Thursday morning we drove from Rio Verde through Tena to Shangrila, our lodge in the rain forest about 35 minutes outside Tena. The drive took us about 5 hours due to the problem with the broken spring on the Truck and the fact that we had to travel about 40 km on dirt road. Once again, the drive was very beautiful. We travelled through the lushly vegetated countryside decorated with the corals and pinks of the impatiens.
Tena is situated at the foot of the Andes about 500 meters above sea level in el Oriente, the Eastern part of the Amazon. It is a small city of about 26,000 and has expanded rapidly during the past 10 years. Unfortunately, they say that the area covered by the rain forest has been halved in the same period. Also concerning is the fact that the Ecuadorian government has just approved the re-direction of half of the water from the Napo River (the ninth largest tributary leading into the Amazon) to Tena in order to satisfy the water supply to the city. The Napo River feeds the rain forest. Tena is often considered as one of the gateways into the Amazon.
One of the other threats to the bio-diversity of Ecuador, is the oil production. While looking for more information on this, I discovered this quote in Wikipedia:
"The impact of oil exploitation in Eastern Ecuador is now notorious as a result of a long-running $6 billion lawsuit involving 30,000 Amazon forest dwellers and Texaco, once one of the world's largest energy companies but now part of Chevron. In the 25 years that Texaco operated in the Oriente region of the Western Amazon, the oil company spilled 17 million gallons of crude oil into the local river systems (by comparison, the Exxon Valdez only spilled 11 million gallons in Alaska in 1989), dumped more than 20 billion gallons of toxic drilling by-products, and cleared forest for access roads, exploration, and production activities. As of the mid-1990s, lands once used for farming lay bare and hundreds of waste pits remained. In August 1992, a pipeline rupture caused a 275,000-gallon (1.04 million L) spill which caused the Rio Napo to run black for days and forced downstream Peru and Brazil to declare national states of emergency for the affected regions." (downloaded June 5, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tena,_Ecuador).
Once again, we were told that there is some concern amongst the citizens of Ecuador, that the money received from the oil is being ploughed back into the economy of Ecuador as opposed to the off-shore bank accounts of the elite or government officials.
Tena has a highly developed indigenous political community. As a result, according to our guide Miguel, the government provides a lot of support for the indigenous peoples including education, which, according to our guide, may also detract from the assistance given to the non-indegenous population. The area around Tena also supports a lot of volunteer projects in areas such as reforestration and wildlife
However, problems apart, Ecuador is a very beautiful country, with high mountains, volcanoes, fast flowing rivers, and an active indegenous culture.
Shangrila is situated high above the Anzu River, which runs into the Napo River. Our room was on the top level of the wooden lodge and our view extended over the river to the primary and secondary rain forest which stretched as far as we could see with the Andes as a backdrop at the end of the horizon. In the morning we woke up to see the rain clouds drifting through the sky, covering the river and the trees, then allowing us partial glimpses, then clearing around breakfast time to give us the full beauty of the view. It was stunning and many in our group were completely awe-struck.
We had two full, busy, and exciting days at the Lodge. In the morning of the first day, we were taken for a 4 and a half hour trek through the rainforest with a naturalist guide, Miguel. We trekked up a narrow (about 2 to 3 feet) river bed, struggling through the sandy bottom over rocks and boulders, squeezing through bat-filled rock crevices, scrambling up small waterfalls, and getting thoroughly soaked with all the water which came from every direction, underfoot, from waterfalls above us, and from the rocks in the crevices. It was an awesome experience. The scenery was lush, and the shapes of the leaves from the palms and ferns provided beauty which can only be experienced from visiting the remote landscape that our strenuous river walk had led us to. We saw one of the most poisonous snakes in the jungle - sorry, but I didn´t catch the name. In fact, I walked right past it as it lay curled up at the side of the stream, then our guide who was just behind me, jumped back, and told us all to stop and be very careful and not to get too close. Of course, we were all brave souls, and crept as close as we could to get a good picture. Then it moved, and slowly, unwound its 3 meters of slim, round, body, and glided slowly away from us up the bank. The fruit bats too were amazing. There were hundreds of them flying around or hanging upside down from the rock, as we disturbed their habitat while squeezing our way between the crevices of rock rising up from either side of the river, but they never touched us. The flew so silently, and seemed like black velvet moving swiftly above us. In contrast, the smell of their urine was putrid, and touching all the slime on the rocks made us squirm as we thought of bat urine and bat shit. Once through the crevice, we quickly rinsed our hands off in the freezing cold river water.
In the afternoon of the same day, we went tubing on the Jatunyacu River. This was a tame, but enjoyable, affair, with three pods of 5 inner tubes tied together on which we sat and floated calmly down the river. We stopped off at a Chachi indegenous community called Santa Monica and visited one of the families to learn about indenous life. We tasted some of their fruits, drinks, and food, and learned about the healing properties of the various plants in the forest. Then it was back on the tubes to float down the river to the Lodge. We arrived after dark, and had to climb up the dark cliffside on a narrow, and in some cases circular, staircase, about 80 meters to the Lodge - - carrying our tube. We certainly had our exercise that day!
The next day, we were up early and off in a pick up truck for a 45 minute drive into the forest to Amarongachi Lodge to do a waterfall hike. You might think this sounds relaxing. No, not at all. It was another 4 and half hours of strenuous trekking. This time as well as climbing up another stream, we also climbed up 4 waterfalls, one about 80 feet with the help of a rope. The guides tied a rope around our waist so that if we fell, we would not hit the bottom. It was thrilling to have the cold water pounding down on top of you as you tried to find foot holes in the rock and the guides yelling instructions at you as to how to make it! Then we climbed up through the jungle on to the top of a ridge and down the other side back to the Lodge. In the afternoon it poured. Not that that mattered. We had already spent 2 days being absolutely soaked from the water of the rivers we had climbed up, tubed through, or swum in.
Ray and I drove back to Shangrila in the back of the pick-up, shivering cold, but enjoying the company of an indengenous family, and the 45 minute drive through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world and watching the peaks of the Andes float in and out of the white rain clouds produced by the eco system of the rain forest.
Our stay at Shangrila gave us a super experience of everyday life in the Amazon jungle.
**UPDATE*** The following update was published at https://www.brendansadventures.com/travel-guides/ecuador-travel-guides/tena-ecuador/
"Please note that due to a very unfortunate incident on October 21, 2011 the Shangri-La Lodge burned to the ground. Julio will still be able to offer you excursions in other locations… but the Shangri-La is no longer. I will update once it has been decided it the lodge will be reconstructed. We are very sad about the fire, and my heart goes out to my very good friends who run the lodge."
Tena is situated at the foot of the Andes about 500 meters above sea level in el Oriente, the Eastern part of the Amazon. It is a small city of about 26,000 and has expanded rapidly during the past 10 years. Unfortunately, they say that the area covered by the rain forest has been halved in the same period. Also concerning is the fact that the Ecuadorian government has just approved the re-direction of half of the water from the Napo River (the ninth largest tributary leading into the Amazon) to Tena in order to satisfy the water supply to the city. The Napo River feeds the rain forest. Tena is often considered as one of the gateways into the Amazon.
One of the other threats to the bio-diversity of Ecuador, is the oil production. While looking for more information on this, I discovered this quote in Wikipedia:
"The impact of oil exploitation in Eastern Ecuador is now notorious as a result of a long-running $6 billion lawsuit involving 30,000 Amazon forest dwellers and Texaco, once one of the world's largest energy companies but now part of Chevron. In the 25 years that Texaco operated in the Oriente region of the Western Amazon, the oil company spilled 17 million gallons of crude oil into the local river systems (by comparison, the Exxon Valdez only spilled 11 million gallons in Alaska in 1989), dumped more than 20 billion gallons of toxic drilling by-products, and cleared forest for access roads, exploration, and production activities. As of the mid-1990s, lands once used for farming lay bare and hundreds of waste pits remained. In August 1992, a pipeline rupture caused a 275,000-gallon (1.04 million L) spill which caused the Rio Napo to run black for days and forced downstream Peru and Brazil to declare national states of emergency for the affected regions." (downloaded June 5, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tena,_Ecuador).
Once again, we were told that there is some concern amongst the citizens of Ecuador, that the money received from the oil is being ploughed back into the economy of Ecuador as opposed to the off-shore bank accounts of the elite or government officials.
Tena has a highly developed indigenous political community. As a result, according to our guide Miguel, the government provides a lot of support for the indigenous peoples including education, which, according to our guide, may also detract from the assistance given to the non-indegenous population. The area around Tena also supports a lot of volunteer projects in areas such as reforestration and wildlife
However, problems apart, Ecuador is a very beautiful country, with high mountains, volcanoes, fast flowing rivers, and an active indegenous culture.
Shangrila is situated high above the Anzu River, which runs into the Napo River. Our room was on the top level of the wooden lodge and our view extended over the river to the primary and secondary rain forest which stretched as far as we could see with the Andes as a backdrop at the end of the horizon. In the morning we woke up to see the rain clouds drifting through the sky, covering the river and the trees, then allowing us partial glimpses, then clearing around breakfast time to give us the full beauty of the view. It was stunning and many in our group were completely awe-struck.
We had two full, busy, and exciting days at the Lodge. In the morning of the first day, we were taken for a 4 and a half hour trek through the rainforest with a naturalist guide, Miguel. We trekked up a narrow (about 2 to 3 feet) river bed, struggling through the sandy bottom over rocks and boulders, squeezing through bat-filled rock crevices, scrambling up small waterfalls, and getting thoroughly soaked with all the water which came from every direction, underfoot, from waterfalls above us, and from the rocks in the crevices. It was an awesome experience. The scenery was lush, and the shapes of the leaves from the palms and ferns provided beauty which can only be experienced from visiting the remote landscape that our strenuous river walk had led us to. We saw one of the most poisonous snakes in the jungle - sorry, but I didn´t catch the name. In fact, I walked right past it as it lay curled up at the side of the stream, then our guide who was just behind me, jumped back, and told us all to stop and be very careful and not to get too close. Of course, we were all brave souls, and crept as close as we could to get a good picture. Then it moved, and slowly, unwound its 3 meters of slim, round, body, and glided slowly away from us up the bank. The fruit bats too were amazing. There were hundreds of them flying around or hanging upside down from the rock, as we disturbed their habitat while squeezing our way between the crevices of rock rising up from either side of the river, but they never touched us. The flew so silently, and seemed like black velvet moving swiftly above us. In contrast, the smell of their urine was putrid, and touching all the slime on the rocks made us squirm as we thought of bat urine and bat shit. Once through the crevice, we quickly rinsed our hands off in the freezing cold river water.
In the afternoon of the same day, we went tubing on the Jatunyacu River. This was a tame, but enjoyable, affair, with three pods of 5 inner tubes tied together on which we sat and floated calmly down the river. We stopped off at a Chachi indegenous community called Santa Monica and visited one of the families to learn about indenous life. We tasted some of their fruits, drinks, and food, and learned about the healing properties of the various plants in the forest. Then it was back on the tubes to float down the river to the Lodge. We arrived after dark, and had to climb up the dark cliffside on a narrow, and in some cases circular, staircase, about 80 meters to the Lodge - - carrying our tube. We certainly had our exercise that day!
The next day, we were up early and off in a pick up truck for a 45 minute drive into the forest to Amarongachi Lodge to do a waterfall hike. You might think this sounds relaxing. No, not at all. It was another 4 and half hours of strenuous trekking. This time as well as climbing up another stream, we also climbed up 4 waterfalls, one about 80 feet with the help of a rope. The guides tied a rope around our waist so that if we fell, we would not hit the bottom. It was thrilling to have the cold water pounding down on top of you as you tried to find foot holes in the rock and the guides yelling instructions at you as to how to make it! Then we climbed up through the jungle on to the top of a ridge and down the other side back to the Lodge. In the afternoon it poured. Not that that mattered. We had already spent 2 days being absolutely soaked from the water of the rivers we had climbed up, tubed through, or swum in.
Ray and I drove back to Shangrila in the back of the pick-up, shivering cold, but enjoying the company of an indengenous family, and the 45 minute drive through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world and watching the peaks of the Andes float in and out of the white rain clouds produced by the eco system of the rain forest.
Our stay at Shangrila gave us a super experience of everyday life in the Amazon jungle.
**UPDATE*** The following update was published at https://www.brendansadventures.com/travel-guides/ecuador-travel-guides/tena-ecuador/
"Please note that due to a very unfortunate incident on October 21, 2011 the Shangri-La Lodge burned to the ground. Julio will still be able to offer you excursions in other locations… but the Shangri-La is no longer. I will update once it has been decided it the lodge will be reconstructed. We are very sad about the fire, and my heart goes out to my very good friends who run the lodge."
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