At the Quito airport - Aeropuerto
Mariscal Sucre
|
The Quito skyline from our room
at the Hotel Alameda
|
Liza with Peter English of VENT
in Quito
|
Forget jetways - walking to our plane
for our flight to Coca
|
View of Antisana (volcano) from
the airplane (photo by Peter English)
|
Welcome to Coca! Behind all those
weeds, the sign says "Bienvenidos"
|
Coca is an oil company town with
a bit of a rough reputation. We asked
if one could walk between the dock
and the airport; the reply was, "that's
farther than you want to walk in Coca."
"Is it dangerous even in the daylight?"
one person asked. "No," our guide
replied, "it's just ugly."
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Coca's main street
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Yasuni National Park occupies
a fair chunk of the area, borders
subject to arbitrary shifting
|
We hung out for awhile at La Mision,
a hotel in Coca on the Rio Napo,
where we got our first looks at (tame)
Black-headed Parrots...
|
...and Orange-winged Parrots
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The broad Rio Napo
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About an hour down the Rio Napo
in Pompeya Sur, where this truck
took us ~55 km down the Maxus Rd
(built by an oil company that went
bankrupt)
|
Destination was the Tiputini 2 bridge,
where after a short birdwatching stop...
|
...we got into another boat for a
two-hour ride down the Rio Tiputini
|
The Tiputini river (photo by
Peter English)
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Our destination - the Tiputini Biodiversity
Station, built by the University of San
Francisco in Quito on land purchased
by Boston University
|
Another view of Tiputini (photo
by Peter English)
|
At TBS, one could really feel
"away from it all"
|
A beautiful heliconia in the
rainforest at TBS
|
If you want to see canopy birds
in the rainforest, a 130-ft tower built
around a Ceiba tree is just the ticket,
unless you don't like heights, in which
case don't look down through the steps!
|
Victor Emanuel mans the scope
in the Tiputini tower shortly
after dawn
|
More views from the tower (photo
by Peter English)
|
ditto...
|
ditto again
|
Robert peruses his field guide
outside our room, while Liza's
boots stand guard
|
Robert on the trail at Tiputini
|
Afternoon canoe ride -
Disney jungle cruise, eat
your heart out
|
Reboarding the boat starting the
journey to Sacha Lodge
|
Liza and Robert on the boat
|
Not bad for a big canoe
|
Peter English of VENT
is happy to be in the jungle
|
Victor scans the shoreline
from the boat
|
Once again at Pompeya Sur - after
getting thoroughly soaked in a downpour
on the boat ride
|
Liza soaked and not bothering
to dry off
|
First look at Sacha Lodge
|
Sacha Lodge
|
A raised (and rickety) walkway
leads to the cabins at Sacha
|
Our cabin! So no giant
cockroaches here - only bedbugs
and smaller cockroaches that
flew :-(
|
Robert on an afternoon boat ride
|
Liza, Robert, and Victor in the
boat
|
View of Sacha from the boat
dock
|
Robert and Liza standing
in the lake
|
Group on the boat
|
Sacha sunset
|
Happy New Year!
|
Victor and Robert
|
View from the boat
|
Another boat shot |
Returning to Coca, which
interestingly looked better than
when we left! |
Robert and Peter supposedly
looking at a Laughing Gull,
which would have been only
the third record of that bird
in eastern Ecuador |
Final group dinner |
Musician Wren (photo by
Peter English) |
Fasciated Antshrike (photo by
Peter English) |
