Page 4 of 4Rainforest Inhabitants
The area the Rio Napo supported was moderately populated with humans, much more than we had expected. Along the main river and canal tributaries lied many isolated thatched huts, as well as small villages.
Small settlement on the banks of the Napo River
Quite often we saw other people paddling up and down the rivers, and using them for daily tasks such as laundry and fishing. The two Indian tribes that populated this area were the Quechua and the Yasuni. They apparently are subsistence farmers and fisherman, but what I find interesting was that almost all of them had visible signs of the influence of what we would consider civilization. Clothing was prevalent, as was jewelry, and sometimes even generators and appliances. These people were living in both worlds.
Activities in the Rainforest
Fishing was one of the first activities we had the opportunity to try, and it turned out to be a very rewarding experience. We anchored the canoe at a turn in the river. Wimper cut up bamboo into six inch blocks, to which he tied some fishing line and a hook, which we baited with bits of a fish that he had caught the night before. It must have looked quite comical to Wimper and Irwin as we repeatedly attempted to throw the line about five meters out into the moving current where the fish were.
Irwin with his jaguar fish. Our guide, Wimper, is on the left.
Irwin quickly caught a very large jaguar fish, who's black stripes glistened in the sun against it's large, fat, one meter long body. It had probably ruled this turn in the river for many years, and I felt somewhat sad at it's final demise. Wimper whacked it with a stick to stun it and tied it up behind the boat. One of our Japanese friends finally caught a quite large Piranha, which gave us an opportunity to examine it's sharp, full rows of teeth, as well as trial it's taste later on that evening. The rest of us had no luck, and wished we had more time to catch our own Piranha.
Hiking through the rainforest was something we got to do a couple different times, and it provided us the opportunity to really feel the isolation and majestic awe of one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet. The first hike was a short jaunt straight up the hillside from the water's edge. Wimper is a native of these parts, whose mother is what we would call a medicine woman, so he is quite familiar with the different plants and other inhabitants of the rainforest. He pointed out many of these items during the hike.
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Wimper uses his machette to hack a path for us through the rainforest |
The most striking feature of the rainforest is the sheer diversity of plant species. Every square inch is covered with flora, and every plant is totally unique and completely different from the plant growing next to it. Trees twist and turn in all shapes and sizes, fungi grow in hundreds of color and patterns, moss grows in every nook and cranny, and every rock. The soil is so moist, and there is a constant drizzle that coats every surface. We were able to see some large termite nests hanging in the trees, and flowing lines of leafcutter ants carrying little pieces of leaves along the jungle floor in what could have been the millions.
Another hike took us from our hut back to the main river along a faintly marked trail that took about three hours to hike. Much of the time it was necessary to walk through deep mud, ford streams and climb over huge fallen logs. Along the way we still didn't see any animals, but we did see a cool tree that had a symbiotic relationship with a particular vine that encircled it and helped it live, but ended up eventually strangling it.
We also visited a large lagoon near one of the canals called "Lago de Pirana" (Piranha Lake). Despite the name, there were many kids swimming in the middle of it. Next to this is a giant tree which can be scaled by a set of circling stairways with at least 200 steps. At the top, you can see the canopy of the rainforest for miles in every direction, as well as a family of Vultures and some Falcons.
Looking at the "arbol grande" (big tree) from the canoe
View of the lagoon from the top of the tree
On the way back to Coca, we stopped at an island called Monkey Island, although strangely enough there were no Monkeys that we could see. We also stopped at a Biological Preserve to get gas, but we did not get a chance to explore the reserve itself. Supposedly, there was quite a lot of animal life there.
Transportation from Coca to Quito, Ecuador via Bus
The bus ride back to the capital city of Quito proved to be even more adventurous than the trip to Coca. While we were in the rainforest, there were some heavy storms and the road we had taken was washed out. Instead, we took a route through Lago Agrio, an oil town to the north, which added an extra hour onto the trip. More interestingly, though, were the two military checkpoints we had to pass through due to the high incident of guerilla activity in the area which was in dispute between Ecuador and Columbia.
At each checkpoint, the bus stopped, and all foreigners had to get off, walk through a checkpoint where we were questioned as to our purpose of visiting, occupation and had our passport checked. The bus drove across the checkpoint and we got back on. There were many tourists on this bus, and I actually got to do some translating between some Germans and the guards, because they didn't speak Spanish. The soldiers were mostly young recruits and didn't appear intimidating, corrupt or power hungry. Morning broke as we came down the winding roads into the capital city and saw a semblance of civilization once again. The rainforest was a fascinating adventure that was enriching and provided a truly unique experience not to be missed.
Ecuador
Rainforest
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