Back to the Jungle

We left Otavalo just after 6am heading for Tena. The weather was cloudy and quite cold which continued over the Andes. We passed through cloud forest after our descent on the other side became noticeably sunnier, hot and humid as we entered the lowlands of the rainforest.

After 8 hours of driving we arrived at Shangrila in Tena a very comfortable jungle lodge accomodation with great food, great staff and fantastic views over the Rio Napo and surrounding rainforest. (Google Shangrila lodge, Tena to see the views).

After lunch 2 staff took us all out on a so called gentle walk which started with a meander through secondary forest but to our surprise was a little more like canyoning / caveing towards the end. To be honest I loved it and the humour of our guides, Jamie and Pedro made it all the more fun. As there were so many of us the walk took quite a while and we didn´t get back to the lodge until after dusk.

Next morning at 8.30am, accompanied by Jame and Pedro we set off again for a slightly more difficult walk up through the cascada. More gentle canyoning and although our guides were very conscientous about health and safety, there was no harness. Everyone loved the randomness of it all, the rock climbs, the rope climbs, the water, the dip in the waterfall and the rainforest. After the long descent back the through the rainforest we were rewarded with lunch at a different lodge before walking to a beautiful swim hole. We were driven back to Shangrila in the back of a truck. It was dusk, raining but mild and we could smell the wet tarmac interlaced with the sweet smell of wet forest vegetation, exhaust fumes from our truck and food as we passed through the villages at speed in true Ecuadorian style watching children playing along the roadside waving as we passed.

The following morning whilst others visited an animal sactuary I opted for the morning in the hammock soaking up the beautiful view from my room. After lunch we all set off along the river for a bit of tubing. With 5 inflattable tubes tied together and 7 people on board we drifted along quite nicely until we came to a rapid when poor Pedro at the front would be paddling frantically to steer us away from any rocks etc. About 45 minutes down river we stopped off to visit a local community who although dressed in modern clothes live a mostly traditional life. Pedro and Jamie explained some of their traditions, showed us some cooking tools and we sampled some traditionally made alcohol and food and the shaman demonstrated part of a cleansing ritual.

We left the community hastily as our guides realised that we again were rapidly loosing daylight. I tell you, these Ecuadorians really do know how to show a girl a good time......Tubing down the River Napo by moonlight listening to the sounds of the rainforest, navigating the rapids (badly at times now it had become dark), the light from Shangrila deceivingly far away! Oh but we did laugh, it felt so surreal and we all had a real laugh. More pina coladas at the bar that eveing whilst soaking up the views and sounds of the rainforest :-)