Puyo and Tena

A one-hour bus ride carried me to Puyo along the deep ravine of Rio Pastaza. Such a beautiful vista at speeds faster than a bus should travel. I checked into Jardines Restaurant y Hotel, the most elaborate in Puyo at $45. There is a wonderful walk along the river Puyo where I saw tamarin monkeys last year. No such luck this year but there were a lot of birds. Swallow tanagers are so beautiful. Lunch was a bit expensive for a chicken meal at $13. Nice place but overpriced. I walked up an observation tower during a clear sky and was smacked by the view of Sangay, a perfect cone-shaped volcano- with snow on top! Another snow-capped peak was a former volcano which had the top blown off many thousands of years ago. Fascinating. I had run into friends from Vilcabamba in Banos, and they were here as well. Clint Ivie is a musical artist who has played with fame in the USA. We shared a few beers and they moved on to Cuenca. It was nice to be with some friends in Puyo.

Next morning, off to Tena on the 9am bus. We passed the John F. Kennedy Parochial school along the way. A remote jungle school. I met a French 62 year-old woman who wrote a book on medicinal plants but did not know who JFK was. More on her later.

Arriving in Tena I took a taxi to my hotel, Los Yutzos. It is hot and humid here.  The rio Pano and rio Tena come together at a central point in town. Now there is a pedestrian bridge swathed in lights to welcome the new year. I wonder what it was like 500 years ago. I moved to Casa Blanca hotel where a lady from USA and her Ecuadorian husband run a perfectly wonderful hostel. My room with private bath is $20 a night and includes use of a kitchen and washer/dryer. A young girl from Cornell/Berkley doing her doctorate on pollination of cacao provided interesting conversation for a few days. Gary, born here, recomended a lodge down river at Ahuano for birding. I went and stayed one night at Sacha Sisa Amazon Lodge. One and a half hour by bus and 20 minutes by canoe. Rustic at $20 a night. I met Juan's entire family and saw the home where he was born. A cabin. Lincoln had a nicer one. Just boards on stilts, with square holes as windows. Juan is 40 and has grandkids. He also speaks English, Spanish, Kichwa and French fluently. Perfect French. He never went to a college. Hell, his schooling was in the Amazon. He has never left Ecuador. His education is minimal. As is the education of most gringos who spend $70,000 on a college education and still struggle with English. I find him fascinating. As a bird guide he was average. I showed him a few birds he had never seen.  Marie, from France was there. She wrote a very nice book on medicinal plants, which she autographed and presented to Juan. She seemed interesting at first. She became more bizarre with conversation. She was in Ecuador for ayahuasco, the drug of choice here. At 62 she was just discovering herself after a relationship with a Cherokee woman in the US. Then she developed a relationship with a Shaman who talked her into giving her a lot of money. I felt sorry for her. I have grown tired of French and Germans in Ecuador, with a few exceptions. 

The Kichwa of the Amazon either came to the jungle from the Andes as a result of Inca raids or Spanish raids. I am not sure which. They are looked down on by Andean Quichua and they look down on native Amazonians. A social strata by altitude. They all claw at life but are very content. Amazonians are river folk, for the most part. I admire their fortitude, but they destroy the selva without care. They do not live with nature, they exploit Pachamama. A jaguar is a skin to be sold.

I love their smiles. The look of wonder in their eyes. Especially when they look at me. I am not sure what I represent to them. Money, primarily. But I try to understand what it must be like to be born in a treehouse in the Amazon and then get on a bus to Quito, for the first time. What would you think as a 14 year old? A 8 year old? Or a 60 year old who has never been up river?  Most here have never seen the Pacific. They love hotdogs and Coca Cola. Hey-lo meester, they say to me. Most of the tee-shirts have a logo from the USA.

I take a walk every morning. Today I saw an orange-fronted plushcrown, amethyst woodstar and a lettered aracari. Life birds for me. I dream about taking a boat down the Napo to Iquitos. Dreams are easy here. Still, everyone smiles. I may spend Christmas in Otavalo. Quito is a 3 hour trip. 8,000 feet up. Cooler weather is needed. Cotapaxi fumes.
Monday, me voy.

                                                                   Sangay

 

Napo

Tena

Tena

Napo Lodge

Pastaza

Juan's Wife

Juan and His Grandpa's house

On the Move.

It is time to travel again. Vilcabamba was getting tiring. It is such a beautiful area but it is somehow tainted by the types of people it attracts.Some are just socially inept and others should see a professional. Conversations tinged by the bizarre. I left some clothes with friends in Loja who have generously offered me their apartment in February for 2 months, and headed to Cuenca with the Izhcayluma van. We broke down in a very remote valley. The engine light came on and the driver panicked. The accelerator did nothing. After turning off the engine for a few minutes, the computer reset itself and all seemed well. No speedometer but we made it to Cuenca. Rode with some interesting guys who have been friends for 40 years. Charlie owns a farm here by the coast and Joe was from Alaska. Both engineers with families. I told them about Inca Lounge and shur'nuf, they showed up and we chatted for hours. I envied them for being such good friends and travel buddies.

Cuenca was sunny and warm the five days I stayed. Had my room on the river to listen to at night. There was an apartment for rent that I wish I could have taken. $650 is a little steep but it is a brand-new glass apartment. Shit. Anyway, saw friends and had good meals and vascillated on where to head to next. I made a reservation at Posada Ingapirca and caught the 9am bus direct. I arrived by 11:30am and checked into my room at 10,500ft. The ruins were right next door. I did the 1:30 tour with the guide and then walked the trails along the river gorge. Lots of birds. Black-billed shrike tyrant added. A good picture of a black-tailed trainbearer. The Cañar people had settled this area long before the Inca arrived and conquered them around 1450. I am always amazed how the faces of the people change with the landscape. When I awoke at 5am and took my cold morning walk, I saw that all the locals come out dressed in their colorful warm wool and milk the cows. Then they exchange the dirt under their nails for fresh earth, and work until lunch, and a siesta. You can tell certain indigenous groups apart by the hats they wear. Round white bolos here with balls dangling from the brim. Beautiful people and a very difficult language. Happy children.
After my walk I had breakfast and a taxi came to take me to town, El Tambor, to wait for a bus. Within 30 minutes a bus to Ambato stopped and picked me up. Five hours through farmland, some of which has exhausted soil. Up high mountains and down to cities in narrow valleys. This bus would continue to Quito but they dropped me in Ambato where I crossed the street and immediately got on a bus for Baños. Sunny and warm. In one hour we were in town and I took a taxi to my hostal. Baños is at about 6,000 ft and lies between steep cliffs as the Pastaza river gouges out the landscape. Cool in the evening and just warm enough during the day. There is always a wind sweeping the valley floor.
I checked in to my room with a fireplace with the 200 foot waterfall outside my window and have been here four nights. My first stop in town was to Pipa's Bar to see folks I had met here before during Mundial. Nina was behind the bar and greeted me sweetly. She is Swiss and has an Ecuadorian husband. They have a 8 year-old boy who has grown so much since I saw him last year. Nina has been here almost 20 years and has all the information. I bought her some sunflowers. I am going to look at an apartment she recomended. Who knows where I will end up. Yesterday I heard
yelling coming from an indoor arena and stopped to see what was happening. It was an all-school talent show. The kids were fantastic. Each school has their separate uniforms to indentify them. Kids sang, danced and recited poetry. Their faces all smiles. Very well behaved and very polite. I love Ecuadorians.
I had a taxi take me up to Casa de Arbol which has a swing that lifts you above a steep cliff (not me).
I got there at 6:30 am and birded for 6 hours. Beautiful hooded mountain tanagers and mountain caciques. Hummers everywhere. I spotted and Andean guan as I made my way down the road. I chased a green-and-black fruiteater for 30  minutes. Clouds swirled below me and up the valley. A fantastic day. Had a drink(s) with friends and a steak dinner and off to bed at 8:30.
My next stop will be down to Puyo, one hour east, and at the edge of the Amazon at 3,000 ft. Monkeys begin at appear at that altitude. All different birds. All different smells and flowers. And all different people. Ashuar. Jívaro. Here I come.

The Volcano Tungurahua in clouds

           
                                                                 Nina and Sunflowers

                                                               Black-tailed Trainbearer

                                                                   Ingapirca