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Story and photography by Manos Angelakis
Wet & Wild – My Amazon Adventure.
I have to admit that, sometimes, the anticipation of an event turns out to be much more satisfying that the actual journey itself.
This has been my experience on my recent travel to the Amazon.
For years, I wanted to visit the famous rainforest of the Amazon Basin but whenever I planned a trip there, something would happen to cause a postponement (which was never taken up again) or an outright cancellation. Therefore, this time, when the organizer of our Ecuadorian trip informed me that our journey would include a visit to an eco-resort in the Amazon Basin, I was delighted to be able to finally visit that part of the world.
 Oy… what a mistaka I maka!!!
First, I have to admit that I’m older now, which means that I’m not as immune to the tropical heat and humidity as I was 30 years ago, when I first became interested in the Amazon. Second, I’m also much more susceptible to high-altitude discomfort, and we began our trip in Quito at about 9,300 ft. above sea level, got to almost 15,000 ft. to get over the Andean peaks, and finally ended at about 1,600 ft. into the Napo River Valley; the Napo River is the last major tributary of the Amazon River. Third, I somehow overlooked the fact that it is called “the rainforest” for a very good reason… it rains most of the time!
 The eco-camp is called “Cotococha Lodge”, a lodge with 21 guest cabins (casitas) that sits on the edge of the Sumaco, Cayambe and Cuyabeno Reserves. It is located at the riverbank, amongst jungle trees and bamboo groves, jungle flowers and orchids. The fairly comfortable casitas have no electricity, but have running hot and cold water – two lit oil-lamps are delivered every evening to the casita’s porch, and the running water is barely filtered river water warmed by the sun. The soap and shampoo are biodegradable. Fresh bottled drinking water is provided daily, as are all meals – simple, but very tasty and ample buffets. So much care is taken not to interfere with the local fauna that, should an insect get into the screen-walled cabin, guests are asked not to kill it, but to release it back outside. The camp is charmingly attractive in a rustic, environmentally correct way.
The other camp visitors were mostly from the United States, both singles and couples, plus there were some French and Irish couples and a small German group. As this was the beginning of the rainy season, I thought that there would be a lot less visitors, but the camp was fully booked; so I had to share the casita with the  other male journalist that was part of our small group of three.
It had started raining halfway up the road that led to the Andes, about 2 hours after we left Quito (the entire trip was about 5 hours each way), and did not stop until we returned. That meant two days of being thoroughly soaked. It was my fault, my musings about the Amazon included roughing it; so caught up in my youthful fantasies I did not take a rain poncho  or other waterproof gear with me... I was supposed to be roughing it after all. There was mud everywhere – and though my boots were supposedly waterproof, my feet were quickly squishing in wet socks while walking in the jungle for a visit to a Quichua indigenous tribe. After going down the swift Napo River rapids in a long narrow canoe with an outboard, we were taken to a community structure away from both the lodge and the village. Here the tribe’s women showed us their  artisanship making ceramic pottery from local clay, decorating it with tiny feather brushes, and glossing it with the heated resin from a local tree. There were fires at both ends of the long hall that were used by a couple of the tribe’s teenagers to warm up, not to fire the clay. My Amazon fantasy included seeing in the river a giant anaconda, or having vampire bats fly by, or being chased by headhunters (thank you Mr. Spielberg for that particular vision). Thankfully, I was disappointed on all counts.
Our "cabins" were basically thatch-roofed, screened platforms; they were roomy and comfortable, each containing three queen-sized beds. We bought from the resort’s bar a nice bottle of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, unfortunately not chilled, and sat on the casita’s  porch sharing the wine, talking, and listening to the rain, the river, and the sounds of tree frogs and crickets close by. When the bottle was empty, I bid my companions goodnight, took a very brief cold shower, and went to bed. Turned the oil-lamp very low, just enough so it was not pitch black inside the room. Outside it was still pouring rain.
In the middle of the night, about 3:30 or so, a great scream scared the bejeebers out of me. I saw my cabin-mate jumping up and down in the middle of the room and searching for his flashlight (a flashlight is an absolute necessity since there is no electricity in the cabins). I asked him what was wrong, and he said he thought there was a big lizard or other large creature on his pillow that woke him up when it mussed his hair. I thought it might have been a vampire bat but did not share that with him until much, much later! Search as we may, we found nothing untoward, so he finally calmed down and climbed back into bed after very carefully examining and re-examining the bed covers.
Very early the next morning we had a hearty breakfast and our guide showed up ready for the 5-hour drive back to Quito.
So, this was my wet and wild Amazon adventure! I was constantly wet, and was in the middle of a wild tropical jungle. As we were departing, I thought of W. C. Field’s purported epitaph “All things considered, I’d rather be in Philadelphia”. I was in complete agreement with that.
© August 2010 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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