Into the jungle we go

After a couple of days travelling to Ecuador (via Lima and Quito - more about Quito later), we flew to Coca in the Amazon river basin, travelled an hour and a half in a motorised canoe to board the Anakonda Amazon cruise boat for three days in the Amazon jungle on the Napo river.

Our first activity was an evening walk through the jungle but did not see anything of great significance - a few bugs and spiders, but not too much else.

The next day was spent exploring by motorised canoe the Piranha Lake and waterways looking for pink river dolphins (nope), squirrel monkeys (nope) and caiman (nope), but we did see a sloth (which the guide said he could smell) and some macaws, plus weaver birds, the big blue butterflies and several other creatures that the names escape me at the moment. After lunch we tried a spot of piranha fishing and Brad was pleased to catch one.

Or final full day started early with a visit to a parrot clay lick where it seems like 1000's of parrots gather to lick the mineral rich clay. While there were certainly a lot of parrots around, they were a bit reluctant to land as there must have been a predator nearby. We did however see some red howler monkeys. Later that day we visited a local centre and the women showed us around the gardens ( for food production) and we tried of their local foods etc. Later that afternoon we walked to an observation tower and climbed 40 metres to take us above the forest canopy and views of the river.

The cruise was nice - boat comfortable with good facilities and meals. Saw some great sunsets and some sights we would never see at home. Did i mention it was hot? Even the local guides thought it was warm. ... and still no rain to spoil our tours.

Final morning a 2 hour boat ride back to the airport and return flight to Quito.Read more