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