Whiteknuckles Amazon Adventure. 2010/2011

Inspired by a childrens book of some 60 yrs ago we flew to Ecuador and over the Andes to the river Napo, one of the main tributaries of the mighty Amazon. From there we were 'invited' to a remote village and hosted by the Huarani Indians who live a life of their own. Further reading is "Savages" by Joe Kane on the Huarani's struggle.
Whilst in country we took in a few birds on both slopes of the Andes.



Our frst two nights were spent just outside Quito at Hosterias San Jorge.

Comfortable if a little cool at 9,000 feet.

Hence the fireplace. (Which was never lit!)

The main building.

The view from our Balcony.

Sparkling Violet Ear.

Black Flowerpiercer.

Crimson-mantled Woodpecker.

Masked Flowerpiercer.

Black-tailed Trainbearer.

A map of the Napo showing "Coca" where we flew to and Sani Lodge.

The Napo carries a lot of freight.

We change our fast launch for some man power and it is raining.

Sani Lodge on its lagoon.

There is a boat dock for us.

The welcoming bar. Always a good sign.

Clean and tidy Chalet with all mod cons.

Even a resident Frog.

Next day we set out under Domingo power.

The lagoon is fed by a small river. We press on.

A Hoatzin. One of C's target birds.

Capped Heron.

Black Caiman. No trailing fingers over board.

On into the Rain forest. No walking is possible. (No firm ground.)

Lagoon.

Into the unknown. To us at least. Domingo knows as he is from the Sani Tribe.

We fnd a small dock and meet the Army Ants.

There is now a trail of sorts lined with bright flowers.

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Then we reach a large metal tower.

Which we are invited to climb.

Nearly to the top.

For a great view over the Forest Canopy.

We get close to Orchids up here.

And birds. Cream-coloured Woodpecker. (One of my targets.)

Chestnut Woodpecker.

Cobalt-winged Parakeet.

Opal-rumped Tanager.

Gilded Barbet.

Orange-winged Amazon Parrot.

Mealy Amazons

White-throated Toucan.

Amazonian Trogon.

Plum-throated Continga.

Many-banded Aracari.

Male Double-toothed Kite.

Female Double-toothed Kite.

Still paddling!

A Whitewinged Swallow and some roosting Long-nosed Bats.

Rufescent Tiger Heron.

Water Hyacinths choked the waterways

A Ladder-tailed Nightjar.

A footpath into the Yasuni National Park.

Onward and upward.

To a Parrot lick. They need the clay as some nuts they eat are poisonous.

They are mainly Cobalt-winged but some Orange-cheeked too.

The slow exposure makes a impressionist picture.

Scarlet Macaw.

A fine Caterpillar.

And a small frog in a hollow reed.

Beaver-tailed Lizard. (Uracentron flaviceps.)

Crested Owls.

Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl.

Brown Nunlet.

Pied Plover.

Blue Swallowtail.

A small harmless snake.

We meet up with Marielle, Tom and Peter in Coca.

During a techncial stop E grabs what may be her last bite.

Otobo supervises the loading of supplies as we head down Via Aucas.

Our warning sign.

A map showing approximately where we are going.

We embark on two canoes with the instructions that plane will come for us in 8 days time.

A stop for lunch by the river. Miles from anywhere and nowhere..

Well it beats a picnic in the park.

Everyone still in good spirits.

We make camp further downstream. This is our Restaurant.

This is my room for the night. I left my shoes out but nobody cleaned them!

This is our lunch stop on the second day.

Blue Macaws watch us eat.

White-throated Toucan.

Our camp for the second night.

We get ready to move off on our third morning in the Jungle.

Marielle goes ahead with the 'supply boat.' We will drift slowly.

Another picnic by the river.

We are being observed.

Domingo takes it easy. He is on foreign soil here.

Laughing Falcon.

Swallow-tailed Kite.

Great Pottoo.

Grey Hawk.

Blue-crowned Trogon. Female.

We arrive at our camp in Otobo's village.

We opt for more shelter. Our promised bungalows have 'collapsed'.

The 'Mess tent' where we take our meals for the next five days.

Butterflies abound. Blue.

Red.

Metallic Green.

Leaf Green. You name it. One will come along.

We set off on a Jungle walk.

Bridges are a bit rudimentary.

Some more rudimentary than others.

We had encouraged Domingo Gualinga, our guide at Sani, to come down with us.

Begonia.

Another pink one.

Mr. Gullible, of Gullible's Travels, gets down to it.

Parrots everywhere.

Orange Cheeked.

Cobalt-winged.

Otobo's parents come by for Christmas lunch.

Amazon Kingfisher.

Great Black Hawk.

Spider Monkeys. We saw, Howler and others but too far off.

Carrying a small baby.

A lunch stop.

We are joined by Otobo's family from down river.

Otobo proudly shows off his new born son..

One of his daughters.

The other one. The man in fatigues is a cousin.

We scramble up a bank to go exploring.

Tom shows us a Poison Arrow Frog

Red and Green Macaw.

Stars and hero's. These two boys acted as E's personal assistants.

When we returned to the canoe we found Otobo had cut steps for us.

A great hearted man who deserves our thanks..

Blue and Yellow and Scarlet Macaws at the airstrip.

Mr G at Check In.

E at Security.

The baggage carousel is broken.

But we get airborne. We had two precationary landings on the way out.

Banos Cathedral. We landed at Puyo and took a cab.

Banos (Baths) on the Volcanic soil of the eastern Andes.

Tungurauha (16,240) is erupting. The town is on 'evacuation alert.'

We are now in Mindo in the high Andes. Access to our Lodge "El Monte".

Our room.

Lounge.

A Pottoo in the garden.

Orange-bellied Euphonia.

White-capped Dipper in the river.

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Many Orchids in the lush growth.

The all have names no doubt. Enjoy.

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Back on the trail with our guide.

We visit a Butterfly Farm in the village.

Again I have no idea of their names and to guess would mislead.

Green.

Red and black.

Blue.

Brown and white.

Black and white Swallowtail?

We find another target bird. Cock of the Rock.

Golden-crowned Quetzal

Rufous-crowned Mot Mot.

Chestnut-mandibled Toucan.

Crimson-rumped Toucanet.

Sun Bittern. Worshiped by the Incas.

Grey Agouti.

Andean Red Squirrel.

Land Crab.

Lantern flower.

Racket-tailed Puffleg.

Collared Inca is much bigger.

Blue-winged Mountain Tanagers.

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We leave for a trip over the Andes via Papallacta pass.

We are now at 14,000 feet. It is quite cool after the lowlands.

This is a Many-striped Canastero.

Tawny Ant-Pitta.

Plain coloured Seedeater. (not very imaginative names.)

A Long-tailed Weasel. Our guide Gabrielle had never seen one.

Broad-winged Hawk.

The improbable Sword-billed Hummingbird.

Barred Becard.

Another Sword bill at the feeder.

Andean river. We found Torrent Ducks here.

Fawn-breasted Brilliant. Tourmaline Sun Angel behind.

Rufous-vented White-tip and Long-tailed Sylph.

Long-tailed Sylph. San Isidro.

Our room at Cabanas San Isidro. By far the nicest place we stayed.

Day lounge.

White-breasted Ant Pitta.

Another of the very photogenic Long-tailed Sylphs.

Red-eared Agouti.

A Tyrranine Woodcreeper.

Inca Jay

Back over the Papallacta pass.

Antisana (18,712') is also erupting.

Green-crowned Brilliant and an Andean Emerald just arrivng.

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird.

Blue-tailed Emerald feeding. Advice sought on the one landing.