Just to let you know, it's not all "work hard an no play" here in Ecuador. Since there are up to 21 volunteers and a wide variety of tasks at Amazoonico, on Sundays a new schedule of rotating assignments is released for the next week. This includes animal feeding stations, extra tasks (cleaning, cooking, etc.) and our days off.
Each volunteer has 2 days off each week - kind of like a weekend, but since the animals need to be taken care of every day, days off are unlikely to be on weekends and are not necessarily consecutive. How we use those days is up to us. Many volunteers take days off to visit Tena, the local city to eat and pick up treats (alcohol). It's a bit of a haul to take the canoe and then a bus - anywhere from 1.5 - 2 hours each way. Additionally we are surrounded by tourist-type opportunities that are likely going to be worth experiencing (waterfalls, Indigenous communities, rafting, tubing and jungle hikes to name a few).
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| Canoe Ride to Catch the Bus |
Our first two days off were quite uneventful as we stayed at Amazoonico for both days (Saturday and Sunday). We were able to sleep in a little, do some laundry (hand washing of course), catch up with some blogging and other things that needed internet access (which we can find at the local school when the kids are gone). We even took some time to throw a disc at the nearby school. (The "field" is not very big and full of pot holes and long grass.)
By the time Sunday rolled around, you will not be shocked read, that we were pretty well done with resting so we began looking for more productive ways to use our time. During the previous week, volunteers had reported that the water in the Spider Monkey feeding enclosure had been leaking. So I decided to check it out and discovered that the cement around the drain had started to deteriorate. I recruited Gayle and we went to the Carpenteria to look for some cement to create a patch. A little while later, the fix was in place (and the next day, I saw a monkey drinking from it). We did have the pleasure of attending a true Ecuadorian wedding, and were so grateful to see many interesting customs and traditions.
On our second day off Gayle decided to bake a banana bread - which was a huge hit with the volunteers and staff at the weekly Sunday afternoon meeting. Still looking for tasks, we took on the highly glamorous "bathroom cleaning" chore to replace a couple of the volunteers who were off sick (so far there have been 1-2 volunteers out every day due to some form of illness - wash your friggen' hands people) All in, our two days were restful, but a little too slow for us. And honestly, we need to take advantage of the local opportunities a bit more.
We decided to use our next days off differently. In our second week, we had Thursday and Friday off. That means we worked a whole 3 days before taking a break. We booked a canoe to pick us up at 7 and take us to the Puerto Barrantilla. (You can try to look it up on Google Maps but it rarely shows up. It would be more aptly named Playa Barrantilla, because there is nothing there - just stairs to the water.)
From there we walked 2 minutes to the road and waited for a bus. We’d heard that busses can be unpredictable and to our surprise we hoped aboard an air conditioned bus bound for Tena about 15 minutes later. It must have been an express, because we arrived in just over an hour.
We had a quick breakfast in a bakery and then hit the busy streets to pick up a few things that we needed (well, mostly wanted). Gayle was hunting for a new shirt but got pants instead. We avoided buying any chickens (alive or dead) and had no desire to purchase the giant grubs at the market. We picked up some food at the grocery store as we wanted to make something special for the volunteers when it was our day to cook. The most important part of our day in Tena was, of course, lunch.
Since we’ve been eating a lot of rice, beans, and lentils, I’ve been hankering for a hamburger for a while. We found "Crazy Burger" on the map and made a bee line at 11 am - the opening time. Upon arrival, we helped set up the 2 tables and chairs. The lady worked really hard to explain things in English. I pretty much stopped listening when she said, “is big” and she used a hand gesture to show about 6 inches!
I was not disappointed in my double cheeseburger with 2 patties, 2 fried eggs, 2 slices of cheese, 2 slices of ham, 2 slices of bacon, tomato and lettuce. It was so huge that I had to eat it in two parts.
Bellies full we boarded the bus for the Grand Selva Lodge. We weren’t expecting anything too “Grand” as the Booking.com price was just 19 USD - including breakfast. However, we were pleasantly surprised by a very nice place with a pristine pool and warm showers. We shared the entire place with a French family and joined them on their night time jungle walk - which was an unexpected treat. Gayle turned out to be the "eagle eyes" and spotted more interesting creatures than the guide! The next day we negotiated a late checkout and walked an hour back to meet the canoe to take us back to Amazoonico at 4 pm. Arriving back we learned that the power had been out for two days!
More days off are coming up and you can expect to read about a waterfall hike.
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| A cool frog that Gayle found |