Ecuador

18 February 2008
Quito/Tena, Ecuador
                The bus arrived in Quito 5 ½ hours later, around 1:30 a.m.  From the bus station we took a taxi to a hotel for a nice warm shower, and clean bed.  We had been traveling non-stop for over 40 hours when we arrived.
                Around 8 am we started milling about and finally started getting ready.  We headed off for the bus station and found the window selling tickets for Tena.  At 10:10 am we purchased tickets for the 10:30 am bus.  Along the way snapped some photos looking down on the clouds from mountain our bus was carefully navigating through.
                Arriving in Tena we had a couple errands to run.  First was to get checked into a hotel.  We found a nice place that was little further away from the center than we would have liked but for $15 USD with a private bathroom and hot water it definitely filled the bill.
                Second was to get our laundry done.  We packed everything up that needed cleaning and headed into town.  On our second try we found a place that could have our laundry done today.
                Third was to contact our families.  We normally do our best to let our families know that we are alive on Sunday but we were in the middle of our marathon travel from Cartagena to Quito when we would normally do this.  There was a little internet café next door to the laundry place and we made phone calls and sent emails.
                Fourth was to get some food.  The last proper meal we had was back on the 15th in Cartagena, so we were over do for a real meal.  We came across a pizza joint that had a view of the river that cut through town.  While eating we met a couple other travelers, Mike from England and Sean from Utah/Alaska.  They mentioned they were looking to take a jungle tour and wondered if we were off to do the same.  Oddly enough that was item number Five.
                Five was to book a jungle tour.  Anna went and talked to the tour agency next door to get info on their jungle tour.  We noticed that the tour through our hotel was $5 USD cheaper per person so after we ate.  The four of us went to our hotel to get the details. Then compare the two tours.   At the hotel we got some info and even met the guide we would have.  We decided to use them and said our farewells to Mike and Sean until tomorrow.

19 February 2008
Tena, Ecuador
                The tour included 3 meals a day including the start day.  We were supposed to meet up with Sean, and Mike for breakfast at 8:00.  Right as we left our room, and went to the main room for breakfast and the truck showed up with Sean, and Mike.  The four of us put our big bags, in a room for the next 3 days, and had breakfast.  We all were served café, juice, rolls (butter & jelly), and two eggs (cooked to order).  This was nice, we very rarely sit down and have breakfast. 
                Around 9:00 our guide, Orlando, said it was time to go.  We put on our rubber boots (for the day hike), got our small packs and left.  The driver dropped us off around 11 miles away from the city for our first hike.  We were going to hike up to a couple of waterfalls. 
                The hike was beautiful.  The six of us (Thomas, from Germany also joined us) were alone with the jungle.  The guide told us this was a very touristy trail, but we had it to ourselves.  After hiking about 30 minutes we came to a waterfall.  Thinking it was time to hike back the guide begins to pull rope out of his backpack, and take his sandals off.  He was going to hike up the waterfall, and set the rope for us to follow.  The four of us thought he was crazy, but it turned out to be a simple climb.  We continued on for another 15 minutes to another waterfall.  This one looked a bit more complicated.  The guide again, hiked up, and set the rope for us to follow.  One thing he did do was hike up, and then back down to watch everyone as they went up the rope.  After the second waterfall, we proceeded to hike up the side of the mountain for another 30 minutes until reaching a look-out for a brief rest. 
                Then it was time to go down the mountain.  After another 20 minutes we arrived to the road we had driven on earlier.  We all followed the guide down the road for about a half mile, until coming to a small house.  Here the guide served us lunch.  Lunch consisted of French bread, jamon (ham), queso (cheese), avocado, tomato, tuna, and for dessert cookies, and fresh pineapple.   It was now time to rest. 
                With our bellies full, we followed the guide about 100 meters down the road to a lagoon.  There was a small fork in the river with some calm water to relax in.  Here we watched mariposas (butterflies land on Doug’s socks, and Anna’s tattoo), some children playing in the water (we all shortly followed), and listen to the forest. 
                We hung out at the lagoon for a couple hours, and then walked back to the house where lunch was served, for 15 minutes.  Then walked down the road a couple hundred meters, to where the truck would pick us up, and take us to the cabañas.  While we waited for the truck, nature treated us to some scenery.  There were colorful grasshoppers popping up, dragonflies mating, tadpoles swimming around, and spiders hanging around for dinner. 
                The truck soon picked us up, and took us down the road about a mile to a big bridge.  At the bridge we were to take all of our stuff, and help carry food and water to the cabañas.  The walk was another ½ mile to where we would sleep the next 2 nights. 
                The cabañas were simple.  They had a bed with mosquito nets, no electricity and a nearby cabin with a working toilet and shower.  About 30 minutes after our arrival, dinner was served.  This was also something we were not used to, three meals in one day.  Wow, this was a lot of food for us, but it was delicious.  After dinner, we chatted with everyone for a couple of hours, and then retired for the night. 

20 February 2008
Jungle, Ecuador
                We were up at 7:30 for Breakfast which was served at 8:00 am.   For breakfast we enjoyed eggs, rolls (butter and jelly), café, and juice.  Because it was raining, our guide Orlando said we would wait an hour or so, and possibly the rain would let up.  We were to go hiking in the jungle again, and learn about the different species of plants.
                Around 10:30 we set off from the cabañas for our plant tour.  It was interesting how Orlando would know exactly what each plant was for, and the difference between similar plants.  He showed us a termite nest, put a small slit in the nest, and said the small opening would be covered back up within a couple hours.  He showed us a huge ant leaf-cutter nest.  This was apparently one of the smaller ones but the size was overwhelming to us.  Many other medicine plants for remedies to include:  upset stomach, snake bites, ant bites, sinus clearing, cuts, and penicillin.  He also showed us a citrus tree, and had us taste the ants that live inside the branches of the tree.  The tree, and the ants, tasted of lemon.  There were many other things he showed us.
                After hiking for about 2 ½ hours, he brought us back to the cabañas for lunch.  The rain had let up, and we needed a rest.  For lunch we were served soup, yuka (a local root), and a meal of rice with chicken.  Orlando then told us after our food had digested we would go tubing.  We had mentioned the day prior we would like to do this on the third day, and replacing the third day activities.  But he had decided this would work better. 
                An hour later, we put our shorts, sandals on, and went to pick up our tubes at a nearby house.  After picking up our tubes, Orlando led us down to the river.  We were only going to go tubing for about 300 meters, but he was not sure of the route on the river.  Thomas wasn’t able to join us because he was only able to do just two days of the tour, this is when he parted to go to the museum, and then back to Tena.
                Orlando got in the water first, and went about 20 feet down the river to catch us.  This river was not the most suitable for tubing.  We all went down one by one towards Orlando; he then guided us to the right side of the river, and let us go.  This was defiantly an adventure.  None of us knew the route to go down, and just went.  A couple of the guys were turned over in the water, but all of us had a good time.  Orlando then suggested we go again, being we had to also stop a couple times as we went down the river for safety. 
                We all got out of the water, and walked back up river.  This time we started about 20 feet closer than before.  This was to avoid the bigger rapids we had discovered the first time down. The second time down was much more fun; we had a better idea of what we were doing.  Then we got out of the cold water, and headed back to the cabañas to change into warm clothes.   
                Dinner was served a couple hours later.  After dinner Orlando was going to take us to the local bar.  What? There was a bar nearby?  There was to be another tour group who was doing some rafting and they were also going.  The bar was about a quarter of a mile from the cabañas.  We hadn’t noticed walking by the museum the first day, but the museum is also the local bar.  A liter of beer was only $1.25 USD, this was awesome.  We all got a bottle including our guide, and sat down to chat.  For some reason we stayed with our group, and the rafting group kept to themselves despite a failed attempt to start talking to them.  We still had a good time exchanging stories, and getting to know one another.  We ended up leaving the group around 10:00, to go to bed from the good long day in the forest. 

21 February 2008
Jungle/Travel, Ecuador
                After a long night of drinking everyone was slow to get up.  When everyone was finally up we set off for our final trip into the jungle. 
                We walked around coming to a small house with a local female villager who was going to host us for a small meal.  Orlando and the lady who lived there collected some yuka root (we’ve had this a couple times now), some sort of bean, and last but definitely not least, larvae (developing beetles).  She cleaned up the yuka, pulled some of the guts from the larvae, wrapped the items in separate banana leaves and threw them on a fire.  Shortly after lunch was served.  For condiments there was some chili sauce that helped mask the flavor of everything by burning your tongue, and some salt. 
                The yuka didn’t taste too bad with chili or salt.  It is a pretty versatile food in Ecuador, they make a variety of different foods from it including bread and soup.  The beans tasted a lot like lima beans.  Last were the larvae.  Anna flat out said she would not eat the larvae, but then surprised Doug by trying one before he did.  The larvae were actually not too bad considering.  There wasn’t much of taste, the only real negatives were:
#1  It was chewy.  You wish it would just take a couple chews and then you could swallow.
#2  The head had a hard candy shell, minus the candy part, and little flakes seemed to linger in your mouth after swallowing it.
#3  You have the mental image of eating a big fat bug without winning a million dollars like they do on some reality TV show for eating the same thing.
                After eating we walked back for our “real” lunch.  Then it was time to clean our rooms and we were off to the local museum.  Orlando took us through the museum playing tour guide.  He explained that there were around 9 different indigenous tribes in this particular area of Ecuador before the Spanish came.  This museum was mostly focused on his, the Kichwa.  He went through and showed us a lot of their clothes, tools, structures and Doug’s favorite, functional animal traps.  Orlando took a lot of pleasure in setting the traps and demonstrating what would happen when an unsuspecting animal would enter.
                When the museum tour was over there was some time to kill. So the museum bar opened for us to enjoy some drinks, before going across the bridge for our ride back.
                Back at the hotel we collected our belongings and said our farewells and headed to the bus station.  Thankfully there was a bus leaving for Baños in 15 minutes, so we bought tickets.
                A few hours later after arriving in Baños we found out there was an 11 pm bus to Guayaquil.  We hung around and waited for the bus to arrive.  When it did it was so over loaded that a bunch of girls that had purchased seats in advance couldn’t sit in their seats because other “passengers of opportunity” (like us) had filled the seats up and refused to move.  The girls argued with the bus driver for around 30 minutes before some sort of compromise was reached.

22 February 2008
Guayaquil, Ecuador
                The bus ride to Guayaquil was less than pleasant but it did the trick and we arrived around 7 am.  None of the ticket booths in our terminal seemed to offer bus service to Peru so we went with a suggestion in the book to check out this other ticket office around the corner.  The problem was we didn’t have an exact address and we didn’t have a map.  With next to no information we hail a cab. 
                We came across a taxi director and explained where we needed to go.  He quoted us $3 USD to which we agreed.  Then we proceed to take us past the taxis and across the street.  He led us to his personal car and we knew something was up.  He drove us a quarter of a mile down the road around the corner from the bus station and dropped us off.  We were ripped off.  Even better the office wasn’t due to open for another hour.
                When the office opened we discovered that all their seats to Lima were filled.  We then walked back to the main bus terminal where we came from.  While there we found out there was one company that did have service to Peru, but not to Lima.  This one went to Tumbes, which was just past the border.  We took it.
                The bus brought us to the Ecuador border and thankfully the border formalities were brief and easy and we loaded back up on the bus.  The bus then took us about 15 more minutes down the road through a “free zone” (an area that both Ecuadorians and Peruvians can do business within both countries).  Finally past the free zone we came to the Peru immigration office.  After completing our paper work correctly we were stamped and official granted entrance to Peru.

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