Rain, Rain, Make The Spiders Go Away

Parana is my new favorite fish! Both Alicia and I loved it. The problem is that we got a full meal  plus the huge fish. I was sure I was going to explode.

Andres (our wonderful guide), had made a bet with our local guide that it would not rain. However, he had us wear our Gum-Drop-Boots (shot out to Miss Katie) anyways.  By the time we made it on the lake it started raining. We took the motor boat to the clay lake where the parrots come to eat. They need the minerals and to counteract the toxins from the seed that they eat.  There were three different species of parrots. A boa constrictor had been in that area a few days prior, so, we were on the look out for it. After a solid half hour Sergio found it! It looks exactly like the branch of a tree. Rain really started to come down. Everyone in the boat was given poncho; One’s that I could not mistake for a garbage bag (shout out to Christina). I have never, ever, ever, ever, ever seen rain like this. All of our bums were soaked from the rain pouring off of the poncho’s onto the seats of the boat.

Pancho Time

Finally made it to the community! Rosa, a local woman, gave us a tour of their “farm land.” She let us dig up this root plant which we had for lunch, pineapple plants, fish/turtle pond,  etc. The people of the Amazon basin used to be nomadic, living in groups usually no bigger than eight to ten people. A change in lifestyle towards a more Western culture of living in communities has really put a strain on the environment. These new techniques of raising their own crops and fish and turtle eggs has allowed the wild population of each to reflourish.

The women made us lunch. We had fish and heart of psalm cooked inside a banana leaf. Holy guacamole… AMAZING. There was also two different types of plantains, the root, and a traditional alcoholic beverage that tasted like crap. Eating on the floor off of a huge leaf was a lot of fun. All of the community members were so nice.

Amazon Cooking

A wonderful British man joined our group yesterday. The poor, handsome man had the misfortune of sitting next to me on the boat ride back :)

Once we got back to the lodge… they had food for us. You have got to be kidding me! We just had a full meal at the community!!! During our free time, both Alicia and I passed out.

Our afternoon activity was a blast. We took a canoe ride and a short hike to see pygmy marmot monkeys. Oh, they are precious! The smallest monkey in the world. Alicia just wanted to pick them up and put them in her pocket.

Zipped across the lake for a nice night hike. Our guides talked to a lot of birds and monkeys, but we did not see too many. There were tons of bugs and crawly creatures that were wonderfully fun to see.  And then…. The spiders… Ayayayayay….  

Scorpion Spider - Size of PaKa's Hand

There are the tiny one…  which freak me out.

There are the ones the size of silver dollars… which freak me out.

There  are the ones that are the size of my Dad’s hands… which really freak me out. 

Then, as I start writing tonight, there is a spider on my chair! I know that I will have a nightmare tonight about the stupid creatures. Bleck!

I Caught A Pa-ra-ná

Last night we had a lovely dinner with a family from Australia. They were so much fun to chat with! The son, Richard, has been traveling around South America for about 3 months now;  crazy stories from that one (quick sand and robbed at gun point). Alicia and I were hoping that we could talk them into staying another night.

Early morning excursion!!! Two hour boat ride around the lake and down one of the channels that feeds the lake. We saw all sorts of birds, spiders as big as my hand, a sloth, and a variety of flowers/plants. Then, we took a two hour hike through the jungle. Holy Cow. I would have gotten so lost in there without our native guide Sergio.

The food here is out of this world. They give us way too much of a huge variety. It is awesome. It’s like “fat kid Friday” all week long. YEA!

     Side note – The staff found out that Alicia’s birthday is on Monday… They are having a party for her!!! 

          Sssshhhhhh. Don’t tell!!! Good thing she doesn’t read this :)

 

Alicia's Fish

My fish :(

For our afternoon excursion we went Paraná fishing. Raw  beef is what we use for bait. We all caught something, but Alicia was the big winner. Our wonderful cooks will be frying up her fish tonight. We also took a boat ride and saw a few different kinds of monkeys. There was a report that the sloth had moved down the tree, because he needed to poo (that’s what they do ya know), so we headed that direction. Instead of spending the whole afternoon fishing, we spent the whole afternoon checking out the sloth. It was a blast! 

Sloth Scouting In Our Fancy Hats

Our dear Sergio made us hats from palm branches. He tried to make one in the jungle for us but was not satisfied. Therefore, he made us both fancy ones. We looked so good in our hats fishing.

Would It Be Ok If I Never Leave

Fantabulous day!

Early morning flight from Cuenca to Quito. In our super short layover we decided we needed to stock up on energy drinks. Neat, because they are the same price here as in the US… HA HA HA. Just kidding! They turned out to be three times the cost. They were $6.50 for the small 8oz can! No RedBull for us. 

Short flight from Quito to Coca. Getting off the plane was a shock. It was like getting hit in the face with a steamy, hot, soaking wet towel. Bleck! Short taxi ride to the docks. We were waiting for our boat to arrive when a very curious monkey started poking around our guides bag. He was adimate on getting into it.

Such a beautiful boat ride. We took a 2hr motorized boat trip down river. We were zipping right along. Some time ago Alicia and I were informed that this part of the journey needed to be taken fairly early in the day because the river get too dangerous later in the day. I think that the water rises, there is more junk in the water, and the water gets a bit choppy. Honestly, I am not sure how we didn’t bust a hole in the boat with all of the trees (no overexaggeration) in the water.

Off the boat and onto the trail! It was about a 20 minute walk literally through the jungle to our next boat. Then, it was another 20 minute canoe ride across a lake to our hotel. As soon as our feet hit the dock our guide for our entire stay was there with cool wet towels and pina coladas! What a nice fella! 

We had the afternoon to do as we please. So, we took out the canoes and checked the lake out. We were out for a solid two hours and I am sure we both got sunburned. We saw all kinds of pretty/funny looking birds and a bees nest the size of Alicia (or in other terms: the size of my booty).

Our guide has a whole slew of adventures planed out for us:  Paraná fishing, community visits, night hikes, day hikes, bird watching, etc. We are going to have so much fun! Oh, scary fact of the day… You can swim in the same water that those viscous Parana’s are in. Ayayay…

Ingapirica Ruins

Today was our day at the Incan ruins. It was a intsy bit crazy getting there since they are completley redoing the road up to the ruins. Also, a fun fact that everyone failed to mention is that it is freezing up there! Both Alicia and I bough Alpaca sweatshirts to keep from freezing to death.

Alpaca Sisters

Ingapirica means "Inca stone wall"; the name given to the site by the Canaris (native Ecuadorean). The Canaris worshiped the moon and had built a temple on this ground about 1000 years ago. Their buildings were made of stone from the riverbed down in the valley. The stones were round and held together by mortar. The Incans came about 500 years ago, took over the place. They built a temple for their god, the sun. Their buildings were made of carved square stone; the pieces fit together perfectly without mortar.

Calendars based on the sun (Incan) and moon (Canaris), which are super accurate, helped them to know when to celebrate, when to harvest, etc. Away from the main site there were secondary artifacts. Rocks carved into turtles, bulls, and chairs. A natural rock formation called the Cara del Inca (Inca's Face) was super cool.

Calendar Based On The Moon

Incan Face (looks better in person)

Viva la Selva!

Cuenca-Danka Fo-Fanka

Cuenca, Cuenca, Cuenca.

Doubledecker bus tour of the city started off the morning. It was pretty cool to get our bearings and see some of the highlights of the city. All around town we went hearing the history of this place and that. Then, we were taken up to the old Incan holy ground where they would preform their sacred sun ceremony. It was up on a big hill over looking the town. Super gorgeous. I love looking over these cities. It is much more satisfying after climbing a 500 ft ladder or 800 stairs though. But, a bus will do just fine. Being the tall Gringo's that we are, we had to dodge, duck, dip, dive, and doge tree branches, powerlines, and bridges.
        That quote was a shout out to my main sister. Miss you!

Cuenca From The Hill

In the main square we went to "the old cathedral" and "the new cathedral." The old one had some really neat stuff that they were restoring and some crazy passageways that we wanted to explore, but were too chicken too. The new one was big and grand and reminded me of the cathedrals of Italy. Fun fact: when the new cathedral was being remodeled in 1880 it was planed to be the largest in South America. However, the dude who made up the plans made a slight miscalculation and the structure could not hold the weight of the planned domes.... Sssssssooooo, they had to "settle" for these small one. Still amazing, still beautiful!

The New Cathedral

Cuenca has a bomb flower market. On the weekends it is supposed to be huge, but on a Wednesday it was only a full court yard of wonderful, beautiful, fantastic flowers. It was absolutely spectacular!

Went to the open market. WOW! So many different fruits, veggies, taters, beans, and meat. Naturally we bought every fruit possible and had a fruit tasting!
     Bananas - Three different varieties
     Avacados - More of a nutty flavor than "American" avacado
     Mango - Didn't taste like mango, but still yummy
     Tangerene - Maxed out prior to this one
     Papaya - Maxed out prior to this one too
     Tree Tomato - Looks like a tomato when peeled. Tastes sweet, sour, and a little basil like
     Zapote (brown/green with dingle berry on top)- Not bad, not good. Just bland.
     Pepino (white with purple stretch marks) - Combo between a cucumber and a honeydew melon
     Pitanaya (yellow spikey dude) - Not much flavor but has the texture of kiwi flesh.
     Granadilla (yellow with dingle berry on top) - Citrusy, sweet flavor with crunchy seeds. Ssssooo GOOD!
     Chirimoya (goofy looking artichoke) - Pearish flavor, mango texture. Sweet like candy. Could eat this 
          every day!
     To add to our fruit feast we also had pastries and vino too. Delicious!

Our Personal Fruit Tasting

The panama hat museum was a quick visit but cool. They had hats ranging from $14 to $400.

Panama Hats

The medical museum was RAD! Both Alicia and I had such an awesome time nerding out! All kinds of cool things like 1840's autoclaves, hand crank centrifuges, antique medical equipment of all kinds, and drugs drugs drugs. Awesome! I think we spent a good two hours there. Side note: They had a few mummified children, fetuses, and a variety of skulls. No pictures to follow of the gross things.

Drugs Drugs Drugs

1910 Birthing Chair

Drugs Drugs Drugs

Bus Time Anyone???

All today was bus. We bussed to Riobamba (almost missed it), which was a quick 2hr ride. We met a group of Australians and a cute Irish couple. Then it was right onto the bus to Cuenca! I am pretty sure that the bus people thought that Alicia and I were the children of the Irish couple because they put us all on one ticket. The 6hr bus ride was killer.

I saw two doggies fighting over a chicken they had killed, giant hogs being cooked and skinned, scenery was beautiful, and we drove through some pretty cool little towns. Overall, it was very very long.

By the time we made it off the bus Alicia and I were so hungry we would have ate anything! The last time we had atten was breakfast :( We ran into the first restaurant we saw and pointed to a picture on the wall... did not even look at the menu. Whatever is was, it was delicious.And, it was gone in less than five minutes. The little girls sitting at a table near us were so wide eyed at how fast we put away that food!

Where The Rubber Meets The Rainforest

The adventure of the day was biking! We took at little 60k bike ride through the rainforests of Ecuador, along the avenue of waterfalls. It was amazing! We took a basket down a tractor powered line, crossed a couple of suspended bridges. Wild! 

The Motor Getting Us Across A HUGE Canyon.... No Stress

Hiked down to a large waterfall. Then, it started raining. The rain did not stop for three hours.  Between the waterfall and the rain we were soaked to the core! Now I finally know what Scott was talking about in his book "Squeaky Wheel." Riding with wet feet is the worst!

 Most of the trip was on the road. Have I mentioned that road rule in Ecuador are guidelines? And, have I mentioned that the roads are too small for two lanes? And, have I mentioned that there is absolutely no bike lanes. Alicia will make me brave yet!

By the time we dropped off the bikes, ate, and made it home we were dying! Half hour in the spa was so primo!

Alicia Eating A Fish (Yesterday)