Cloud Forest and Rain Forest
The ecosystem at Vilcabamba is called « Cloud Forest » …lush, semi-tropical vegetation often shrouded in mist, and ful of very exotic birds (feathered variety!) …not many animals. After a few days in the Podocarpus bird park we moved on. We drove through Zamora and Bombuscara to a hostel called Copalinga, run by a Belgian couple. Beautiful surroundings; very much « bird-oriented ». We met a group of American birdwatchers …strange creatures who spend their days rushing round the forest, dragging huge cameras, tripods, notebooks and binoculars with them. The objective seems to be to see the maximum number of species possible during the day …then spending the evening ticking them off on enormous checklists, and twittering about « Crimson-crested, Lesser-spotted Frooble Warblers » ….a bit like train spotters, but without the plastic anoraks …
Our next stop was supposed to be a little hostel on a riverbank in the forest. However, when we saw it we changed our minds! Picture if you can a derelict wooden hotel, falling to bits …with a dead rat on the front doorstep …chickens running about in the kitchen …and a humidity of around 120%! So we drove back to Zamora and on up to Cuenca …an uneventful trip until we decided to continue from Riobamba to Banos … we were warned that the diect road ran next to an active volcano (Tungurahua), currently on yellow alert, but a different surprise awaited us when we drove round one bend at the foot of the volcano …an enormous gaping chasm right in front of us! Heavy rain cascading down the volcano had taken the trail away completely. We had to return to Riobamba and take a more round-about road to Banos. The excellent and cheap little hostel in Banos is run by an English guy and is complete with three talking parrots who have learned to giggle exactly like a group of drunken teenage girls ….and they didn’t stop all day long! The hostel organised our Amazon trip …and a visit to the local steam baths! You sit in a sort of closed box, filled with eucalyptus leaves, and with just your head sticking out of the top …and there are steam pipes inside! The torture consists of 10 minutes steam, then ice-cold water is sponged over you …then another 10 minutes steam, followed by buckets of ice-cold water poured over you …then 5 minutes steam followed by sitting in a tub of ice-cold water …and finally another 5 minutes steam followed by a high-pressure, ice-cold jet of water sprayed all over you!!! …….AND you have to PAY for it!! We came out looking like boiled lobsters, and smelling like menthol throat sweets!!! Oh the things we do for fun!!
On our last morning, just before we left, we actually caught a glimpse of the summit of the volcano between the clouds …huge plumes of grey smoke pouring out of the top!
Living in Banos is like sitting on a time bomb …you know the volcano will explode …but you don’t now when!!
After banos we went on our 4-day Amazon Rain Forest trip (Rain Forest is like Cloud Forest ….but much wetter!) We drove deep into the jungle to the Gareno Lodge. We had to leave the car on a trail; the last part was on foot through the forest. We stayed in a wooden cabin surrounded by dense jungle; the home of lots of birds including toucans, humming birds and Harpy eagles, butterflies, …and of course snakes, spiders, centipedes, giant worms (we found a very large Tarantula in a tree), …and jaguars and pumas. We spent our time on jungle treks with a guide and a native from the Houarani tribe (only discovered 40 years ago) The Houarani was naked except for a sort of narrow belt that held his « dangly bits » in place …to stop them from dingly-dangling. He walked around with a huge blowpipe and a quiver of poison arrows. In the course of our short stay, he taught us how to use the blowpipe, prepare curare poison for the arrows (we tasted it, a sort of liquorice flavour but very bitter), made us taste Lemon ants, how to climb enormous trees to gather fruit which he put in a palm-leaf basket he made. We tasted the fruit later. All very impressive but I think I’ll stick to McDonalds!
We also had a trip down the Napo river in a large pirogue propelled by a duff outboard motor that kept stopping! I wouldn’t have minded but the river was in full flood after heavy rain, and was full of huge tree trunks!! We visited another village downstream where we sampled cocoa beans, various herbs, and a drink made from bananas and manioc roots (no ill-effects so far!) The natives made us headdresses to wear, plaited from palm leaves …they said the hunters wear them for camouflage in the jungle. I reckon they just do it to make the tourists look stupid! …so they can have a good giggle!
Now we’re relaxing in a village called Misahualli on the banks of the Napo river. They have tame Cappucin monkeys in the village square. One of them spent 5 minutes looking for fleas in my hair! …and pulling hairs out with his teeth!!! (I don’t have a lot of hair left anyway …even less now!!) Got to go now ….off to the beach to soak up the sun!
The next blog update will probably not be before November, when we get back from Galapagos.
Hasta luego!!
The ecosystem at Vilcabamba is called « Cloud Forest » …lush, semi-tropical vegetation often shrouded in mist, and ful of very exotic birds (feathered variety!) …not many animals. After a few days in the Podocarpus bird park we moved on. We drove through Zamora and Bombuscara to a hostel called Copalinga, run by a Belgian couple. Beautiful surroundings; very much « bird-oriented ». We met a group of American birdwatchers …strange creatures who spend their days rushing round the forest, dragging huge cameras, tripods, notebooks and binoculars with them. The objective seems to be to see the maximum number of species possible during the day …then spending the evening ticking them off on enormous checklists, and twittering about « Crimson-crested, Lesser-spotted Frooble Warblers » ….a bit like train spotters, but without the plastic anoraks …
Our next stop was supposed to be a little hostel on a riverbank in the forest. However, when we saw it we changed our minds! Picture if you can a derelict wooden hotel, falling to bits …with a dead rat on the front doorstep …chickens running about in the kitchen …and a humidity of around 120%! So we drove back to Zamora and on up to Cuenca …an uneventful trip until we decided to continue from Riobamba to Banos … we were warned that the diect road ran next to an active volcano (Tungurahua), currently on yellow alert, but a different surprise awaited us when we drove round one bend at the foot of the volcano …an enormous gaping chasm right in front of us! Heavy rain cascading down the volcano had taken the trail away completely. We had to return to Riobamba and take a more round-about road to Banos. The excellent and cheap little hostel in Banos is run by an English guy and is complete with three talking parrots who have learned to giggle exactly like a group of drunken teenage girls ….and they didn’t stop all day long! The hostel organised our Amazon trip …and a visit to the local steam baths! You sit in a sort of closed box, filled with eucalyptus leaves, and with just your head sticking out of the top …and there are steam pipes inside! The torture consists of 10 minutes steam, then ice-cold water is sponged over you …then another 10 minutes steam, followed by buckets of ice-cold water poured over you …then 5 minutes steam followed by sitting in a tub of ice-cold water …and finally another 5 minutes steam followed by a high-pressure, ice-cold jet of water sprayed all over you!!! …….AND you have to PAY for it!! We came out looking like boiled lobsters, and smelling like menthol throat sweets!!! Oh the things we do for fun!!
On our last morning, just before we left, we actually caught a glimpse of the summit of the volcano between the clouds …huge plumes of grey smoke pouring out of the top!
Living in Banos is like sitting on a time bomb …you know the volcano will explode …but you don’t now when!!
After banos we went on our 4-day Amazon Rain Forest trip (Rain Forest is like Cloud Forest ….but much wetter!) We drove deep into the jungle to the Gareno Lodge. We had to leave the car on a trail; the last part was on foot through the forest. We stayed in a wooden cabin surrounded by dense jungle; the home of lots of birds including toucans, humming birds and Harpy eagles, butterflies, …and of course snakes, spiders, centipedes, giant worms (we found a very large Tarantula in a tree), …and jaguars and pumas. We spent our time on jungle treks with a guide and a native from the Houarani tribe (only discovered 40 years ago) The Houarani was naked except for a sort of narrow belt that held his « dangly bits » in place …to stop them from dingly-dangling. He walked around with a huge blowpipe and a quiver of poison arrows. In the course of our short stay, he taught us how to use the blowpipe, prepare curare poison for the arrows (we tasted it, a sort of liquorice flavour but very bitter), made us taste Lemon ants, how to climb enormous trees to gather fruit which he put in a palm-leaf basket he made. We tasted the fruit later. All very impressive but I think I’ll stick to McDonalds!
We also had a trip down the Napo river in a large pirogue propelled by a duff outboard motor that kept stopping! I wouldn’t have minded but the river was in full flood after heavy rain, and was full of huge tree trunks!! We visited another village downstream where we sampled cocoa beans, various herbs, and a drink made from bananas and manioc roots (no ill-effects so far!) The natives made us headdresses to wear, plaited from palm leaves …they said the hunters wear them for camouflage in the jungle. I reckon they just do it to make the tourists look stupid! …so they can have a good giggle!
Now we’re relaxing in a village called Misahualli on the banks of the Napo river. They have tame Cappucin monkeys in the village square. One of them spent 5 minutes looking for fleas in my hair! …and pulling hairs out with his teeth!!! (I don’t have a lot of hair left anyway …even less now!!) Got to go now ….off to the beach to soak up the sun!
The next blog update will probably not be before November, when we get back from Galapagos.
Hasta luego!!
4 commentaires:
And again a fascinate story, thanks. We wish you all the best and a very good trip to the galapagos.
Love HaJa
What! a whole month without news. It's going to be "lonely" without you but we eagerly look forward to the next episode. Please keep it coming.
Janny & Mike
How great to read you from time to time.
Internet is just the tool to leave HP and go travelling to the rain forest and hunting with naked men (by the way did not see any pictures from hunteresses?).
Just the day when I receive an e-mail requesting my signature to save the planet and pick the main environmental urgency I can see for future generations. Weird coincindence reading you are about to depart to Galapagos, on the tracks of Darwin, and that alarmist mail.
Anyway, carry on with your fascinating stories.
Love.
le Club des 5
Famille Wuillet bonjour La famille thevenin n'a pas pris le départ en même temps que vous mais nous sommes heureux de saluer les grands explorateurs que vous êtes. on dirait des jeunes mariés en voyage de noces. Profitez, profitez et revenez avec des souvenirs et des histoires plein la tête.
bonne suite ...a quand la patagonie ?
bises.
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