Monthly Archives: November 2014

Jungle Boogie

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Last weekend we drove to Tena with our friends Nick and Vanessa and Vanessa’s visiting cousin, Tom.  Tena’s on the other side of the mountainous and volcanic terrain that Quito is part of (about a 4 hour drive away) and has been the traditional jumping off point for trips into the Amazon.  Though Mindo was our introduction to the jungle, Tena is the kind of jungle you read about; big insects, large leaved plants, and lots of rain.  We were lucky to discover that Tena was celebrating its founding that weekend.  The two day festival had live music, tons of people, and lots of food vendors.

We stayed in the Pakay eco-lodge.  The cost of our stay at the Pakay included a fantastic breakfast of fruit, bread, spreads, and pancakes or eggs.  A great way to start the day.

Our first day, we went rafting down the Hollin and Jongachi Rivers.  River People, the guide company we used, pioneered the routes down the local rivers and did a great job of balancing safety and adventure.  After a 45 minute hike down to the put in, we were off.  The water was an amazing temperature, and a far cry from the snow fed rivers in Colorado, as the rivers here are primarily fed by rain water.  Conditions were favorable even though the rainforest was in the middle of its dry season since it had been raining hard for a few days.

The trip took most of the day.  That evening we went out in Tena, taking in the festival and even finding a cocktail bar opened by an expat.  It was a nice respite from our two choices of drinks we’re generally exposed to here; Pilsener and Club brand beer.

On our way out of town back to Quito on Sunday we stopped at “Monkey Island”, a lodge property that accepted day guests to explore the grounds where a large group of monkeys resided.  It was amazing to see monkeys for the first time, though when the forest randomly moved and rustled around you it was a bit unsettling.  One monkey in particular put a bit of a show on for us.  We all sensed she was having a bit of fun and liked the attention.  Another neat discovery were countless leaf cutter ants.  They eat mold that grows on leaves they bring under ground into their nests.  Amazing.  We’ll definitely go back to the area.

 

Life’s a Beach

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This last weekend Betsy had a long weekend from school for Cuenca Day (that town’s independence day from the Spaniards) so she, Lucy, and myself loaded into our recently new vehicle and drove 325 kilometers to the small fishing town of Tonchigue on the west coast of Ecuador.  We’re still figuring out the best way to get out of Quito on a Friday afternoon.  It feels like hand to hand combat.

The drive to Tonchigue was similar to other driving experiences we found in Ecuador.  Once past Mindo it was more of the same; a twisting road that climbs and descends, people passing on double yellow, and brush and bamboo that creep and lean over the road.  I like to think I pass with caution.  Towards the middle of the drive we turned onto an honest to goodness two lane road (each way) with a speed limit of 100kph.  Based on the radar displays along the way I can tell you that our vehicle is somewhere between 6-8 kph faster than the speedometer.  It’s good to know our ride can roll at a descent rate.  We finally rendezvoused with our group at the beach house and finally felt like weekend set in.

Where we were was on a stretch of beach north of the pueblita of Tonchigue and south of the nearly-as-small pueblita of Same (pronounced Sah-may).  The beach consisted of swaths of sand and patches of crushed sea shells and rounded pebbles.  Though there wasn’t any surf to speak of, the water was warm and it ran up onto the beach nicely.  As a bonus, our condo was located adjacent to a cemetery (think above ground Louisiana-style tombs) and as luck would have it, Sunday was Dia de los Difuntos (all souls day), commonly knows as Dia de los muertos (day of the dead).  It was actually pretty neat to see families making the pilgrimage to the cemetery to clean the area around their family member’s tomb, place flowers, and celebrate all day.  We saw a few hammered guys wobbling away after “paying their respects”.  It’s as good of an excuse as any.

This was Lucy’s first time back to the beach since Betsy and I took her to California on our honeymoon.  She was only about 2 1/2 months old then.  It only took two or three waves crashing onto the beach for her to get the hang of things.  She played fetch with two other dogs on our trip until she was wiped out.

One of the neatest things I saw on the trip was the Sunday we were there.  Some kids who were part of the families at the cemetery were fascinated with Lucy as Betsy threw the Frisbee for her.  Remember that Lucy is somewhat of an anomaly in Ecuador.  Not a lot of people have dogs as pets and when they do they’re usually pretty small.  People are absolutely terrified of Lucy when they see her coming, often crossing the street to avoid her.  Anyway, the kids gathered around Betsy and it got to the point where they all took turns throwing the Frisbee.  Betsy got a kick out of connecting with the kids a bit.

It was a very nice weekend.  After some drinks, dinners, sun, and relaxation we rolled back to Quito.

New Ride

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This post is two weeks over due.  However, we got a new vehicle!  It’s a 1995 Toyota Land Cruiser FZJ 73.  It’s built partially on the FJ 40 chassis, has Toyota’s 1-FZ-F engine, and built in the FJ 70 series style.  What that means is it’s off road capable, has a more powerful carbureted engine than previous models, and has a little more space than many other two doors in the country.  We think it’s going to be a great vehicle for us because it is durable and has enough space for all three of us and all of our stuff.

Our first weekend of owning it we drove it to Papallacta, a small, rural town a few hours east of Quito up in the mountains just north of Cotopaxi Volcano.  Once there, Betsy, Lucy and myself took a nice hike in the rain along a creek.  The hike went through a small organic farm and we saw our first Avocado Trees; lots of them.  There are a ton of outdoor opportunities near Papallacta and we can’t wait to get back.  It was liberating getting out of the city and this trip will be one of many.