Sunday, January 14, 2007

Where are my pants?






This morning we checked out of luxury and headed for the Amazon! We thought yesterday’s trip was bumpy, but the six hours on mainly “secondary” roads had us more shaken than the previous day. Lucky we did not ride continuously for the trip, before leaving the Andes it was time to climb one more mountain. This hike allowed us to see a different paramo environment. As we descended down Cayambe (13,000-14,000 ft), dressed ready for the Amazon, we wondered where our pants were! The wind and haze eventually let up and revealed beautiful lakes and unique plants to this particular paramo.

This trip really helped to highlight the differences in vegetation as we dropped about 10,000 feet in elevation to get to the Napo River where the Cabinas Alinahui could be found. Though the ride was long and sometimes uncomfortable, the trip to reach the Amazon was amazing. Every turn through the roads of the Andes provided us with another great view (except when we drove through a cloud forest which was just a big haze). On our trip there were llamas, waterfalls, beautiful peaks and valleys, plenty of cows and a pit stop for roadside bananas.

We finally arrived at Cabinas Alinahui and were shown to our cabins. Powered by solar electricity and propane heated hot water, we settled into our new, much warmer home for the next 3 days. Snack, hammocks, dinner, cerveza grande, and over three hours of “Uno” ended our first night in the Amazon. We braved the pitch black darkness, which made for a nice starry night, to meet our new bug friends in our cabins.





1 comment:

Christina and Tee Jay said...

These updates are just small glimpses into what seems like a one-of-a-kind, amazing adventure. You are truly sharing the experience with us in this blog, which is so pleasing!

But I have a quick question: what is Tee Jay eating?? :) Fish?? Avocado salad?? Will he return to the U.S. with a new outlook on dinner?