THE AMAZON JUNGLE

We took the plane from Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, to Lago Agrio, a town located at the beginning of the jungle. It is a 30 minute flight. We then boarded a bus, which proved to have no shock absorbers. The roads here are very poor, and we felt not only every bump, but right down to every pebble in the road. We traveled on this bus for two hours, We were heading south, to reach the little town of Chiritza, where we would have to change our form of transportation. They served us a box lunch on the bus. It was not only a crummy lunch, but the bottom of the boxes fell out on all of us, and most of our lunch wound up on the floor of the bus, rolling all over the place. This was the first, and only time, the food we were served in any part of Ecuador had not been superb. Then again, how good can a box lunch really be? They did their best to provide nourishing food that would not spoil in the suppressive heat.

When we arrived at Chiritza, we disembarked the bus, had a short bathroom break, and time for a drink. None of the drinks in Ecuador are cold. Only bottled water is safe to drink, and it is not chilled. Soda is 'cool', but it becomes warm almost immediately. The plumbing is also not quite what we are used to in our country, and bathroom tissue cannot be flushed. Once used, it must be placed into waste baskets, which are emptied several times a day.

Along the river banks are small villages inhabited by the various Indian tribes. There are no towns in the jungle. The natives only means of transportation is by canoe. Some motorized, others manually propelled by a paddle. There are no stores a family can visit to make purchases. One must travel for many hours up the river, leaving the jungle to make purchases. This is a very hard trip, and is made very seldom. The natives grow their fruits and vegetables, and hunt for their meat. The medical care is accomplished by using the plants of the region.

The sun began to set, and the sunset was brilliant, and just as spectacular as the clouds were during the earlier part of the day. The scenery around us on the shores of the river was gorgeous. Beautiful tall ficus trees, banana trees, palms, bamboo, kapok trees, and lots of vines, the likes of which we have all seen Tarzan swing on. Some of the tall trees are umbrella shaped, and give the impression that they are protecting the rest of the jungle's flora and fauna. We saw people bathing in the river. They quickly turned their backs to us when they saw us coming, as they were naked. We saw others washing their laundry in the river.

We were still traveling after dark, with no lights on the canoes. We were becoming petrified of hitting an unseen floating tree or some other debris, or becoming stuck on a sandbar. Miraculously, we made it safely. We were traveling to the Flotel, which is a floating hotel that would become our home for the extent of our time in the jungle. When we finally arrived at the Flotel, we learned that it wasn't where it was expected to be, due to engine failure that occurred the week before our arrival. It was now anchored in heavy reeds. We arrived just as dinner was being served, so we very quickly disembarked our canoes, washed up, and ate. The food was very good, but we didn't have any choice as to what to order. It was a fixed menu.

After dinner we had a briefing. The captain's words were, "if you think you're here for a vacation or to experience any luxury, you're in for a big surprise. This is NOT a vacation, it's an expedition in the jungle, and will NOT be glamorous. You are here to experience the jungle, as it really is. Your accommodations are not luxurious, but they are sufficient for you to have the experience you came for." He was SO right!

After the briefing we went up to the sundeck, which is the same deck where our cabin was. Our cabin had bunk beds..........I immediately earned the top bunk. Could it be that Ed is afraid of heights? :-))) The cabin was extremely small but it WAS air conditioned. In the jungle, air conditioning means that you have a fan to cool you. The fan stood on top of the dresser. Other than the bunk beds, the fan, and a dresser, it contained a small screened window, and the door. We had a private bathroom, which was just a little smaller than the bedroom area. It contained a toilet, sink, and a rather good sized shower. The water pressure was non existent. We had to take a shower very late at night or an hour before wake up call, when no one else was trying to shower, in order to even get a very small stream of water. The water is 'purified' river water.

We went to look at the stars and listen to the jungle sounds after the briefing. There were no bugs, thankfully. We were told that the bugs are really wicked in the jungle, and to keep our bodies and our clothing covered with insect repellent at all times. The repellent must contain DEET. We brought a good supply with us, and did as we were told. We expected the bugs to be VERY heavy here, due to the dense reeds we were anchored in. We sprayed our cabin with insect repellent, and settled in for a good night's sleep.

The next morning, wakeup call was at 6:00, breakfast at 6:30, and we were in the dugouts at 7:00. It was pouring rain. We traveled for two hours down the river, through the pounding rain, to the Pacuya Camp. This camp is a place deep in the jungle. We left the canoes at the water's edge and had to walk into the jungle to reach the camp. The walk took 45 minutes, along a type of boardwalk. The boards were VERY narrow, about 16 inches wide, slippery, and high over the jungle floor and black waters. We had to cross 4 bridges that were narrower than the boardwalk (about 11 inches wide). There are no railings, and the bridges begin to shake when walked on. When the shaking would begin, we would have to stand still until the shaking stopped, then walk again until the shaking began, and so on. This is an extremely treacherous walk. If someone were to fall off the boardwalk or a bridge, there is no way to get back up. It was still pouring. We were wearing rubber ponchos, and even under the ponchos, our clothing and bodies were soaking wet, and of course, so were our feet.

The jungle is beautiful. We saw many different types of insects...termites and the incredibly huge nests they build, leaf ants, huge millipedes, humongous spiders, and insects that I could not identify. We also saw many beautiful flowers and trees. Bromiliads are growing everywhere. The most beautiful and intriguing of the jungle flowers is the Jungle Rose.