Ecuador 2008, page2

After saying goodbye to our 18 shipmates who went their separate ways after the week, we spent another night in Quito and then set out for the eastern rain forest of Ecuador. This involved a small plane to the town of Coca, a short bus ride to the Napo river, a 3-hour boat ride downstream toward the Amazon (lengthened by about 20 minutes when we got stuck in a shallow part), a half-hour hike into the jungle, and finally a 20-minute canoe ride to the Sacha Lodge.

There we spent almost three days on short hikes, canoe explorations, and a couple of above-canopy climbs, seeing lots of birds and other jungle wildlife.

Of the 600-odd species calling Ecuador home we got to see at least 70, many of which are found nowhere else in the world. The guides were awesome--it was amazing what they could spot.

Without their help we might have spent three days and hardly seen anything but jungle (although the anaconda was easy to spot, once the guide caught it).

Also Richard got to go for a swim in a lake which is also home to big electric eels, piranha, and a smallish (but not that small) alligator-like creature called a cayman.

Toucan through the telescope

After Sacha we returned to Quito for a final afternoon and then spent our last day just across the equator from Quito, shopping in Otavalo. Next morning an early wake-up and we were headed back home, this time choosing not to peek at the horoscopes.

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