|
Caroline and I arrived at Quito airport after a gruelling flight at about quarter to midnight. As we pulled ourselves through the thin air in Quitos main airport we were relieved to see Joe and Paulo with a GVI sign who kindly took us back to the hostel where we were staying. The altitude slowed us down a lot but we were soon leaving Quito on an old bus with all our gear jammed in. We headed south through the valley of volcanoes before heading east to the town of Baņos. The roads deteriorated and became steeper as we descended into the cloud forests on the edge of the amazon. After an incredible fast paced journey through the Andes we arrived in Puyo, a small jungle town. It really felt like a pioneer town on the edge of the wilderness where the people were fighting back the jungle. Whilst in Puyo I ate one of the best steaks I have ever tasted and as a group we had the chance to get to know one another. There were only 5 volunteers at this stage but together with 3 leaders (Nick, Joe and Nicky) and two interns (Paulo and Neets) we made a group of 10. The day before our flight to Pavacachi we visited an animal sanctuary where we got the opportunity to see some of the animals that we thought we would see in the forest. We saw Tapir, Capybara, Wooly monkeys, a young red howler monkey, macaws (scarlet and blue and yellow), caiman, turtles and a variety of others |
|
The following day we were off. We took pick up trucks to the airport, which was nothing, more than a strip of tarmac in the forest. In the airport we met a guide for one of the very popular luxury lodges in the amazon. On hearing that we were flying for an hour to Pavacachi he remarked that we would almost be in Peru, and he was quite right as Pavacachi is situated deep in the heart of the forest well away from any roads. After sorting and weighing our gear we boarded the plane having to leave some of our less essential supplies behind. We were reliably informed that it would be flown to us in the following days |
|
|
As we took of and flew east over the forest we saw civilisation rapidly disappear and after about ten minutes there was only the occasional clearing below us. Being in the air truly gave us an idea of the size of the forest. The trees disappeared into the clouds uninterrupted in all directions apart from the scratch caused by the rivers flowing through it. |