricket using unripe oranges as balls, bamboo as wickets and a piece of palm trunk as a bat. A six was awarded for full destruction of a given “ball” obtained with direct contact.
We started getting through a few “balls” and figured in the interests of our guests food supply, it was decided, the poms needed six off two balls. The juice of an orange flooded the crease on the first ball. One nil to the northerners!!
We all headed down to the jetty on the lagoon, needing two canoes for five of us. One was a two man job, the other could handle three, both were fashioned from whole tree trunks.
We grabbed a few fishing poles, bamboo with nylon tied on the end, with 3m of line terminating in a hook, secured by about 50mm of wire.
We were going to try our luck at Piranha fishing. Pedro cut up some meat.
It was a laid back affair, our bigger canoe had a hole on the port side just above the water line, No sweat. Me, Pedro and Simon would just have to keep our weight to starboard, it worked a treat.
Getting to a good spot among fallen trees, we lodged the bow on a submerged branch.
Catching these infamous little creatures, involved bait on the hook, furiously slapping the water with the pole tip and in no time jaws containing many small sharp teeth were nibbling at the bait.
You never really felt their weight, they had an uncanny ability to take the bait unharmed.
Simon caught a couple, while Jaime and I, though getting bites managed to catch a boat load of timber!! Oh, Jaime caught a couple of unmentionable specimens.
Running out of bait, wanting to see if they were fond of each other in a culinary sense, they soon gave us the answer with much enthusiasm.
Pedro and Ferg joined us, Ferg had caught a fairly large specimen.
We rafted up to each other, waffled on and let the afternoon take its course.
On the way back, two Toucans were courting each other in a tree, Simon had binoculars, with these we had a great view of this white breasted species, for me this was a highlight, monkeys were also spotted, though it was the Toucans that received most of our attention.
Getting back to the huts before dark. A tropical deluge, just a lazy two inches drove us to shelter, along with every mosquito in the area.
They were having a field day, biting straight though clothing. If we were going to catch something, it was now.
Soon the rain stopped, about 1900, the owner of the property came in a thirty foot canoe with high gunwales, we were later to be very thankful for this feature of the craft’s design.
Sitting on the jetty the whole shoreline of the lagoon was lit with larvae possessing the same natural electro features as that of fireflies. It was like something out of a fairytale. The larvae were also present on all the floating weeds in the water.
Bats darted through the dim light present, in search of insects on the wing.
Frogs in their hundreds, celebrated the rain, this celebration revealed many species in attendance.
Jaime said there were 93 species of fish in this stretch of water. It’s difficult coming to terms with the richness of biodiversity here, everywhere you looked there was a living thing, especially insects.
Heading off in the dark, Caymans were the reason for our excursion, they live in the water hyacinth and other vegetation reaching out into the water, as do Boas. At night they venture out of this refuge.
Soon eyes of a Cayman were located by our torches, their owner was lurking just out of the vegetation in the open water, here they feed on small fish.
Getting close to the 2m plus specimen, he showed no timidness and with a little bit of time near him, the cheeky bugger launched himself at the canoe, jaws apart trying to take a chunk. Those high gunwales came in bloody handy.
We discussed with much laughter the consequences had the creature ended up in the canoe, "mayhem" and "capsize" were two words that I remember being exchanged during the conversation.
Ferg got that photo at the top of this page.
It had been an unreal day, the richness, adventure and grandeur of the Amazonia region of Ecuador had been truly experienced. All in good company.
The next day Pedro spent time telling us more about medicinal plants, he is a shaman and only uses natural medicines and a alot of spirituality. He had some bazaar stories to tell about making contact with the spirits.
The next day we caught a bus to Coca then onto Quito, where Simon and Ferg planned to launch a Galapagos trip, whilst I caught a bus onto Manta.
Starting at 1200 and arriving in Manta at 0530 the next day.
A great view of Cotopaxi was seen from the bus.
My bus from Quito had brake problems at the rear, we all thought it was on fire with the strong smell. A few passengers near the rear panicked and ran off the bus when it stopped. We were two hours from Manta, two hours, where the driver kept brake use to a minimum. Better here than on the descent down from Quito.
There had been a heap of rain in Manta and Octavia had had a dose of Dengue and been in bed with fever for two days.
Me, my fingers are crossed. I have to wait here for the airbed, if I have something it should be revealed during this wait, I hope not.
Our jungle experience! Great tracks!!
A bigger butterfly, have I not seen.
Locals could communicate by beating on the buttresses, producing a deep drumming sound.
Everyone to starboard, an effort of sorts was made with some weed to block the hole.
How the crude comes out of the jungle
Cotopaxi, south of Quito
|
Good company
That goes for this tree, too.
Piranha in the water, Boa and Caymans in the reeds, best off in the canoe
They were not shy.
Diesel at $1.03/gallon, near the source, about 24c a litre. No wonder it only costs about a dollar an hour on buses.
Smartly all Ecuadorean crude is exploited by the government.
The catch.
|
