You heard right, loved ones. I spent last weekend exploring and living in part of the Ecuadorian Amazon. The university I attend co-sponsors a biodiversity station in a little place called Tiputini along the Tiputini River. The station is responsible for a lot of really cool research (more about that later) as well as hosting student groups like ours for trips as short as ours (a weekend) to some much longer (weeks or months).
Our trip began very early last Friday morning with about a 25 minute plane ride to a small city called Coca. Ecuadorian airport security is so much different than that in the US- as in, I accidentally got my pocket knife through security. We landed in Coca, which is about the smallest airport I have ever seen in my life. One could easily fit at least 100 of them in the size of O’Hare. We boarded a speedy little boat and set off for a two hour trip on the Rio Napo. We were also given (delicious) bag lunches. The ride down the river was absolutely gorgeous, despite the mud-brown water in which we were cruising. Milijana later informed me that it is that color because of different minerals and wildlife; I believe her. After that ride, we arrived at an oil reserve (which felt aptly out of place in the middle of a beautiful rainforest). Here, we had to go through a security check point and were prohibited from taking photos. We boarded a chiva which is an open aired bus. It was a pretty daunting two hour ride with little room to stretch. This was also a beautiful patch of jungle with some small homes here and there. We arrived at a bridge and climbed down a little path to the Rio Tiputini and got ready for another two hour ride to the station. On our way, we saw many birds and tortugas (turtles) hanging out on logs.
We arrived at the station and had a brief orientation then a break before dinner. We also met up to get our rubber boots that we used to hike all weekend. at this time, loved ones, the moment I dreaded most presented itself. I saw a tarantula. Thankfully, it was in the corner of a dark classroom we were not using. I said to my friend next to me while pointing in its general vicinity, “is that a tarantula?” She responded with, “I think so!” I promptly removed myself from that vicinity and hung out in the boot room. Everyone loved it, and I didn’t see another tarantula for the rest of the weekend! Dinner that night was pretty delicious, and we had so many Oreos. I wish I could remember what we did that night, but the memory se fue (say-fway). That was a joke of the weekend. Our guide, for example, would take us 50 meters off the path on a monkey hunt and then we’d get to where he thought they were and he would say “se fue”, “it left”. Anyway, the electricity is on during limited hours at the station, so we were in bed promptly at 9:30 when the lights went out.
It was appropriate because the next day we got up at 6 to be at breakfast by 6:30. Breakfast was also delicious. Pretty much every meal was delicious. We were in 3 groups; in the morning, the group I was in hiked to el lago (the lake). On the way, we saw many monkeys and insects, really cool plants and mushrooms. There are also hormigas (ants) in the rainforest that taste like lemon when one eats them. Guess what I did? That’s right! I ate ants. Live ones. Right off the stick! It was really awesome. We kept hiking to the lake only to find our little canoe FULL of water. Our guide, Ramiro, promptly began to empty out all the water while we all watched. I ended up in the front of the canoe with a paddle. I was grateful for all the canoe lessons at summer camp. We went for a turn around the lake, and it began to rain. And it rained REALLY hard. As in- all of my clothes were sopping wet. We had a boat ride back to the station because we didn’t have time to hike back. We had a break before lunch in which I changed my clothes (thank goodness). We had a delicious lunch then a descansa (rest).
After lunch, the group I was in went to the torre (tower)which rose to the canopy level of the rainforest. We were able to see birds and monkeys, as well as miles and miles of beautiful, uninterrupted rainforest. I can’t even begin to describe how surreal that was. We spent a good couple hours up there. We climbed back down (160 steps), hiked back, and had a little break before a great dinner. Then that night, we had a presentation about one of the projects the station is working on. They have set up motion and head activated cameras to take photos of nocturnal or rare animals. We saw photos of jungle cats, pig-looking things, and other different creatures. It was pretty stellar.
The next morning, bright and early, we went for a swim in the Rio Tiputini. It was so awesome; the current dragged us along the river in our lifejackets. There were no snakes or water tarantulas or piranhas, thankfully! We jumped off the front of the boat and the water wasn’t even that cold! I will be honest: I peed in the river. Four times. I promptly climbed back in the boat when someone mentioned seeing a water tarantula on the side of the boat. This was the best part: it began to rain, so what do we do? Climb out of the boat into the muddy jungle to look for monkeys. They were gone. So we pretty much just played in the mud.
We went back and had lunch; most of us just stayed in our swim clothes. After lunch, the group I was in went to the puentes (bridges). We were able to climb up about as high as the tower from the day prior and walk on rope bridges (with harnesses) between trees. There was also one that was 10 meters higher than where we were with a little platform to sit and stare around. Absolutely. Stunning. I can’t even think of a way to describe the creation I witnessed. I was terrified to climb the rickety ladder down, but it was still so amazing.
We climbed down, had a nice break then dinner. That night, we took a night trek through the woods with our guides. We saw spiders, some little snakes, and a ton of other bugs. My favorite part was when we turned off our flashlights and just listened to the jungle for a while. It was surreal and I felt so connected to everything. Absolutely amazing. I slept so well that night, so peaceful.
The next day, we did our travel in reverse and got back to Quito really late, but it was worth every second of downpour, every ounce of bug spray, and every terrified glance over my shoulder for a tarantula.
Thanks to my program, IPSL, for paying for this trip and giving me a fantastic opportunity to see part of the world otherwise hidden to me.
Love to you all.
