BEST ONE DAY JUNGLE TRIP

THE BEST ONE DAY JUNGLE TRIP

This turned out to be an most incredible day!. There were four of us

in our group. Teri, another cruiser friend, myself, and Jane and

Dwight, friends for many years from the states. We definitely got our

money's worth $35 USD per person. The day started early when Guido,

our driver arriving at 7 a.m.to pick us up in from of our hostal in a

truck with a king cab. There was a young couple from Israel joining

us, Alejandro our handsome Ecuadorian guide, and Mark, a college kid

from Florida who was to be the interpreter. Since we were the "old

folk" we got to sit inside while the rest were in the truck bed,

sitting on all the rubber boots we would be wearing in our trek

through the jungle. We felt sorry for those riding in the back as it

was a bit chilly and one of the tunnels we had to drive through leaked

water so they got a shower. Guido our driver spoke some English and w

came to know his dry sense of humor during our three-hour drive to the

jungle. We followed the Rio Pastaz up impressive canyons and stopped

along the way to see two tall waterfalls. At one of the falls some of

us rode an open cable car across the gorge right over the top of the

falls, an E-ticket ride. The second falls was named El Diablo for the

face of the devil depicted in a rock in the middle of the falls.

Scenes from the movie "Proof of Life" were filmed here.

We came to the small town of Puyo where we stopped to buy fruit and

vegetables and a chicken that would be cooked for our lunch. While

Alejandro was buying the groceries, we watched a demonstration on the

sidewalk by a very animated man selling some kind of herbs to cure

whatever ails you. He had a couple of dummies with innards showing

for visual effects. Even without understanding the Spanish, his talk

was very effective and we were entertained, as was the large attentive

crowd around him.

Half an hour more and we were at our first stop in the jungle. A

walk across a village where we saw the jewelry crafts and pottery of

the women and brought some things very cheaply. We each took a shot

at blowing the blow gun at a papaya on a stick and then drank out of a

communal bowl some jungle juice made from the yucca plant. Alejandro,

with feathered crown on his head, presented a great picture when he

shot the blowgun and actually hit the target. It was then we found

out he was born and raised in the jungle and is attending school to be

a doctor. A very interesting fellow!

Back into the truck and off on a dirt road to a path in the jungle

where we hiked a muddy trail to a waterfall. Along the path Alejandro

pointed out different plants, made an animal trap with branches and

vines, had us eating "lemon" ants and a twig that gives you energy,

and a sniff of a certain tree bark that gave a jolt to the sinuses.

At the end of the trail, were a waterfall and a pool where, we stopped

for a swim in the clear cold water. On the walk back through the

jungle,Alejandro pointed out the "vibrator plant" with roots that did

in fact look like a male body part sticking out around the base of the

plant.Another short ride in the truck brought us to some one's compound

on the river where they had been cooking our chicken and we were fed a

beautifully prepared lunch. It was lightly raining so we sat at a

table under a palapa roof and shared our meal with a friendly little

green parrot that was a glutton, jumping from shoulder to shoulder for

handouts. The meal ended, the rain ended and we all climbed into a

dugout canoe and were paddled down the river, bottoming out in a few

places through some rapids.

Down stream we were met by our truck and taken to the last place of

our jungle day. It was a stairway, up a hundred steps, to a lookout

point over the rive plane. Looking out over the great view was a

crude house occupied by an Indian woodcarver, his dog, and a cute

little night monkey who ate our last banana. We were invited into the

house where Alejandro played the drum while we danced around the fire.


In the last light of day, we trekked back down the steps to the truck,

to sit back and recap our day on the 3 hour drive back to Banos. What

a wonderful day!!