Arriving at the lodge with temperatures around 30C and humidity over 90% was as hard to adjust to as the thin air we had left behind in Quito. Within 10 minutes of a refreshing shower it felt like you needed another.
The lodge was full, so there were nearly 50 people which meant that the routine was very regimented - not quite our style - but since this is the only organised part of our trip we had to fit in. Our guide, Luis, was excellent with an apparently encyclopaedic knowledge of the flora and fauna of the area. He also knew a lot about the way the indigenous peoples had used many of the plants.
During our stay we managed a couple of long hikes in the forest (about 4 hours each) where we could see the wide diversity of trees, plants and insects while trying to keep an eye on the monkeys in the canopy above us - Capucins, Squirrel Monkeys, Marmosets and Tamarins - at the same time we could hear the Red Howler monkeys in the distance.
We also had a couple of canoe trips on the lagoon and on the Napo river with some great bird sightings and since the water level was so low we also had a couple of encounters with the Arapaima. These fish can grow to about 400lbs and one female was so concerned that we were threatening her brood that first she bit the guide's paddle and took it out of his hand and then battered the canoe a couple of times. We tried to avoid upsetting her on our subsequent trips!
The night walk and canoe rides were fascinating since it gave us the chance to see bats fishing and also to get a glimpse of the caimans.
Ecuador is the most biologically diverse country on the planet with more species per square mile than any other and while we didn't see many of the mammals we certainly saw a good variety of birds and plants and insects. It will be interesting to see how this compares with our trip to the cloud forests.
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