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Providencia

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    • TravelerECUADOR ADVENTURE 2022
      11
      Day 10

      Sacha Lodge

      May 27, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

      Nice spot here in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. Situated on a lake, you can find river otters, lizards, monkeys, caymans, tarantulas, and a multitude of birds. The cabins are comfortable and walking from your cabin to anywhere is done on an elevated walkway that keeps you out of the swamp. Amazingly, there are not too many mosquitoes. There are quite the number of bats around.Read more

    • The big one
      121123
      Day 255

      The Amazon

      August 28, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

      After an overnight layover at the airport Hotel in Quito we hopped on another flight to Coca, a city nestled in the Ecuadorian Amazon, part of the largest rainforest in the world. A two hour boat ride, a 20 minute walk and a 20 minute canoe and we finally arrived at our destination, Sacha Lodge, where we will be spending the next 4 days searching for animals and enjoying the delights of the forest.

      Sacha Lodge is built on the edge of a natural lagoon, and as it turns out we have booked the only 5 star resort in this region 🤩, the rooms are fantastic with full air con (a treat in this climate), we have our own private guide and have a 3 course gourmet dinner every night, it's a shame we can't afford to stay here longer 🤣

      We learnt a lot in the short time we were here and it will be difficult to share it all! Every morning we were up before sunrise for breakfast and our morning activity, then a quick nap before lunch followed by our afternoon activities, dinner then night time activities, a very packed agenda. We saw some incredible insects at night and two shy caimans. During the mornings we concentrated on finding birds and monkeys. Animals here have a lot of space so it is not always easy to find them. Patience is needed and a good pair of binoculars or telescope. Good thing that we had both and a native guide with us! It does also seem that a bit of luck is involved. One morning we went to a clay wall were usually a lot of parrots come and eat the clay. However when we arrived they were all in the trees because a massive Boa snake was patiently waiting for a pray on the wall. Would you be a able to find it in the picture?

      We were lucky to see a lot of birds though and also a sloth that was casually eating some leafs at the top of a tree. Even with the short time we were in the Jungle by the end we were able identify the wild turkey, oropendula, macaws and keskadi birds by their calls. We did pretty much hear them from Dawn to dusk.

      The Amazon is a very magical place, full of life of all shapes and sizes, it was very nice to be back amongst nature and we thoroughly enjoyed our 5* experience (although we didn't enjoy then bill we got when we left 🤣)      Read more

    • TravelerECUADOR ADVENTURE 2022
      Day 10

      Hot pools to the Amazon

      May 27, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

      It is a bus ride back over the pass and down the mountain to Quito airport. The pass is 13400 high and is the highest road in Ecuador. We are at the airport 2 hours before departure and it is 7:30 am. We had an early start. Plane ride to Coca is only 30 minutes air time. Bus ride to Sacha Lodge’s welcome centre in the city is located. Next is a two hour boat ride down the Nopa river. I wish I didn’t drink coffee at the welcome centre. I’m considering jumping overboard just so I can take a whiz.
      The motorized canoe stops along the bank of the river and conveniently there are Baños. Now we walk for 25 minutes, partly along the river and then into the swampy rainforest. After that it is another canoe ride, this one powered by armstrong. It is a pleasant 25 minute paddle, first through a canal and finally across a lake. We are at Sacha Lodge.      Read more

    • TravelerECUADOR ADVENTURE 2022
      Day 11

      Spotting jungle surprises!

      May 28, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

      In order to get to our intended destination, a Ketchwa cultural site, we must first travel by canoe across the lake and down the canal through the swamp until we reach a walkway that allows us the traverse the swamp without sinking. The canoe ride is around 25 minutes and the walkway about the same. Then we are at the river and continue by motorized canoe for another 35 minutes.
      Along the way we spot birds and three different species of monkey, as well as other interesting flowers and insects. This makes the journey even longer than stated, but more fun. We also go off trail, through the mud and jungle for a bit to get a more in depth view. The rubber boots we were equipped with are more than handy, a necessity. While we were trying to get pictures of monkeys high up in the trees, with our cameras looking straight up, Dianne looses her footing and ends up in the swamp on her back. She has skillfully saved her camera and big lens from the swamp by holding it all above the muck, but was unable to break her fall because she had to keep the camera safe. When I turn to see her, she is lying on her back holding the camera above her chest. My first instinct is to aim my camera at her and catch this heroic moment in a picture. Self preservation and the desire to not be remembered as a total cad replaced that idea, and I held out my hand to help Dianne up from the swampy ground instead. The backpack she was wearing kept the back of her shirt somewhat dry but her butt was muddy and wet. Everyone was asking if she was ok, was she hurt? I knew it would take a lot more than a fall backwards into the soft swamp to bring her down. The others were polite and didn’t laugh. One of our two guides, Geranio pulled out his knife and began picking leeches off of the back of Dianne’s shirt. There were only two and they were small. As a group, we pulled ourselves together and continued the journey. This is entertainment.      Read more

    • Urs SchalteggerEcuador
      11
      Day 9

      Sacha Lodge im Regenwald

      October 5, 2019 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

      Ein motorisiertes Kanu bringt uns vom Casa del Suizo via Coca zum Sacha Camp noch tiefer im Regenwald. Die Fahrt dauert etwa 5 Stunden. Hier ist es noch heisser und noch feuchter. Wir machen hier fünf geführte Excursionen und sehen unterschiedliche Arten von Regenwald mit einer unglaublichem Vielfalt an Pflanzen. Mit den Tieren haben wir etwas weniger Glück, gehen aber nicht gamz leer aus.Read more

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    • TravelerECUADOR ADVENTURE 2022
      Day 13

      Leaving the Amazon

      May 30, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

      The journey out is longer than the journey in because we are going against the current of the Napo river. We wear our rubber boots to the motorized canoe and huddle under ponchos for the rest of the trip back to Coca airport. It was an early start as usual.Read more

    • TravelerECUADOR ADVENTURE 2022
      Day 12

      Piranha fishing!

      May 29, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

      Alan wanted to fish for piranha, so someone got us the bargain basement fishing gear and out we went. Didn’t catch any piranha, but they ate all of our bait. So you might say this was an exercise of piranha feeding !
      Our guide did say if we stuck fingers in the water or fell in, the piranha would not be interested as they prefer dead food. I am not to sure about that! We didn’t test the theory.      Read more

    • TravelerECUADOR ADVENTURE 2022
      Day 12

      Hold on tight!

      May 29, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

      We hiked again this morning. This time for the canopy walk. It is a suspension bridge high above the forest, 140 feet high
      . More than one member of our group was not comfortable with heights, and walking the 900 foot length of the bridge was challenging. We took plenty of pictures from the three towers of the bridge and used a spotting scope to see things like three toed sloths, toucans, howler monkeys as well as other small birds. When we traversed between the first and second tower, Dianne held onto the side ropes so tight, she gave herself blisters. Dianne must have used a different technique between the second and third, because her hands were no worse arriving at the third. Probably some yoga breathing.Read more

    • TravelerECUADOR ADVENTURE 2022
      Day 11

      Trip to the Tower

      May 28, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      We all hiked to a 160 foot tower in the forest. It is situated beside a Kapok tree that is taller than the tower. Some trees grow on that thee at the top and they drop roots from the top to the forest floor. It creates an interesting look.Read more

    • TravelerECUADOR ADVENTURE 2022
      Day 11

      Visit to Cultural Site

      May 28, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

      The cultural site is an opportunity to learn about Ketchwa indigenous people and their traditional life style. Most of the presentation is around diet. We sample some food, drink some strange brew, have a blow dart competition and to top it all off, we also adopted a river turtle. There is too much to tell about it in this short piece, but the highlight for me was when Casey, a young girl from Boston who is travelling with her aunt, eats a live weevil larvae. It is part of the traditional diet, and I had the opportunity as well but I declined. Casey bit the head off that nasty weevil and downed the rest of him whole. That is a crowd pleasing moment, and it drew a round of applause.
      Last was the release of the baby river turtle into the river. Ours was named for Norah and Hendrix.      Read more

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