Our class gathered down in the lobby of the Hotel Quito in anticipation of going somewhere we’ve never been- the Amazon Rainforest. Beauty pageant contestants also were boarding their bus. We unsuccessfully tried to get one of our classmates convinced that their bus was our bus, and he almost made it in before one of the stout body guard stopped him.
A Mercedes bus pulled in to pick us up. We realized that the luxury stopped there, a bullethole in the windshield and chairs that were all stuck in the ‘recline’ position was going to make an interesting trip to Tena. The bathroom was merely a shoebox in the back with a light that didn’t work. Our jungle guide, Norby appeared, an Ecuadorian with surprisingly good English. He had multiple band aids spread across his face- obviously he didn’t get the memo that all the guys in the class had decided not to shave for the duration of the trip. I suggested he was on the losing end of a razor, while another in our group thought he had face-eating parasites. Either way, it wasn’t pretty. Our group also picked up another Ecuadorian, Roxanna, a lady who was finishing up a phD and was joining on us for this leg of the trip. She was going to speak to us later that evening about oil and the environment in Ecuador. Our bus driver was a fellow named Jose, and after his quick introduction, Mendes quipped, “Hammer Down, Jose.” We were off.
We drove out of Quito and soon were out of the city and into the countryside. We passed the Ecuador National futball team’s headquarters. The Redding soccer park is much better than their practice fields. In their credit, the stadium in downtown Quito is first class. The bus pulled over at a gas station and we inundated the small convenience store with gringos on a quest for ice cold Coca-Colas and chips.
En Route to Tena
The trip took us to the highest elevation in our trip so far- approximately 13,000 feet as we reached the Continental Divide. The countryside was much like we experienced in Cusco, Peru. Keep in mind, this elevation is higher than Mt. Lassen yet a little lower than Mt. Shasta, yet it was still lush and green, due to the fact it's near the equator. The vegetation was lush and green, cattle dotted the landscape. We soon found ourselves dropping in elevation, drastically.
We pulled off the road at a ‘scenic overlook’ while at a high elevation still and the wind and rain started to pick up. On a clear day, it would have been spectacular, but unfortunately the scenery had to be left to our imagination. We ate our marginal sack lunch of cold chicken (hopefully chicken) nuggets, canned vegetables and a ham sandwich (with the crust cut off, such attention to detail was impressive).
The bus slowly made it’s way down the windy ravine, along a large cliff overlooking an impressive river. Waterfalls cascaded down the sides of the mountains amidst areas that were cleared out for agriculture. We passed a few oil refineries, our first exposure to oil exploration in Ecuador. The first signs of clear cuts of the rainforest were seen here as well. Before we knew it, the heat and humidity saturated the bus and we were in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest. Welcome to the Jungle!
Wild white orchids lined the roadsides and massive stands of bamboo towered over the road. Periodically we would come across an areas that was cut- lush grass and livestock grazed. From what I saw on this trip, I didn’t see any areas that were cleared with heavy equipment. All of it appeared to be by hand with very little pesticide use. The subsistence farmers would clear enough space to graze a few head of cattle, plant some banana trees and have a small dwelling.
After a few hours of fascinating countryside, we arrived in Tena. Tena reminded me of a tropical Tijuana with a river running through it. Although the poverty was likely similar to Ica, the homes were more substantial. In Ica, you would see small reed huts everywhere, where here something like that wouldn’t survive the rainforest environment- heavier concrete buildings were the norm. The bus driver was lost and we toured Tena quite a bit before we arrived at our hotel. Wow. The “Hotel Christian Palace” was the polar opposite of a palace. Most of the rooms were not ready yet, although it was around 4:00 in the afternoon.
Reading my tour book on Ecuador, the few paragraphs of Tena talked about a park that was located on an island near the center of town. A few of us brave souls decided to venture out into the town in search of this tourist attraction. We walked past the town square, which actually was kept up fairly well, although the statue in the center was missing. Not exactly the gardens of Versailles, but hey, in the heart of the Amazon it was a pleasant surprise. We soon crossed a footbridge and were at the park, which actually was a zoo. I think we surprised the pleasant folks at the admission- they organized a special English speaking tour guide for us. We paid our $2 admission and we entered Tena’s version of Turtle Bay.
"Alf" the tapir
Free Range Monkey
First we came up to the snake cages, where we saw a few boa constrictors. They were just fed (I think they were fed as soon as we stepped footbridge so we could get a show). Fascinating to see a huge boa gulp down a bird. Monkeys had escaped from cages and were running amuck. Our mini safari hit it’s peak when a large tapir we dubbed ‘Alf’ started following us. I quickly realized that there were more animals out of the cages than in the cages, and soon started to be more in touch with my surroundings than usual. Our tour guide showed off a variety of poisonous plants, all along the walking trail. Lovely. A few gallons of sweat later, we left the park and found the one somewhat decent watering hole and enjoyed a little Pilsener to quench the thirst.
It was nearly time for us to venture back to the hotel. We went up to the top floor in the conference area were greeted with a powerpoint presentation by Rosanna. She discussed environmental issues with clear cutting and oil extraction in Ecuador. We had an interesting discussion, dripping with sweat. We soon went down for dinner, and one of our classmates Cannon informed us there was a sign out front of the hotel, “Cook for Hire.” Very reassuring. I ate what I felt comfortable in eating- very little.
Lovely Tena, Jewel of the Amazon
In for the night at the roach infested hotel, sleep came quicker than I thought. The next day we were going to hike in to a remote village and stay- I was enjoying at least having a bed.
I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
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