Quito to Coca Transfer, Day 4 - 17 December 2021

Galivanting thru the Galapagos & the Amazon

Day 4 - Transfer from Quito to Coca, Ecuador - Friday, December 17, 2021

Up at 5:15am.  George up with me.  Managed to have everything divided up & outside the door by the 6:30am deadline.  George was tired – he had diarrhea all night!  He skipped breakfast & coffee!  Took an Imodium.  Left for the airport at 6:55am.  5 minutes before our deadline!  Yea!  Easy walk through security & had a lovely talk with a couple that were here on a horse back/amazon/Galapagos trip.  They are moving to Nicaragua.  Said God had told them to do it.  But other than that, they were really down to earth.  She was born near Houston & they had met & lived mostly in Georgia.  Anyway, passed the time.  The flight was short & easy.  Over cast, so couldn’t see much.

Then a short drive to the boat dock & we took a little walk in Coca.  Walked thru the market & tasted ice cream plant and all kinds of other stuff – wild grapes.  Saw a local specialty of Palm Larvae.  Hummmmm. Delfin described how the locals used many types of plants for medicines.  Had a tea for relaxation.   Watched several children in costume doing a local dance.  

Then about a one-hour motor canoe to Yarina Lodge on the Napo River, a tributary of the Amazon. In the words of writer Joe Kane in Running the Amazon: “The Amazon cannot be understood just as a river. It is a whole wilderness, a great integrated system of rivers and jungles.”  There was one other couple on the canoe - a young couple visiting from Switzerland.  They were adorable & were on their own with a personal guide.  We saw them on occasion during our stay.

Had lunch first, then checked into cottages & got settled.  Nice cabin.  Bird noises are amazing!!!  

Then on a walk in the jungle with our rubber boots & ponchos when it started raining. Lots of new experiences. Saw tons of squirrel monkeys playing the in trees about our heads. Amazing. He found a tiny poisonous frog & carefully showed him to us.  None of us touched him!!  Our local guide was Winter & he introduced us to much of the flora & fauna of our little jungle home.  They all got tickled at me because I called the young guide that always followed us Summer.  It only made sense to me!!!  Then at the end, Delfin found a white breasted toucan & got a picture of it on my phone with his spotting scope. Cool. Back to cabin to clean up a little, then returned to the Lodge for dinner. Eating way way too much!! Drank a whole big beer by myself! Whew. Heard a speckled owl, but didn’t see it. Delphin gave us our schedule for tomorrow.  Since several of us had expressed interest in the birds, he added an optional activity of a sunrise Birding tour!  Very excited about that, but we had to be ready to go at 6am!!!!!  Yipes!!!  Back to cabin & watched one Man in the Tall Castle. Bed about 9:45pm!!