Category: Amazon

Every morning we get up earlier than the day before. It’s a 06.00 start today and a beautiful morning. We are going to visit a salt lick in the hope of seeing parrots and macaws and then visit the village where the Kichwa Anangu people live, to learn about their culture and customs.

We paddle for an hour then walk for five minutes to pick up the motorised canoe to take us 20 minutes downstream to the salt lick. We sit a couple of hundred yards off-shore for an hour watching clouds of parrots circling and landing in surrounding trees. They are very cautious and will not land until they are sure it is safe. This is tantalising and much like waiting for a migration crossing. Parrots land in trees closer and closer to the lick, but then get spooked, and rise from the trees squawking and chattering as they go. There are three species – Mealy, Dusky-headed and Blue-headed. They are all green and nigh impossible to see when they land. To prove my point there are at least 7 on the tree below but I bet you cannot see them all.

Whilst waiting we also notice a troop of red howler monkeys in the trees. Too distant for photos but I do have some acceptable video. Sadly our patience is not rewarded. Just as we think the parrots will land they are spooked and fly away.

Our next port of call is the Kichwa Anangu village. The thirty families own 21,400 hectares within the vast Yasmin National Park. In 1998 they decided to embrace tourism to protect their environment. There is oil under its soil and illegal logging is also a big threat. They raised funding, worked incredibly hard and built the Napo Wildlife Center (where we stayed). It is 100% run by the community, for the community. It is held as a beacon to other villages to demonstrate that there is an alternative to selling out to big business. A nearby village is paid just $400 per month for rights to their land from the oil companies. The Anangu made $55000 profit in their first years of opening – 2003. Since then they have opened a second lodge.

100% of the net profits of the business income, fund Community needs. There is now a school, which benefits children and youth from the Community and nearby settlements and there is a free boarding program, financed with tourism income. There is a health centre, where doctors offer permanent free care. Additionally, solar panels have been installed and a water purification system for the Community.

We see this first hand as there are stacks of solar panels ready to be installed as we enter the village. Our guide Jairo is in the foreground.

The local women run the Community cultural centre to educate tourists and raise fund with a shop, stocked with locally made crafts and demonstrations of their customers. The village has a large football pitch surrounded by the medical centre, cultural centre, shop and school.

We are welcomed with a traditional dance.

They show us their instruments and tell us how they are made.

We then are told about hunting techniques and all try shooting a blowpipe. It is surprisingly effective and none of us missed the model toucan by much and two people had direct hits. We were shown how fabric was made from bark fibre and how a multi-purpose woven net basket could be used.

We end with a cooking demonstration and are ‘lucky’ enough to sample a selection of local delicacies.

All were vegetable based and totally fine apart from the brown cooked item that looked like a sausage. We were assured it tasted like crispy bacon but told it was a grub found inside fruit. Some people actually ate it. I did tentatively taste it with the tip of my tongue and can confirm it tastes like salty bacon. I went to bite it but it was squidgy in the middle and I hastily discarded it.

If you are of a squeamish disposition I suggest you look away now. We were now shown a live grub. It is huge and grotesque.

I have video of our local guide Patricio eating it. Just the most revolting thing I have ever seen and only made worse by an American tourist eating it too. His wife’s face was a picture of abject horror and disgust! It turns out he only did it as he has an Ecuadorean friend who told him to try it. However, it turns out the friend has only ever eaten them cooked!!

On a brighter note the children in the village are happy and well cared for which was lovely to see.

We thanked the women for their hospitality and then set off on a 30 minute walk to a hide by another salt lick. On our route we are joined by a group of woolly monkeys feeding in the trees above us. They are really big and muscular, surprisingly agile and difficult to film. What a treat and I do have some useable video.

We reluctantly leave the monkeys and settle ourselves in the mosquito infested hide. There is no sound of parrots or macaws so we are not optimistic. 10 minutes pass and then a squawk. A beautiful macaw flies in to drink and is shortly joined by two more. The colours are so vibrant but shooting is hard, as we are in a shady hollow, and they are pretty fast moving when they decide to take to the wing .

The macaws do not stay long. We head back to the river and it starts to rain just as we sit to have lunch. It is still raining when we leave so we all don ponchos, which are extremely effective but very unattractive. The rain eventually stops and then creatures start to appear to dry out. A rare sighting is a blue morpho butterfly. You hardly ever see them at rest with wings open.

Then there is a real treat. The six otters are fishing in the channel right in front of us. This is a truly awesome experience and we stay with them for a quite a few minutes until they appear to be getting stressed with shrill cries and snorts. They even follow our canoe downstream as we leave.

We are also lucky to find a tiger heron who for once allows us to approach him. The markings are incredible close-up.

After dinner we are supposed to go on a night walk. Fortunately it starts raining. This means we do not feel to guilty that we all decided against it as tomorrow we leave and must depart at 05.00. This has been as long day. We were out for 9.5 hours, everyone is tired and nobody has packed yet or settled bar tabs. Beauty sleep calls…

It rained in the night and the humidity this morning seems high.

We are joined by a new group of five people today. They are all from the UK and appear to be easy company. This does mean we no longer have the luxury of a canoe to ourselves. No matter, as this morning’s excursion just involves a short paddle across the lake and then a 45 minute walk to the observation tower, which is 120ft high and obviously will involve lots of steps. Something to look forward to in the heat and humidity!

You never know what treats nature has in store for you and yet again we are lucky. Firstly we encounter a tiny opossum foraging on the trail. At first glance it looks like a mouse but its forepaws show that it is no such thing as it has fingers.

We here foliage rustling and are joined by a very large troop of squirrel monkeys. It is hard to know where to look. They are not close, fast moving, highly agile, active and leap from treetop to treetop.

Whilst watching their delightful antics, we hear louder noises above with branches breaking and fruits falling. There to our delight is a troop of woolly monkeys. According to Jairo this is a rare sighting and we are incredibly fortunate. Obtaining any sort of good photo is nigh impossible but persistence (and the amazing new lens) pay off.

On one side of the track we have woolly monkeys and on the other spider monkeys. It is hard to know where to look. Eventually the woolly monkeys end up directly above us and we have to walk away to avoid debris from above landing on us. When we arrive at the tower we still have the spider monkeys in tow and watch them as we climb the never ending staircase to the top. The climb is worth it though, with far reaching views across the canopy.

Patience is the keyword here. We scan the treetops for life and mainly see various species of toucans and parrots. A pair of many-banded aracari grace us with their presence for 10 minutes or so, flying between perches and gradually coming closer to us.

We observe lots but mainly through binoculars and I did see the woolly monkeys again but very far off. I have some good video of them playing in the trees and manage a couple reasonable shots considering the distance.

We take some posing pictures before descending once more into the forest. David Attenborough makes a guest appearance!

On the return trail we concentrate on the forest floor. We spot these caterpillars eating fungus and a toad that looks like a leaf.

Our local guide also tells us about the forest. He shows us a vine that is used to extract curare, how to plait palm leaves for roofing and the stalk of a leaf made to make green dye.

The afternoon is spent in the canoe paddling around the lake and exploring a shallow channel. We see caiman, lots of birds and another master of disguise frog.

I was interested to learn about the heron that has learnt how to fish. It captures a small insect then drops it into the water, waits for a fish to take it and then “Bye-bye fish”. You can see the heron below doing exactly that.

What a beautiful morning greets us as we leave our room for breakfast.

We meet Jairo at 07.00 which I consider to be a very civilised time. We set out in the canoe and paddle along the edge of the lake, watching the birds stirring into life and listening to the wonderful dawn chorus. We are in for a real treat as Jairo spots giant otters on the far side of the lake. The otters stay with us (or rather we stay with them) for 40 minutes or so. We watch them swimming, diving and successfully catching fish. There are six of them and they are the only six in the reserve. They are considered endangered sand only 200 or so remain in Ecuador. Lucky indeed!

We watch all the otters catch and devour fish then reluctantly leave them to go for a jungle walk. We are lucky to see spider monkeys, though they are fast moving and therefore a bit tricky to photograph.

We see three varieties of poison dart frogs. They are all tiny – finger-nail size – and well camouflaged.

Lots of beautiful fungi

A horned toad

…and much more small fauna and flora. What an amazing morning. The otter experience was beyond brilliant.

Incredibly the day just gets better and better. We have lunch, which is three courses and very good but rather more food than required.

I sit on the deck to recover from the food overdose when a guide says “Would you like to see an anaconda?” Yes I would! I follow him and there, 20 feet in front of my room, is a juvenile anaconda hiding under dead leaves. It is about 2 metres long. I take lots of photos and video. It is beautiful, shiny and with amazing markings. I return to my deck and an hour later the anaconda appears in full view.

As we climb aboard the canoe for the afternoon’s wildlife watching, we once again see the otters. They are fishing but then something enormous jumps out of the water and a huge frenzy ensues with loads of splashing and squealing from the otters. Jairo days it was an arapaima – the largest fish in the Amazon weighing up to 440 pounds and that the otters are crazy to tangle with it. They realise their error and swim off for more sensible sized prey. The sun has come out and an otter catches a fish then swims up to the canoe to eat it . Jane and I have recorded some awesome video – David Attenborough eat your heart out! We also have a hoard of fabulous pictures.

Reluctantly we leave the otters and head up a small channel to see what else we can find. We are not disappointed. Capuchin monkeys leap through the trees and we also see (and hear) fairly distant red howler monkeys. There are lots of kingfishers but they are pretty elusive. The tiny pigmy kingfisher below was less than easy to see, never lone photograph!

Herons and ever-present hoatzin are easier.

…and our last new sighting of the day was 14 tiny long-nosed bats roosting on the underside of a leaning tree trunk.

We return to camp and view the last light of day from the tower before settling at the bar for drinks before dinner.

Yet another early start! We leave at 06.20 for Quito airport and our flight to Coca in the Amazon. The weather is grey and cloudy with intermittent rain and poor visibility. We were so lucky with the weather yesterday. The traffic in Quito is terrible and there are junctions that make the Arc de Triomphe look like a breeze. Vehicles squeeze through impossible gaps, nobody gives way and every inch of road surface is utilised. A two lane highway somehow accommodates 4.5 lanes of vehicles. Miraculously we arrive at the airport unscathed and in plenty of time. Our guide ushers us through the airport which is pristine and only built 10 years ago, It is very efficient indeed. We board the plane which sits on the tarmac for ages but eventually takes off for the 40 minute journey.

There are no views as it is so cloudy but suddenly the plane banks and a huge peak protrudes through the cloud bank.

We shall be staying at the Napo Wildlife Centre. It turns out that we are sitting next to our guide Jairo on the plane. He escorts us to a very comfortable dock on the Napo River.

Coca itself is bustling but pretty tatty and the dock has sliding doors to protect it from the town and presumably crime. While waiting to board the powered canoe downriver, we are lucky to be joined by a squirrel monkey in the nearby trees. It is difficult to see, but eventually it comes very close to me and I get some great close-ups. I hope this is a good omen for the trip.

Life-vests are handed to us and we embark for the 2.5 hour trip on the large high-powered canoe before we will change to a more sedate paddled canoe once we enter the Napa Reserve. It is hot, humid and very hazy. The river is wide but quite developed with roads running alongside, scattered settlements and oil extraction. It is horrendous to see the impact and of concern for how long the rainforest here will survive. There is a new suspension bridge, oil plants and huge barges carry JCBs and oil lorries upstream.

Eventually the activity reduces and we branch off onto a tributary where we are to change boats. Just as we are changing boats there is a five minute torrential deluge. As a precautionary measure we put all our gear into huge plastic bags in case of further downpours.

The weather improves, we are now paddling at a leisurely pace and we look out for wildlife. We see a huge 3 metre black caiman, a caiman lizard and lots of birds. My new camera lens is a delight to use. I cannot believe how much easier I am finding it to take previously impossible shots.

After 90 minutes or so, the channel widens and we emerge onto a lake. There, before us, we have an amazing view of our lodge. It is a real wow moment. The lodge is stunning. The light is not great and hopefully I can capture some better photos during the course of our stay.

We have Room 11 on the waters edge with great views across the lake. This is the view from my bed,

Napo Wildlife Centre is 100% owned and managed by the Kichwa Anangu Community. 8 families had a vision in 1998 and raised funding for the lodge. It was completed in 2003. Now they have also opened a second lodge. It is a huge credit to them, superbly run and we feel very privileged to be able to visit and stay in such a special place,