This is Sumaco Volcano, which gives the region it's name. It last erupted in the late 1800's. A bit like Mt Taranaki, it is rarely seen due to cloud.
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| Taken from the bus from the side of the road as we left. |
Breakfast was a respectable 7am this morning, fried eggs, chopped sausage fried with celery and an empanada that was flavoured with banana and soft white cheese. They are meant to be really puffy with not much filling, but of course the whingers amongst the group complained that it wasn't filled properly. Sigh.
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| Full of air, but delicious |
I managed to dribble some of the filling on my clean, newly purchased t-shirt from Sumaco Lodge.
This view, also from the bus, looks towards the east and our guide says that from here to the Atlantic are the Amazon lowlands, with no significant elevation between here and the coast. That makes it the largest expanse of rainforest in the world and it is so big it has it's own microclimate.
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| Pretty much flat, alllll the way to the Atlantic |
He also said that frogs lay their eggs in the grasses here, and when the river floods, the eggs get washed downstream. So frogs from the same family are found all the way out to the eastern coast, and this has been verified by dna testing. When it's in flood, the river can reach up to 8km across.
We headed off about 7.45am, with much tetris packing to get the vast quantities of gear into the bus. We've swapped to an actual small bus this time and there is more room. Kenny is sitting directly in front of me, and every now and then he catches the seat release lever, and comes lunching back towards me.
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| Our ride |
The route was basically back the way we came on Monday and as luck would have it, the road was closed yesterday but re-opened again today. It's very steep and windy, think the Remutaka hill road only about 4 hours worth. Limited opportunities to overtake, so we were stuck behind lorries or buses on several occasions. But the bus driver is really good, he is cautious enough to feel safe and confident, and fast enough to actually get where we are going in a reasonable time.
One truck actually stopped on the hill to let us past. It was carrying a load of palm to make oil.
"Should be banned" shouted Jeremy from the back. Mr Privileged flying business class from Heathrow, with a lens the size of a small child, thinks he can dictate such things, with no thought for the impact banning it will have on an already poor nation.
Life seems pretty tough here. Houses are made from rough sawn planks, that look like they are not even lined. Very few have glass windows, most just have wooden shutters to close them. They are very small as well. On the main road, we saw a few people walking. While there are buses, they are obviously not frequent enough, so people walk. They seem to have very little. I feel conflicted about how wealthy we must seem to them, while knowing we bring money to the country. I happy to tip, and buy local stuff.
We stopped around lunchtime at a bird watching place, for about an hour and a half. Amazing what different birds were here compared to Sumaco. It absolutely pelted down while were sheltered in the hide (open sided shelter with a tin roof) and I got some good shots of the birds in the rain. Different hummingbirds, a female Cock of the Rock (does that make it a Fanny of the Rock?) and some Jays. I'm pretty ignorant of the bird varieties, but one of our guides Paulo is making a list, and we've apparently seen 90 different species already.
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| The bird hide |
From left, one of our guides Paulo, one of the hide guides, Guy, Cat, Jeremy with the lens the size of a small child, Kenny, Ali (partly obscured by Kenny) and Rhona. Carole is behind Kenny.
The guy who owns the bird watching business only started it a few years ago and has been slowly encouraging the birds to come. It's right on the edge of Sumaco National Park.
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| Scenery from the bus |
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| Trees down on the road |
Yes the trees are fully into the oncoming lane. Imagine hitting those in the dark!
We eventually arrived at Guango Lodge at about 2.15pm, where we are staying for the next few days. It is at a high elevation, 2800 metres, so roughly as high as Mt Ruapehu. So it is noticeably colder and I've broken out my woolies and warmest jersey. We are advised to drink plenty of water while we acclimatise to the elevation. I haven't noticed yet but have done no real exercise since arriving here. I guess I'll find out on our night walk tonight.
Lunch was delicious, empanada for entree, pork for mains and another dessert. I also found out that the moist cakey pudding as per last night is soaked in something called tres leche- 3 milks, a combination of condensed milk, evaporated milk and normal milk.
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| Tres leche pudding |
It's a beautiful lodge. The rooms are very small but functional and it's a lovely location.
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| Guango lodge tucked amongst the trees |
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| My room |
The upstairs lounge where the fire is going at the moment and I'm writing the blog. I can hear the river nearby.
We spent the afternoon in the humming bird viewing areas, and again, the species are completely different from both Sumaco and the lunchtime stop.
There is one called a sylph and it is my mission to capture this in flight. It is stunningly coloured with a really long tail, but is so FAST and flitty, doesn't hover very much at all. It is going to be a challenge that's for sure.
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| Sylph, photo from wikipedia |
Dinner is at 7pm and then we are going to walk down to the river in borrowed gumboots to look for critters. Apparently there is some kind of rare duck that is sometimes here. The bird geeks in the group are hoping to a) see it and b) photograph it.
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