Photos - or lack thereof....

Sorry everyone waiting for photos (Suzieq too :)) - I will only be able to put up photos on this weekend coming..  The connection from this far in the jungle is just not good enough to upload any pics...  You wont have to join photobucket when they are up there, just clicking on the link will take you right to them.

Soon - I promise - 4 more sleeps till photos

love and light

Annie

 

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d - Sunrises and butterflies

The music gently woke us up at 5.30am again this morning and we were quickly all ready to head out for the next few hours...... but first came the most glorious sunrise..... Sunrise in the Jungle!  Oh that almost brings tears to my eyes just thinking about where we are and how awesome it is!  By now, everyone seems to know that I will take a bunch of photos and one guy kinda 'guess-tamates' and then asks me later with a grin all over his face.... cheecky sod he is, I will have to set him straight somewhere along the way.

 

There are 4 tour guides on the boat... Ian, the cheeky sod, is only on his second run but the others have been doing this for years.  They have so much knowledge and are so keen to share it in a way that makes it all seem real and touchable.  They really are a great group of guys and all come along on our trips each day, so we all get the benefit of their combined knowledge.  We are not divided into groups at all, it all just flows naturally when we walk around places and when we are in the motorized canoe we all take different seats each day so there is no clique-forming like that.  It's good to see how everyone on here gets on well together - no nonsense and no drama at all.

 

Every night after supper we have a 'briefing' where one of the guides will go over what we have done that day, shows us on a map where we have been and where we will go the next day.  Some days require wellies/rubber boots and others, just casual shoes - so we get all this information every evening.  And thats when they tell us what time is wake up call.  I really would not mind a 4am wake up call if it is so that we could see more of this place - and that really says something :)  Tomorrow we are going to visit a school and in the briefing we are told things like not to take photos of the people or their kids until specifically told that its ok to do so.  I can imagine that it must be quite horrible to get a group of people coming into your community, happily snapping photos as if you are in a zoo.  So this meeting each night is important to retain the dignity of the people as well as the fauna and flora of the area.

 

Yesterday we walked at the eastern most point of Ecuador......the Peruvian border was just across the river - and today we passed a place where the flagpoles of the two countries stand side by side, guide ropes even overlapping, on the same side of one of the tributaries.  Of course, according to the guides, the Ecuadorian Flag was prettier and in much better conditon  - it definately was!   We are still really close to Peru and despite what we were warned about by a few people before coming here, there are absolutely no safety issues here any different from at home.  Be aware, be careful and be sensible and most of all, respect the inhabitants.

 

We went into the Yasuni National Park today which is on a small river - the Yasuni river, that runs off the Napo river.  Again we had to check in with them, give our passport numbers and get permission to go on through.  The smaller rivers, the tributaries off the Napo River, are just glorious.  There we sit in this long canoe, four people wide, but only two on each bench, slowly and gently winding our way down these awesome places.  Around each corner the view changes, the trees and shrubs are different and the reflections are just stunning.  There is much gentle talking amongst everyone and the guides have a phenomenal way of spotting birds and other wildlife.  I have to say that we dont see much other than birds here - its too thick to walk far into the jungle apart from on set paths and the birds even are pretty shy about sticking around to be photographed. But sitting there in that canoe, gently bobbing around while listening to the monkeys and birds chatter away and very often spotting them up in the trees, is just beyond anything I have known. 

 

Today there were thousands of butterflies and dragonflies all around - my favorite is still that Blue Morpho that wafts its way magically across the greenery - there is no way to miss it at all.  There were a good many places along the Yasuni River that the butterflies collected in huge flocks, seeming to bounce around in a delegated area.  Apparently they feed of the moisture of the eyes of the terrapins, but they - the terrapins - quickly disappear when they hear us, leaving the butterflies bouncing around not sure what the heck happened!  It was quite amazing to see that time and time again.  For all of this morning we could look in any direction and we would see a good many butterflies, some seeming to race us in the canoe, other just wafting across to see who and what we were and then heading off again - but all very beautiful.

 

And at the end of this river is a lake - its official name is something that I cannot begin to spell but it means "Big Lake", and it was.  We were fortunate enough that the floating islands did not block our path to the lake as it apparently does - but we had enough space to squeeze through.  These floating islands move quite a bit apparently and there are a few newly growing ones around there too.  Anyway, so in we squeezed and were almost instantly met by more pink dolphins.....they can manoever all up and down these rivers with no problem, but tend to stay in the lakes - cant say I blame them at all.   We meandered around this huge open space, almost stunned as to just how fast the thick jungle growth and tall trees had been replaced by green floating grass, the occasional tree dotted here and there and water everywhere..... We also saw some rare bird that is near extinction and it has a horn on it head - and not a short one either - a good many inches apparently.. I must look at it again tomorrow,

 

We pulled off again to a solid ground spot and the guys got the poop-tent out again and in a short time the little blue house was ready.  I just could not bring myself to use it and had to laugh at even the fact that I would feel uncomfortable using it.   I did not go wandering off in the wrong direction again today but stayed near the river's edge and then noticed a clump of butterflies bouncing around an old fireplace....... so I got a good many photos of those - alone with that screamingly funny little blue poop house...

 

The level of the water had fallen in the lake and it was only 6 foot deep and we were told that it was not a good idea to swim as there would be a lot of the muck kicked up from the bottom and that was not good.... so we headed back to the Manatee again.   I really love being out and seeing the new places, but there is also something about it when that canoe is kicked into a higher gear, when that glorious smile appears on the drivers face and the spray from the bow reaches high as we lean this way and that way, zigzagging across the river on our way back home.  It's cooler, its fun and its really great.  There is no straight path on the river as there are way too many trees and shallow areas, so its a constant zigzagging across all the rivers we go on - big and small.  I love it.

 

We got back to the boat to an absolutely glorious lunch today - out on the upper deck outside with a totally open view of the river.... the food was delicious and the weather played along just perfectly. The captain came to sit at our table  - its really very casual and he does the rounds, or just grabs a chair wherever there is a spare one.  We had true Ecuadorian food and a good and cold Pilsner beer to go along with it.  And then back to the cabin where we each snoozed for almost two hours!  Now that was fantastic and also the first time that I have not been outside with my camera while it has been light.

 

Then off we went to a river island for a walkaround on the sandy beaches there.  This was a good sized island with very young vegetation. The capybaras apparently come across to feed on the tender plants and there are some birds that only live on these islands and not in the 'old forests''.  We saw a good many footprints of deer and capybara and probably some pigs too, but not much in the way of wildlife at all.  The bird-people saw a few birds but not too many and will try again tomorrow on a different island down the river somewhere.  It was lovely to walk barefoot in the sand and Frank headed out to find a stick to walk with - funny how he always does that, often picking up, trying, discarding and trying other sticks until the right one just fits. I dont know that he even realises that he is looking for the perfect one until it just happens along... then off he goes with that ever present smile.  And so it was today. We walked in the water but were told to be careful of the stingrays, so we headed to the grassed section to see what we could see and then back on the sandy parts.  There were tadpoles in the river - bunches of them!  Its been ages since I have seen tadpoles and these were really good and healthy looking ones too.

 

All the while, the storm clouds were buiding, giving a beautiful thunderous blue to the sky and a richness and light to the green everywhere that just lit it all up - absolutely lovely for photos.  Just beautiful.  the quiet on that island was total.  We could hear just the water as it brushed up against the edge of the sand....  And then we were given a beautiful full rainbow, all the way across the sky.  We could even see where it stopped right in the water!  I wished aloud that the Manatee Amazon Explorer would catch up with us and head right through that rainbow...... but everyone agreed that Photoshop would have to work its magic and that I would have to 'make it happen' on the computer instead.  Well - the rainbow got stronger, and yes!  There came the Manatee around the corner!  There was this collection of gasps as everyone realized what I was doing as I set off at a run to get the right angle and a few joined in, trying to get there first..... a good moment.  And so it all came together.... the rainbow, the river and the Manatee..... By then, everyone had found their place and the cameras clicked away so much that there was much laughter.  My camera and lens setup is a baby by comparison to some of these here and there are some truly magnificant photos being born around here.  That was really one of the lovely moments of the trip.

 

Right before all this came together, the rain set in so everyone hauled out their standard black issued ponchos with hoods, and quickly covered themselves and their camera and telescopes up.  I had a special plastic bag for my camera and Frank and I had decided that we would not carry the ponchos with us as it was a short excusion and they are heavy, so we yanked out our standard jackets, me holding mine over the camera, even with the plastic bag and we walked in the rain!  Oh it was just wonderful and we got totally soaked by a genuine  Ecuadorian Amazonian Rainstorm.. does that not just sound awesome or what??....And then I looked up and saw this crowd of about 20 people, all with black cloaks and pointy hoods on, milling around in one spot a good way away from us..... they looked like  huge bats!  More pictures, more laughs.

 

And then it was time to catch up with the Manatee again for supper and some relaxing time... I just love reconnecting with the Manatee - its kind of like refuelling in the air for airplanes - no need to stop, just hook up, watch you step and go on your way to a cleaned cabin, cooked food, cold beer, good company and a continual great view.....The day ended with another totally beautiful sunset over the jungle, with us tied up to a tree alongside the banks again, a small tug boat behind us - thats another story - and the sounds of the jungle nightlife right ourside our window - I mean literally about 8 feet away!  Its just awesome..

 

Tomorrow is the school and community visit and an optional river island visit again... I know where we are going :)

 

Till then

love and light

Annie

 

 

 

 

 

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c - Swimming with piranha.....and other

Yes, we did swim with piranha and caymen and the pink dolphins  and apparently with the boa's and anaconda's too in the middle of the jungle, not too far from the border of Peru, and it was just totally incredible!

 

Let me backtrack a good long way first.  We are so incredibly busy here all the time that we are seriously going to have to lay around the house like slugs for a good few days to recover.  Its just amazing.  They typical day starts at around 5am when the Manatee Explorer pushes off from whatever tree we have been tied to and heads back down the river..... then we all get some gentle music piped into our airconditioned cabins at around 5.30am.. Ok wait Kate and mom and kids and everyone that knows me!!!  I know I dont do mornings very well at all, but this is something else... this falls outside of the category of anything I have ever known, so not only do I actually get up with the first note of that music plays - I do it with a smile!  Frank, as always, greets the day with a huge grin, except now he has this stunned look as he sees me bustling around the small cabin, only too keen to get going..Many times I am out of the cabin before him.. 

 

Ok - so we start early, head out in the motorized canoe on some adventure either up or down the river or in a tributary,  The Manatee Explorer then heads on along her path and we catch up with her, getting back home in time for lunch.  Then, after and hour or so, we head back out in a different direction.  Every day has two activites and the inbetween time is taken up by me downloading all my photos and both of us getting our feet up for a while..... but I dont want to miss anything - so I cant stay down long.  Everyone here already knows that I take photos of everything and anything, whether is moves or not and a good many comments have been laughingly made about me not being able to go more than a few steps without taking yet another photo.  I have Frank clicking away happily much of the time too :) . 

 

Yesterday, which was Saturday, we all crawled into the canoe - this is a looooong wooden canoe with benches.  The driver sits at the back with his hands on a good sized motor each and a grin that splits his face wide open.  It is obvious that he really enjoys his job!  He reads the water so incredibly well and manoevers this boat around as smoothly as one could imagine.  And so we each get a bench to plonk ourselves on - only two per bench, which is awesome as normally in tourist places, they crunch as many people into a tiny a place as possible.......... here, everyone gets a window seat!  As we sit, the backrest for the bench in front is put in, the cushions put down and the next couple of people sit down and so on - all the way to the front.  There is a tarp roof that we opened up after the first cool hour or so, and this allows a full sky view of the birds and trees.  And so on Saturday we tootled down to a smaller river that leads off the Napo River and started exploring...  This place is phenomenal!   The reflections are stunning, the different shades of green totally beyond description and the birds sing and flit around from tree to tree and the peace and quiet and wholeness of the place is such a deep feeling..  We saw some monkies too and heard a good many things we did not.  All of the other passengers on here are 'bird people', so they all look in the trees and sky, almost, it seems, not noticing the stunning scenery.  Frank and I watch closer to the water for the snakes and ground animals - we know the bird people will let us know when an exciting bird arrives.

 

The most memorable moments of the day for me were when we saw some Blue Morpho butterflies flitting around.  Everything is green and beautiful and then there arrives this most incredible, irridescent blob of blue and it hops itself gently and elegantly in and out of the foliage and skims the top of the water.  There is no ways to capture this in a photograph at all, so its one of the many things that will just have to live on in our minds instead.  It rained sometime during the morning, and we quickly closed the roof up and scooted inwards from the edges of the canoe and watched it pour - creating bubbles that sat, happily perched on the surface of the water.... just lovely.

 

Then we came back to the Manatee Explorer for lunch, a quick lunch and download of the photos, two minutes feet up and time to head out again.  This time we went to visit one of the little towns along the banks of the Napo River.  This is one of the bigger towns and holds the hospital for a very, very large area around here.  many miles of jungle is covered by this hospital, yet very few use it. We were fortunate enough to be able to take a tour of the hospital, and as there were no patients at the time, we were able to get a good view of all the rooms and laboratories.  It is a teaching hospital as well as ......well, I forgot the correct name now. its when they have the technology to consult with other doctors worldwide over the internet to discuss a patients needs - in real time... They hook the patient up and then have a conference with other doctors, re the type of injury - most often and instect or animal bite - and either teach other doctors about the issues being dealt with here, or get advice.  It's tremendously advanced considering its remoteness especially.  Also, they are only now starting to get the local people to accept that 'western medicine' can and actually does work and help at times, and they now get about 5 women a month coming to get help with thier births.  They have a good exray dept with all the equipment but are just waiting for the humid season to pass before packing it out again, they have an up to date lab with airconditioning and a bone white baby monkey fetus in a jar that looks like ET, hospital beds and the rooms are all very sweet and well done.  There are huge open spaces to the outside and to let a breeze through if its there... they have a garden with chickens and flowers and all and treat the patient as a whole person - not just a number....  Now all they need are a few more patients!  And lots of patience too, I guess. 

 

And then we walked through their town...... well along one road of it.  There are only two roads in town and they are not more than about a quarter of a mile each!  We went to get something cool to drink.  There was not much to buy there and it always surprises me how so many really small stores have the biggest displays of huge bra's!  I mean huge.... Sorry, but this was not the first time I noticed it and it does seem a bit strange.  ANYways...... the little shop was not very big, as I said and was all built from huge, wide Mahogany planks.  We had to almost push a course through the merchandise and were keenly watched for any signs of buying....  There was just nothing there that anyone of us wanted to take home.... so we sat on their porch for a while, on a bench that probably was not made for 'super sized Americans', and watched...........well, nothing at all happen!  Then suddenly there was a smell of cooking meat and we went around the corner to find three very lubricated Ecuadorians bbq-ing what looked like a ton of meat!  It must have been at least a cow's worth of meat on that grid...it was not a normal grid at all.  But the photos will tell more of that story better than I can.  Hopefully I will be able to get some up this coming weekend when we are back in Quito.

 

As we were leaving the town we had to wait as a new item was being delivered to town - a motorbike!  Yup, probably the town's first motorbike.  They already had two bicycles but evidently the motorbike was a much wanted item too.  We watched as four healthy, beaming Ecuadorians hauled that bike out of the wooden canoe that it had made it 5 hour journey up river in, pushed it up the ganplank and with great glee and aplomb, kickstarted that sucker and gave that town its very first wheelie!!  I think he reached third gear when he ran out of road and had to turn around again.....

 

Most of the houses we saw there are straw roofed or built of wood - they mostly look totally incomplete and when we could get a glimpse inside it made each one of us very grateful and yet envious in a way of being able to live so simply.

 

After we got home, we heard that the "missing 8", those passengers that were screaming upriver to try to catch us, were almost here, so we parked along the rivers edge to wait for a while.  By now it was getting awfully close to 6pm and thats when the sun sets and none of us wanted them on the water at night, so the Captain pulled us over.  It was not long before a tiny little power speed boat came racing around the corner of the river, spraying a huge fan of water in its eagerness to catch us and our 8 had arrived.  The boat stopped and us 'old passengers' wondered if there really were 8, the boat seemed too small to carry them all.  But out they came, and came, and came and came - they just kept pouring out of that tiny little hull!  They were all so incredibly tired after just under 6 hours of high speed racing up the river.  And so for the first time, the Manatee Explorer was properly full...She can take 15 couples and I think we are at 13.  The film crew left early this morning moving on to a lodge alongside the river instead..

 

Ok - on to today - Sunday.....  Up early - 5am.  We hopped onto the canoe at 5.30am.. ok, well, its not a hop.  The Manatee is moving along at around 7 knots when they pull the canoe alongside her, then we all get on to the canoe while the water rushes just inches below our feet - its awesome!. Anyway - off we went very early this morning - not even having breakfast first....  We headed upriver towards a tributary of the river we were now on, which is a tributary of the Napo River.  We were headed up to the lakes where the Pink Dolphin are most often seen....  The picture in my mind was literally blown away by the beauty we saw along the way getting there,  The water was dead calm and the reflections just stunning all the way.  Many times we stopped to look at a bird or monkeys and when it was a decent time for breakfast we pulled alongside a fallen tree, tied off and had breakfast right there in the middle of absolutley nowhere.  Just freaking amazing.  The quiet is indescribable and makes my jaw drop in wonder, the bird calls and monkey chatter is almost continual although we definitely dont see most of what we hear.  

 

And then it was time to head to the bathroom........... we had been promised a "relief stopover' and none of us was quite sure what to expect as all we were told was that it was 'sort of primitive'.  The snout of the canoe was driven up onto the rivers edge, the tourguides hopped out with a bag and proceeded to put up a tent in the little clearing that was used for a toilet!  Oh boy did we laugh.......  There was absolutley no way that I could have gone in there, even if I needed to - but others had much greater need than I did and it was well used..  I started to wander off to explore but really quickly discovered that each tree had attached to it, one occupied male...... so I headed back to the clearing and walked around less used areas until it was time to go.  That little blue, upright tent was a scream, and yes, I do have photos :)

 

Then on we went towards Dolphin lake.... I wish I could honor all the Guides' talks by remembering the names of these places, but there is little chance of that so late and after so much information - that will have to wait till later....... We noticed that the vegetation changed, from Jungle as one would think a jungle looks like, to open lakes and green grass and shorter trees and ........well just pure beauty.. As we came into the lake area, there was a fair sized Cayman - its like an alligator - and the pink dolphin were jumping all around.  They anchored the canoe and most of us jumped overboard!  What a feeling.... yes we knew there was a cayman just there, yes we knew there were piranha there and the dolphins are not tame in any way whatsoever... and there are snakes and boa constrictors and anacondas - but those we have not seen yet...... but we jumped in and had the most amazing swim!  The water has pockets of lovely warm water and just as you start to say how lovely that is, a patch of ice cold hits you.  We spent a good half hour in the water and I was really reluctant to get out, but as we were the last in, apart from one of the guides, we headed back to the canoe and an ice cold beer. :)  How much more perfect could that get?

 

And back to the Manatee Explorer we headed, a good bit faster than when we came up.  We were all wet, relaxed and super happy and really enjoyed the ride back again.  We stopped for some more monkey's and plenty of birds and Frank spotted a Capybara which is a really rare find here apparently, as is the Cayman.  I got some photos of it, which is great!

 

Home for lunch, a little break and then we headed out to walk at the military post - on the Ecuador side.  As we came out of the one river, which is a Black water river and I will get to this in a later email, we had the sign for Peru on our left and Ecuador on our right.  When we first came up here this morning, we had to stop and check in with the both countries to let them know we are here.  It was definitely a strange feeling for some reason as its not like the military we know - it looks so casual and run by really young guys.  Anyway - no problems at all....So this afternoon we headed back to the Ecuador Miltary Post for our Jungle walk.... Unfortunaltely I know I am going to skimp on this part a bit from pure tiredness - it was fascinating, huge huge leaves, monkeys,. woodpeckers, birds, beautiful flowers, lichen, bats, tiny frogs, spiders and all the glurbies a jungle can and did deliver.  Hopefully we take a walk again when we are a little less mellow and tired.

 

So here we are again - parked alongside the river bank, pitch dark outside with fireflies flitting around everywhere - which reminds me that up at the lakes with the dolphins where the green colors were all brighter too, there are no mosquitoes!  Yup - none!

 

Its been a long and totally wonderful day and I have lots more to say but that will have to wait too.  So much is happening every minute - there is so much to see and learn and absorb and feel and experience and I am not coving it well enough right now.  Tomorrow morning is another 5.30am wake up,, but at least we have breakfast here before we go. We will be swimming again tomorrow with the fishes and other creatures...and then in the afternoon we will go for a gentle walk on one of the river islands where there are wonderful sandbanks and unique bird life too.  The food on board is just great, and we all eat together - the guides, captain and the passengers.  I am off to wish the night outside goodnight and then get a few hours sleep before tomorrow arrives again.Geez, I got a tad disjointed there.....

 

Till next time

love and light

Annie

ps - any errors in typing or sentence construction is to be put down to a tiny travelling laptop that does not fit my fingers well, as well as to a definite lack of time to check and recheck... so if something does not make sense, please let me know......thanks

 

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b - Into the Jungle.....

Our wake up call was not lenient at all - 5am sharp and that phone was bouncing off the walls in our room...so we got up and not reluctantly at all either.  We had a great day ahead and boy did we!  Gustavo, our guide, picked us up at the hotel after we handed over the luggage we were not bringing along with us, and hauled us off to the airport via yet another beautiful road through the new part of the city of Quite.  There are a tremendous number of huge high rise apartment buildings nicely painted up in different and gentle colors.  The view of the Cotopaxi Volcano was beautiful this morning too.  And so we got to the airport, were handed over the another guide who would take us on the airplane and to Coca (pronounced "ko-ka") which is 100 miles due east into the Amazon Jungle. The flight was only about 45 minutes long - just long enough to see some awesome views of the Andes, some waterfalls way below and the dense jungle, spotted with small settlements here and there.

 

We landed in a rainburst so hard that the water was about 6 inches deep and we had to sit and wait in the plane for it to drain away first. We were taken from the airport in taxis to the boat dock where we were to get on the motorized canoe for the ride upriver to meet up with the river yacht.  Well, that was fun!  I mean the wait.... there were the cutest little monkeys, some with babies, running around all over the place.  They turned their heads to look at you as if asking permission to take something from your bag, but did not wait for it at all.  One quickly found a friendly Frank shoulder and cuddled up against Franks ear with its tail all curled around it and all.. seriously, it was obvious that this tiny little monkey snuggled up!  It was so cute.  They are mischief personified and great fun to watch.  Until they poop or pee on your luggage....  They did not do that on ours fortunately, but we became very eager to get them off any and all luggage after that.  They were still cute though.  After a while, I got close enough to a table and a monkey jumped on me too, but I was not too keep on having him hang out there too long.  The problem is I really was not sure how or whether to try to pick it up to get it off and when I tried, I got gently but firmly nipped on the finger.  So I leaned near to a pole and off it jumped...  By then Frank had a good many photos too.

 

And the toucans were hopping all around there.  It was interesting to see that as soon as one of those little cute monkeys came close to a toucan, the bird left and the monkey did something like a victory jig. Naughty little blighters.  There were also other monkeys there, fair sized tortoises and oh my gosh, you should see the size of the snails here!  The peacocks screamed like cats and the one huge white rabbit just lay around as if he was a cat.  Little canoes screamed up and down the rives, some with motors and some by arm power, and then there were the speed boats that take people up and down the river like taxis.  We had an almost two hour wait, but it was by no means boring at all.  We had a great view of the river during this time, seats to sit in and shade too.  Right on the river edge, now lying in the mud because the water is so low, is a huge airplane on a barge. The wings are cut off really short, but the whole thing is a floating resturant......well, unless, like now, it sits firmly and unevenly on the mud.

 

We have a group of four that are only interested in the birds around here.... absolutely nothing else gets their eyes dancing at all....its very odd.  And then there is a group of eight that will be screaming downriver for almost 6 hours tomorrow to catch up with us as they missed their connection to Quito yesterday!  I would have cried!  Anyway - so there we are, rather keen to get on to the boat and we were led down the gangplank into this loooong canoe that could possibly seat 4 people right to left on each seat..  We got a total of 20 of us on there very easily and off we went.  Oh my.  I wonder if it is just this river, or if its the atmosphere or if its just because we are somewhere else, but the magic danced and sang for us for two and a half hours heading down the Napo River.  The canoe sits low in the water, maybe 18 inches from the edge of the canoe, there is a tarp that is tied on for a roof and if it rained, the sides could be dropped and we would look through the clear plastic.  It did not rain then - the river just delivered miles and miles of incredible scenery. There are so many people living along the river - its not crowed as in our standards, but at least every 5 or six miles you can see a grass hut behind some trees, a wooden canoe gently bobbing in the water in front and at many, we saw the kids bathing, swimming and playing. 

 

There are so many kids that are out on their own in small canoes with just paddles, playing around in the water, checking the fishing traps or playing around the many sandbanks in the river.  The vegetation is totally thick, an uncountable number of shades of green and an incredible number of different species all scrunched up together.  The motor on the canoe did not make for a quiet ride, but it was definitely a very interesting and fun ride.... and just when we started thinking that it was now time to find a different seat to sit on - there we came around a corner and the Manatee Amazon Explorer sat alongside the bank, just waiting for us.  Oh she looks so much nicer than the photo I have on the blog!  We were quickly helped aboard, our luggage taken to our cabins, the welomes were barely over and we were already headed further down the river..We were fitted with boots, did our 'sink or fire' drill with the life jackets and all, and then my camera went back to some serious work......

 

I dont quite know how to describe it all - huge, HUGE trees with perfectly shaped canopies.... many with big thick vines hanging from them and all surrounded by so many other species of plants and flowers.  There is a beautiful splash of color every now and again - a tree with purple or orange blooms all over it, brilliant red flowers hanging inbetween the rich, deep green foliage all over the place, the birds flitting everywhere and we could hear the call of the toucans in the trees, but I did not see them along the bank, yet.  There is a good flow to the river and we travel along at an average of 7 knots, apart from those places where the river is really shallow.  During the early afternoon, it started to rain.. I mean r-a-i-n!!  It came down in sheets and visibility was very poor and the pilot of the boat could not see the water to guage the depth anymore.....so the two canoes that we are towing behind the yacht, were broken free and sent off to get closer and find a place for us to stop and wait out the rain... It was a true tropical downpour and just lovely.  But, that went well and we were on our way again in no time at all.  One other time they broke the smaller towed canoe loose to take a pole and get the depth of the river along the way - and we had to go another way around an island in the middle of the river.  Apparently no echo finder will work here - the water is way too silty.

 

Anyway... it was a totally awesome day.  We are now tied to a tree somewhere in the pitch dark alongside a small village as I can see the grass huts next to the big tree we are tied to.  The tree that they originally had marked out to hang out with tonight, had fallen down and we went around and around looking for another suitable one for the night.  The meals are lovely, the people just beautiful and friendly.  Most of them speak english very well and the rest certainly give it a really great go - and get their story across if we just listen hard enough.

 

We all go downstairs to the lounge for dinner, breakfast and lunch and that room has all open windows with a view all around....... then up on the third floor is the meeting room and the bar - we had cocktails there tonight - very good :)  Our cabin is right next to this and I can still hear some people chatting away in there, but we were honestly just too tired and headed to our cabin for a shower and for me to download the photos of the day..... a mere 938 plus about 30 minutes of HD Video.... aaaaaah.  this poor little laptop just does not like that much at all......

 

It's sometimes really hard to believe that we are actually here.  Its just so totally beautiful, peaceful and different.  The sunset over the Napo River was just stunning this evening and tomorrow morning we get an early wake up call again - 6am.  Early starts to long and interesting days.  Its been raining since just after sunset here tonight, which is always at 6pm, being virtually on the equator.  It's going to be interesting to see what state the river is in in the morning - they say it sometimes rises 12 feet - overnight!!!  There are some very intersting sounds coming from outside and right before I head to sleep, I am going to take a walk outside and just listen.  Oh yes!  They said that we will have a really great chance of seeing anacondas in this type of weather!  I would just love to see one of those - even just once :)  And so, early in the morning we will head out in the motorized canoe, into the smaller inlets along the river and see what wildlife we can see... and then in the afternoon we will go and visit a small local community that has a hospital and they also sell some goodies there.

 

This is honestly so far beyond awsome that I am having difficulty describing it.  Our days are so full of a million different sights, smells and colors that we are quite exhausted pretty early on in the evening.  It's way beyond my dreams - already :)

 

Till tomorrow.

love and light

Annie

 

 

 

 

http://galapagobaggs.blogspot.com
http://s761.photobucket.com/albums/xx257/GalapagoBaggs/

a - City of Jewells

I hardly know where to start.... after a very long day yesterday, we circled around the most gloriously awesome view I have seen in a very long time.  The night lights of Quito glistened, danced and shone like a huge chest full of treasure, different colors sparkling and blinking and bringing tears to my eyes from its sheer beauty.  In the distance and all along the horizon, lightening danced from the clouds, lighting them up in an indescribable pink and crystal white.  The deep black of the night here made all of this stand out in clear and crisp way that could not have believed........

 

We left Chattanooga early on Wednesday morning, Steven taking us to the bus stop just south of Chattanooga - thanks for the early morning ride, my boy.  The drive to Atlanta on the shuttlebus was gentle and uneventful and we were very thankful that the flooding had not reached us in Soddy Daisy, but that all the roads were clear for us to get to Atlanta.  We could see so much evidence of devastating flooding all around.  The sunrise was beautiful - presenting us with a huge orange ball balancing in the sky and glistening on the dew, or was it still rain?, sitting on the trees.

 

Atlanta airport was not nearly as bad as we, or I, had anticipated and we quickly found our gate and then went exploring for a little.  The flight to Miami was not bad at all - I had a window seat right in front of the wing with a lovely view.  We saw a good few other airplanes headed north and it was good that they kept their distance very well!  After the initial sweaty palms and palpatating heart, I settled in and actually enjoyed the flight.  There was a soldier who had just come back from his second term in Iraq, sitting next to us and he was going home!  Finally, home for good.  He was not re-enlisting and was looking forward to a new way of life again...  I got some lovely photos of him, both pensive looking and huge smiles too :)

 

I had been worried about the connection time between landing in Miami and leaving for Quito and had rather picked a much later flight than the one that was due to leave just an hour after the Atlanta flight landed. So we had a very long wait in Miami.  Our bags quickly became very heavy with the long walk to our gate and the many inbetween meandering we did, and we wondered just why we had not got the baggage with wheels on them.  Ah well, so one learns. 

 

Before boarding in Miami for Quito, Ecuador, I called my three kids, my mom and my sister..... I will be out of phone contact till we get back into Miami in just over three weeks time.  It was good to talk to them all, and Kate -you were as funny as all get-out on my last call to you!  I could hear you were so excited - thanks!  And so finally, we got the call to leave.  Instant sweaty palms, churning stomach but a very relieved, very tired couple we were to finally be heading out.

 

What a wonderful and wonder-filled flight that was!  The clouds were like a whole species all on their own, emulating different characters and people way down below, they swirled and puffed and then just blew themselves out as they pleased but there always seemed to be a never ending supply of little fluffy ones willing to grow up and spit fire.  And then I saw Cuba!!  We flew right over Cuba and Jamaica.  The airhostess said that sometimes they are denied a flight path directly overhead right at the last minute, but this was one of those times they were able to fly right over it... its a very long, very thin piece of land and I am glad I did not blink or I would have missed it.  But - I saw Cuba  :)  We were flying at 35 000ft and again, I had a window seat right in front of the wing.

 

We were given the immigration papers to fill in and shortly after that, supper was served - chicken or lasagne.  Frank got one, I got the other and both were surprisingly good!  And then we sat and tried to fill in those papers..... why do they have to make the writing so incredibly tiny?  But even that did not make the excitement die down.... I was so enjoying the flight. There was a movie playing and I sort of listened to it for a bit, but I watched instead for any lights I could see outside........  It was interesting to figure out just where we were flying at any given time and sometimes they showed us that on the monitors - that was neat........they showed us airspeed, temperature outside on the hull, elevation and a few other details, but what I really liked was when they showed us with what looked like a very sophisticated GPS system (sorry Blondie, but you dont come close to this one!), exactly where we were.  Coming in over the top bulge of South America was lovely.  There was a strip of lights that gave a border to the ocean and then a huge city - I must still get a map out or try to see which one it was.  Those lights danced and twinkled too, but we were too high to really appreciate them.  And then for many many miles around, just darkness.  Here and there was another puddle of light, some brighter than others, but always surrounded by a deep black of nothing.  There were some really good thunderstorms around there, judging by the lightening bouncing around and it seemed as if we went a little bit off course to avoid some of those storms.  I just loved it all.....

 

The last 40 minutes of the flight seemed to take forever. we were both buttsore by now, very very tired and I was still not willing to close my eyes for a minute.  Frank cannot sleep while travelling so he stayed awake too.  Neither of us had slept much the night before, worrying about waking up in time and just restless, so we were almost literally on the edge of falling over but with permanent huge smiles plastered on our faces.  And then we came into Quito. Oh my.  I dont think I will ever forget that site as long as I live.  I had been feeling sorry that I had changed our flights to a later one, which put us flying in at night time, but when we came lower and lower and those lights just did their magic - well, I will never get over that and no amount of daylight flying will beat that view.  Ever seen something so beautiful that you want to sob and lose your breath at the same time?  This was definitely one of those moments.

 

So we landed safely again, (2 flights down, 10 to go) and we were met at the airport, after picking up our luggage and going through customs and immigration, we were met by Gustavo  from Klein Tours who was holding a yellow sign with our name on it.  Were we pleased to see him!  We headed outside into the cool evening to his car so that he could take us to the hotel.  This airport here is beautiful inside, very updated and clean and definitely on par with those in the USA.... but once you get outside, you have to watch you step.... there is no smooth sidewalk, no organised directions or anything that looked like it to us. just a flurry of people getting around, all very successfully and with no problem despite the horns honking and uneven ground.  It was great! :)  We headed to the hotel, booked in, said goodnight to Gustavo and headed upstairs to the resturant for a look at the view and a beer.   The beer was great and much needed and the view just beautiful with the lights of the city curving their way up steep and narrow roads to where the mountain said 'no more - this is mine'.   I dont know what we looked like, but I think our eyes probably looked a bit like those of vampires by then. We sucked down the beer, ooh-ed and aah-ed some more at the totally awesome view of part of the city with its twinkling lights while finishing off a bowl of peanyts and headed for bed.  We did not sleep much either - it was very cold in the room and we could not find the switch to change the settings on the airconditioning, so we shivered all night long.  People upstairs seemed to be having a great party with much merry shouting and doors slamming which also did not help the restive feelings.....and we were being picked up by Gustavo at 9am for our City Tour of Quito this morning.

 

What a tour this was today!  This place is just totally soaked in history, in absolutely stunningly old and fascinating buildings and Missions and Churches and plants and cobbled roads and the most aweful drivers I have ever seen!  I think Gustavo's car must have repelling magnets all around it as it was simply a miracle that some other vehicles did not smack into us.  He is a great driver, a simply wonderful tourguide and just a lovely person too.  We visited a good few very old Catholic Churches and I so badly wish I could remember their names - they started with the word Basilica and one was Fransisco, but sorry, I am way too tired to remember or to look it up now.  If I have time this coming week, I promise I will. Please dont hold your breath for it though! I just have to tell you this about the one particular church we visited.  There is no photography allowed at all inside and this is another of those sob-and-lose-breath moments....Every bit of the inside of these churches were covered with designs, symmetry and huge original paintings.... I mean every single inch!  And it is all done in gold.....I bought all the different post cards they had available.  It is just glorious and it was impossible to see everything as it was huge and ....well, I will take photos of the postcards and post them!  How's that??  Yes, I am weird....

 

This city is a long thin strip nestled between the mountain ranges, the north part is the newer part and where our hotel is, the middle is the Old City which is absolutely fascinating and the south end is the poorer section which is also where I wish I could spend more time scrounging around the mirriads of fascinating little shops.  We walked around the old city for a good long while, visiting the Presidents house, the Central Square and looking at the fascinating buildings all around them.  We got to pose with some guards to the Presidents House which was fun - they are allowed to move, unlike those in the UK and I am sure the one cracked a smile at us too.

 

Its just amazing that almost everywhere you turn, there is a beautiful, intricate old building, a statue, a dome,a steep road made or bricks or cobbles and little shops all along the way, built into the walls of the churches and other huge buildings.  The photos will tell you more of what I mean. but it is definitely a place that needs some time to look at it all.  We did not visit many of the shops, as we rather wanted to see as much as we can and also because we are coming back here after the Amazon Jungle part and will be going to a market then. 

 

And then we heard a protest starting and the police were closing off some of the roads. Apparently some government workers are unhappy about some things and today was the day that they were going to march around the Old City, shout what they were unhappy about, all the way to the main Square of Quito where the Presidents house was...... and us.  So we quickly got out of there, not worried, but just not wanting to get caught up in it all and also wanting to get out before the roads got totally jammed up.  Gustavo got us out of there with perfect timing along with a smart quick change of mind at one turn.  We were in no danger at all, it would have just got us caught up there and we had more things to see. 

 

There were so many stunningly beautiful things that we saw today and I almost ran out of "oh wow's!!"  - almost. 

 

We went for lunch at a really lovely resturant where we were treated to some simply delicious foods and fresh veggies. I really liked the tree tomato but forget what the other yummy fruits names are - one tasted very much like a granadella, but definitely was not one..  Then off we went to the Center of the World - the Equator.  We went on a shortish tour there of the different native houses and accommodations - I mean the natives that are the true Amazon Natives.  The totem poles were fascinating and their houses and pottery just amazing. You should have seen the absolutely real tiny little head that was on display - it was one that was shrunk by the Head Shrinker Tribe a long time ago!  Your head can get turned into just the size of your fist!  Very very weird indeed.  The wood they used for their spears were very heavy we were told that the blow spear, where they blow a poisoned dart through this tube, allows them to blow it 40 meters!  And you should feel the weight of that wooden tube!  These guys must be/have been a very well muscled bunch.  It was weird watching the demonstration they did on how water flows in the opposite direction on each side of the equator....but exactly on that line - it just does straight down that drain hole with no swirling whatsoever!  They had a sink with water in it on a portable stand and showed us that it worked... just three feet on either side of the equator, that water swirls, but not at all in the middle!  Weird.  And all during this tour the most glorious, irridescent humming birds with long floaty tails flittered around, always just too quick for the camera as someone was always too close by - but I will definitely catch them soon!

 

The last stop of the day, with us definitely feeling very wilted after so many incredibly sites, a lovely lunch accompanied with a wonderful beer, was to a volcano where people actually live inside it!  yup, they do.  Apparently they just thought it was a lovely valley, and it is, but it was later discovered that its a volcano..... thankfully very domant.  There are no cars in there at all with only a very steep walking path in and out..The community was started by a Jesuit group - the original house is still there, but empty and we could see it from the rim.  There are no railings here to protect one from falling over the edge, apart from a very low pole strung up between two posts.  This is so unlike it is in the USA and its wonderful to see that common sense is very much alive and well in this very vibrant, very beautiful city.

 

We were safely delivered from horrifying rush hour where one toot of the horn apparently means 'I am also here' and two toots clearly says "I am going ahead of you!". and often there is only a heartbeat between the two messages.  Three busses got in a jam and were all reversing to try to get a better vantage point, or a chance to move on and for a moment it got very interesting watching these huge blue machines kicking themselves into position.

 

Now, as I type this, Frank is gently snoring, trying to get some rest.  I ordered a heater...... oh wait - I forgot to finish that story...... It was cold in here last night, and we could not find the air conditioning controls no matter how much we hunted, (yes, we even checked under the bed!) because there is no airconditioning here!!  I thought it was rather quiet.  No doubt the huge volcano outside our window that is covered in snow and ice, added to our discomfort last night.  But now we have a gently humming heater and plan on a more restful night.

 

It was an incredible day and feels impossible that it was only last night that we arrived here.  We already have well over a thousand photos and my eyes just cant deal with looking through them right now, but I will add them to the photobucket album soon.  Hopefully when we get back after the Amazon Jungle cruise we are headed out to tomorrow morning at 6am!  We fly from here to a small place called Cocoa where we will be taken to a very narrow looking wooden motorized canoe for a two hour spin up the Napo River to join the Amazon Manatee Explorer.  She is a river motor yacht that accommmodates 30 passengers.  We will spend the next 8 days aboard her...As far as I understand there is no internet there and it will be a bit of a disappointment if there is! 

 

Now that we have the heater, I am going to open the curtains so that I can see the lights outside while I lie in bed, knowing that I am so incredibly blessed, happy, fortunate and so many other things, to be able to experience this all.  It's been totally and absolutely incredible so far and the main course has not yet begun!.

 

So....till then.

love and light
Annie

http://galapagobaggs.blogspot.com
http://s761.photobucket.com/albums/xx257/GalapagoBaggs/

From Annie re Amazon and Galapagos trip

Hi all

This is a test email. If anyone wants off the list, please let me know - if you know anyone that wants on - email to this address.

In one week from today, this exact hour, we will be in Quito, Ecuador! :) I bet I can find some beautiful butterflies a-hatching in my stomach already! For the first two nights, we should have email contact, then nothing for 8 days. After the Amazon cruise we should have email contact again for another two days days and then none while we are on the Galapagos Islands. They say there is internet, but I am not sure we will be able to get it much at all.

But I know me............ each night I will type up the days doings and have it ready to pop off as soon as a connection is found. I will label each email alphabetically so that there will be some order. Hopefully I will be able to get a good few emails to you, as well as photos. Pray for my cameras!

The blog is: http://GalapagoBaggs.blogspot.com. If I can only send to limited emails, this blog will be where I would send to..... so check there in case.

Please do not send me any forwards, or attachments, funnies or photos while we are away... it will block my email up and .........well, please dont - thanks! Any and all other emails are very welcome. To my regular emailers - please keep writing, and U3 (my kids), please keep me updated on you all.

Thats it for now... see you next week

Annie

The Islands........

The lines drawn in on this map of the Galapagos Islands is the route we will be going on the cruise... :) If you click on the map it will pop up bigger and easier to see.

18 days and counting.....