Trip to the oriente - 1 - Getting There

Dear Family and Friends

Nancy decided to send me on a fact finding mission to the amazon rain forest (the Ecuadorans call this part of the country the "oriente"). Our friend, Brad, is visiting us and has always wanted to see the rain forest, so we arranged to meet in Quito, then fly to Coca to join a tour of the Sacha Lodge. In the photo below, Brad looks like he is really enjoying the adventure.


I will use this blog to show and explain how we arrived at such a pleasant scene. What a contrast it was to fly to Quito, high above the avenue of the volcanoes, and arrive in hot, humid, Coca.


We were met at the Coca airport and whisked away to a rendezvous , where we paused for lunch, then boarded a launch on the river Napo




















After about two hours, we arrived at the Sacha Lodge dock.
But, we were not there yet. We had a 25 minute walk on a boardwalk across the swamp before we reached a quiet and serene lake.



The lodge, itself, is across the lake, which we crossed in canoes.



The first order of business was to get settled in our room, number 20 to the right of this cabin. We had a private bathroom with infinite hot water, a shaded porch with hammock, comfortable beds, and a ceiling fan (no air conditioning needed).



That evening we were introduced to our naturalist, David, and the other members of our group, a couple from the U.K. The five of ate our meals together the entire stay at our assigned table. Sacha Lodge is very well run; we often compared it to a luxury cruise ship. There was a large staff performing behind the scenes tasks to make our stay enjoyable.

After dinner we went on a night walk and saw many animals and insects, but, of course, there are no photos. In my next blog, I will focus on our tower adventures and the things we saw in the canopy.

Your friend and mine,

Chuck