6:30 WAKEY,WAKEY,7:00 AM BREAKFAST THEN ANOTHER HAIR-RAISING MOUNTAINOUS TEAR TO THE QUITO AEROPERUTO FOR OUR FLIGHT TO COCA, IN THE HEART OF ECUDORIAN AMAZONIA. OUR DESTINATION, IN YASUMI NATIONAL PARK, WAS NAPO WILDLIFE CENTER AND LODGE. THE LODGE WAS THE BRAINCHILD OF AN INDIGINOUS MAN, JIOVANNY RIVANDENEIRA, IN 2000. HIS IDEA WAS TO BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME, AND AT THE SAME TIME PROVIDE A PLACE WHERE THE ANANGU INDIGINOUS PEOPLE COULD WORK AND PROMOTE ECO-TOURISM. AFTER THREE YEARS OF PLANNING AND BUILDING THE LODGE OPENED IN 2003. AS OF THIS YEAR THEY ARE MAKING A PROFIT OF $50,000 PER MONTH AND HAVE BUILT A SCHOOL (1-12 GRADES) AND A MEDICAL CENTER IN THEIR COMMUNITY. JIOVANNY RIVADENEIRA, THE FOUNDER AND CEO, TRAVELS AROUND THE WORLD LECTURING ABOUT ECO-TOURISM.
ARRIVING IN COCA AROUND NOON, IN THE POURING RAIN, WE WERE TRANSFERRED BY BUS TO THE WHARF WHERE WE BOARDED A COVERED MOTORIZED CANOE FOR OUR TWO HOUR RIDE, DOWN THE RIO NAPO, TO NAPO WILDLIFE CENTER´S WAREHOUSE WHERE ALL THEIR SUPPLIES AND GUESTS ARRIVE AND DEPART. OUR NEXT MODE OF TRANSPORT WAS A DUG-OUT CANOE, WITH TWO PERSONAL PADDLERS, PLUS OUR GUIDE JUAN CARLOS. FORTUNATELY THE RAIN HAD STOPPED, DURING THE NEXT TWO HOURS UP THE ANANGU CREEK, THROUGH THE JUNGLE AND RAINFOREST TO ANANGU LAKE WHERE THE NAPO WILDLIFE CENTER IS LOCATED.
YASUNI NATIONAL PARK IS ECUADOR´S BIGGEST PARK, WITH ITS JUNGLE DRAINED BY HUNDREDS OF LAKES, RIVERS AND CREEKS, ALL OF WHICH FLOW INTO THE RIO NAPO WHICH EVENTUALLY FEEDS INTO THE AMAZON.
WE PADDLED FURTHER AND FURTHER PAST ¨TERRA FIRMA" AND FLOODWATERS TO LAGO AGANGU. NOT LIKE THE GALAPAGOS, WHERE MAMMALS, REPTILES, AND BIRDS POSED FOR OUR CAMERAS, THE AMAZON BASIN COUNTERPARTS ARE MUCH MORE ELUSIVE. WE HAD TWO GUIDES, JUAN CARLOS WHO IS A NATURALIST , AND PATO THE PADDLER, WHO WAS OUR INDIGNOUS GUIDE. OUR ARRIVAL AT THE NAPO WILDLIFE CENTER WAS AMAZING...SUCH BEAUTY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE JUNGLE! DURING OUR EVENING ORIENTATION WE LEARNED WHAT OUR DAYS WOULD BE LIKE WHEN WE HEARD THAT THE NAPO WILDLIFE CENTER RUNS ON "JUNGLE TIME", MEANING OUR OUTINGS WOULD START AT 7 AM UNTIL 11 AM AND 4 PM UNTIL 7 PM!
EXPLORATION ON VARIOUS HIKING PATHS AND UP VARIOUS CREEKS GAVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPOT RED HOWLER, SQUIRREL, CAPPOCHINO, AND GOLDEN MANTLED TAMARIN MONKEYS; GREEN ANACONDA AND BOA CONSTRICTOR SNAKES; BULLET, LEAF CUTTER, AND ARMY ANTS; FISHING AND LONG-NOSED BATS; PARROTS, PARAKEETS, PARROTLETS, MACAWS, KINGFISHERS, TOUCANS, WOODPECKERS, SWALLOWS, FLYCATCHERS, A CRESTED OWL, CUCKOOS, FALCONS, HERONS, EAGLES,VULTURES, HODTZIN, TROGONS, AND DUE TO OUR ACUTE LISTENING FOR RUSTLING LEAVES OR RIPPLING WATER, OUR SILENCE AND PATIENCE WE SPOTTED AN EXTREMELY RARE SOUTH AMERICAN GIANT OTTER.
EXPLORATION ON VARIOUS HIKING PATHS AND UP VARIOUS CREEKS GAVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPOT RED HOWLER, SQUIRREL, CAPPOCHINO, AND GOLDEN MANTLED TAMARIN MONKEYS; GREEN ANACONDA AND BOA CONSTRICTOR SNAKES; BULLET, LEAF CUTTER, AND ARMY ANTS; FISHING AND LONG-NOSED BATS; PARROTS, PARAKEETS, PARROTLETS, MACAWS, KINGFISHERS, TOUCANS, WOODPECKERS, SWALLOWS, FLYCATCHERS, A CRESTED OWL, CUCKOOS, FALCONS, HERONS, EAGLES,VULTURES, HODTZIN, TROGONS, AND DUE TO OUR ACUTE LISTENING FOR RUSTLING LEAVES OR RIPPLING WATER, OUR SILENCE AND PATIENCE WE SPOTTED AN EXTREMELY RARE SOUTH AMERICAN GIANT OTTER.
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USING STRIPS FROM THE INSIDE STEM OF A PALM FROND, PATO MADE US THIS BASKET TO TAKE HOME TO SIX BEARS EAST!!! |
OUR DAYS WERE SPENT TREKKING THROUGH THE RAINFOREST AND JUNGLE, AND IT ONLY RAINED UPON OUR ARRIVAL IN COCA AND OUR DEPARTURE MORNING AT THE LODGE. NO WORRIES THOUGH AS THEY SUPPLIED WELLIES AND PONCHOS.
THE AMAZON BASIN OF ECUADOR IS ¨THE WORLD´S LARGEST RECYCLING CENTER...SO FRAGILE AND PRECIOUS!
ONE OF OUR TREKS CONSISTED OF CLIMBING TO THE TOP OF A KOPOK TREE OVER 1,000 FEET HIGH TO A PLATFORM HIGH ABOVE THE VAST JUNGLE.
ASPECTS THAT SURPRISED AND AMAZED US WAS THE LACK OF MOSQUITOS; THE FACT THAT THE SMALLEST TOOTHPICK TO THE LARGEST BEAM HAS TO BE TRANSPORTED BY PADDLERS FOR 2 HOURS UP THE CREEK; THE VAST NUMBER OF MEDICINAL OR PUNITIVE PLANTS AND THE VAST OIL AND NATURAL GAS EXPLORATION - IN COCA GAS IS $1.04 PER GALLON.!!
THE LEAF-CUTTER ANTS ARE INCREDIBLE! A LINE OF ANTS TRANSPORTING BITS OF YOUNG LEAVES THEY PAINSTAKINGLY CHEWED OFF PALM TREES TRAISPED ALONG TOWARDS THEIR NEST HUNDREDS OF METERS. IT WAS A TWO WAY TREK...CUTTING AND TRANSPORTING TO THE NEST, THEN RETURNING TO THE PALM FOR ANOTHER CHEW.
GUARDIAN ANTS PATROL THE LINE WATCHING FOR TROUBLE. OCCASIONALLY AN ANT RODE ON TOP OF A LEAF TO BALANCE IT FOR THE ANT DOING THE LUGGING. WE WITNESSED ANTS CARRYING PIECES OF LEAF THROUGH THE CHOPPED-UP CLAY DOWN INTO THEIR NEST WHERE, AS JUAN CARLOS EXPLAINED, THEY STORED THE LEAF BITS IN A SPECIFIC CHAMBER WHERE OTHER ANTS CHEWED THEN APPLIED THE SALIVA ON THE INTERIOR OF THE CHAMBER THEREBY GROWING A FUNGUS - THE ANTS DIET. ISN'T THAT MORE THAN YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT AN ANT!!!
THE LACK OF SALT IN THE AMAZON BASIN HAS CREATED THE "CLAY LICK" PHENOMENON. THOUSANDS OF PARAKEETS FLUTTERED ABOVE A CARVED CLAY CAVE. WHEN THE SCOUTS GAVE THE SIGNAL THE BIRDS ALTERNATED LANDING AND PECKING AT THE CLAY, THEREBY GIVING SODIUM TO COUNTERACT THE ACIDITY OF THE FRUIT SEEDS THAT HAVE BEEN SCATTERED BY PARROTS, MACAWS, ETC. WITNESSING FLOCKS OF BLUE, GREEN, AND RED PARAKEETS, SOME FLYING 35 OR 40 MILES DAILY TO THIS PARTICULAR CLAY LICK. FROM OUR "BLIND" WE OBSERVED THEM DESCENDING, GATHERING, AND TAKING OFF ALTOGETHER AT THE SOUND OR SIGHT OF A PREDATOR...EXTREMELY FASCINATING, AND AS ALWAYS OUR PICTURES CANNOT DO THE EXPERIENCE JUSTICE!
THE LACK OF SALT IN THE AMAZON BASIN HAS CREATED THE "CLAY LICK" PHENOMENON. THOUSANDS OF PARAKEETS FLUTTERED ABOVE A CARVED CLAY CAVE. WHEN THE SCOUTS GAVE THE SIGNAL THE BIRDS ALTERNATED LANDING AND PECKING AT THE CLAY, THEREBY GIVING SODIUM TO COUNTERACT THE ACIDITY OF THE FRUIT SEEDS THAT HAVE BEEN SCATTERED BY PARROTS, MACAWS, ETC. WITNESSING FLOCKS OF BLUE, GREEN, AND RED PARAKEETS, SOME FLYING 35 OR 40 MILES DAILY TO THIS PARTICULAR CLAY LICK. FROM OUR "BLIND" WE OBSERVED THEM DESCENDING, GATHERING, AND TAKING OFF ALTOGETHER AT THE SOUND OR SIGHT OF A PREDATOR...EXTREMELY FASCINATING, AND AS ALWAYS OUR PICTURES CANNOT DO THE EXPERIENCE JUSTICE!
