Parque Nacional Cuyabeno

After the unfortunate experience (to say the least) in Quito, we took another overnight bus (left Quito at 11:30 pm and arrived at 7 am) into the Amazon and arrived in a small town called Lago Agrio. There we met up with two different groups of Germans and waited to be picked up by the tour company (for those of you that hear the word 'tour' and cringe, it's basically impossible to visit any remote parts of the Amazon without being on a tour). We got picked up around 9 am started a 2 hour bus ride along a road that parallels the Trans-Ecuadorian pipeline (we were in the part of the country where the people had filled the largest class-action lawsuit against an oil company. Ever. I'll go more into that in the next post.). Finally, we got to a river, boarded a boat and headed even deeper into the jungle on a 2 hour canoe ride.

I don't know why, but the entire canoe ride I couldn't help compare it to the jungle tour at Disney. I don't know why... I guess because it was just a surreal experience. This part of the jungle has an abnormal amount of water, making it possible to get to a lot of different places via canoe. And, right by the lodge there was a large lagoon where we could swim (as long as we only saw in the middle off the canoe.. Close to the shore it can be dangers since you're close to the animal habitats). And, then there was the lodge.. An oasis in the middle of it all. The beds were comfortable, the cabins were quaint, there was a room with nothing else but hammocks and there lots of delicious food.

Also, most importantly, during the course of the 4 days we were there we saw; endangered pink river dolphins that are only found in a river in China and in the Amazon river, an anaconda, several different types of monkeys, piranha, caiman and an uncountable number of beautiful, colorful birds. It's hard to explain it all in words, so hopefully these pictures help..



Our canoe ride to the lodge. As I said, it was so incredible that I actually had trouble believing where I was. I can't even describe it.




Very early in to the canoe ride we saw an anaconda sunning itself by the river. Our guide told us that anaconda's can exert something like 6 kilos of pressure per square centimeter where they constrict.. Not something I want to see or experience!




Some monkeys were playing in some trees by our lodge before lunch one day.




One of the monkey's friends in the next tree over.




Every evening we went out into the middle of the lagoon by the lodge in the canoe where we could swim and watch the sun set. It was quiet a way to end the day, but the guide made sure we stayed in the middle of the lagoon. Swimming closer to the shore you'd run the risk of running into some of the other inhabitants of the lagoon.. The most dangerous? The electric eel!




Even trips to the bathroom reminded you that you were in the middle of the jungle.. When the toad jumped out of the sink to a ledge about 4 feet away it almost scared the life out of me.




No trip to the jungle would be complete without seeing a big, hairy spider.. I didn't feel the urge to get too close, though, and let the guide take the picture.




Here I am by a sign by the canoe landing. Every once and a while I have to prove that I haven't withered away or been befriended by an anaconda!