Un Pedazo del Paraiso

Imagine peace and tranquility. A breeze flowing through your hair. Lush green tropical forests. Comfortable chairs, the kind you can sleep in with ease. Mini splashes of water hitting your face as you travel across a wide river. That´s what awaited me six days ago when I embarked on my rainforest adventure to Napo Wildlife Center in the Yasuni National Park.

I knew almost nothing about Napo before my trip began. My mom found the location because, quite honestly, I was too lazy to research a good place to visit. I knew Napo had a strong reputation as far as rainforest excursions go, so I just went along with my mom´s suggestion. Suffice it to say I was more than pleased with the whole experience.

Napo Wildlife Center

A little history of Napo Wildlife Center...It was started in 2003 as a joint venture between the Arangu people and an independent nonprofit called EcoEcuador. After a few years working together to get the Center up and running, in 2007 the nonprofit turned the business completely over to the Anangu community. In minimal time, Napo Wildlife Center has surely made a name for itself as a quality lodge offering amazing excursions (I can attest to this) in pristine rainforest. Napo is constantly written up in magazines and newspapers around the world.

At Napo, each group of tourists has a local guide and a naturalist guide. This pairing truly provides a wholistic experience. The locals are well experienced in finding the animals and explaining medicinal plants, wereas the naturalists are educated about the environment, speak English and know the names of all the local fauna. Our guides were Miguel and Freddie. They formed a great team and were so professional and friendly. My mom and I were joined by 6 tourists from Holland for the first few days, but on our last full day, we had a private excusion.

The lodge is situated on the Anangu Lake and has 12 private cabañas. All the day trips start early, to follow the rhythm of the rainforest. We awoke between 4:30 and 6:00 every day, but we were always in bed by 10:00 (of course that was by choice). In the afternoons, we had a few hours to walk around the lodge, relax in a hammock or sleep. There are a few excursions everyone must take as tourists to Napo Wildlife Center: the lookout tower, which is situated 42 meters high above most of the canopy in a Kapok tree and the claylicks, where parrots and parakeets come to eat the mineral rich clay. We did both of those along with some walks around the Yasuni National Park and a few canoe rides through various creeks. The interesting thing about rainforests (and sometimes the most disappointing aspect) is that you can go down the same creek twice and see different wildlife. However, you can also go to an area that is known internationally for a specific animal and never see that species (in our case it was the claylicks...we think a hawk made the birds fearful of coming down).

My two favorite excursions were the canopy lookout tower and the last walk we took on the Tiputini trail. Though we only saw a few animals on the trail, the forest was supreme, and we had to tackle mud the whole way (which brightened the sense of adventure). Throughout our stay at Napo, we saw black caimans, snakes, monkeys, a red brocket deer, lizards, frogs, and loads of birds. The community recently started a camera project that photographs animals around the area via heat sensors. While we were unable to see cats, tapirs or pecaries in the forest, one night we did watch a slideshow of the photos taken by the cameras. That was pretty neat. The data taken by the cameras will enable scientists to study the animal populations more easily and provide obvious reasons for keeping this primary forest intact.

We (sadly) departed from the rainforest yesterday. Our time there wasn´t enough, but then again, I don´t know if I´d ever be ready to leave. I could have spent a few days there just reading in a hammock and listening to the birds. Plus, there are always more things to see...like the river otter.

Tomorrow we are departing South America, thus concluding my four months of Ecuador Explorin, thus completing my dream. I´ll be sure to follow up with one more entry in the next week or so. Now to pack and then to bed for a few hours before my 3:30 taxi ride to the airport.

Cheers to Everyone!

Becky