Ecuador - El Oriente. Jungle & River Part 1.

May 14, 2018
1 min read

We entered Ecuador on 23rd April at its quieter San Miguel border and headed for Coca, a hub for tours into the Amazon Basin. From Coca, we drove east to Limoncocha to explore Laguna Yahuanga and the Rio Napo. We took two great boat tours on the Laguna, one daytime to see the birdlife and the second at night to hunt for bugs and reptiles. Rachel tested out her mozzie net - great for the head, but useless when you wear a low necked t-shirt. Thankfully, despite a million buzzing insects, none of them were biters, although there were so many, opening your mouth to breath or talk resulted in an impromptu meal.

Our third boat tour was on the huge Rio Napo, to Laguna Panacocha, hoping to see wildlife including river dolphins... This was the tour that failed to deliver - a guide who promised much and delivered little. 14 hours spent mainly on the river and a fairly limp effort at catching piranha. The day dragged on so long that our last few hours on this huge river were in the dark - a grounding on a mud bank and an engine failure mid-river didn't help. The day ended with us giving 5 stranded locals a ride home in our van.... well taxis are a little scarce around the jungle.

Our final morning in Limoncocha coincided with a local festival. A little walk around to see some very rickety funfair rides, followed by a street food snack. The local name of the snack is forgotten .... Let's just call it 'Sows Nipple Surprise'. It's all in the adventure!