May 13, 2021: Transfer to Napo Wildlife Center (Author: J)
After a rough night of stomach trouble for two in our party, it was a relief to be able to check out of the Swissotel and head to the airport. We made a quick stop at the restaurant so that I could have some yogurt and a breakfast pastry. (No one else was up to eating yet). We left for the airport around 7. I had originally planned to just hail a taxi, but the enhanced Covid measures made us nervous that we might run into transportation issues. For that reason, we prebooked a car through the hotel. Our driver was waiting for us well ahead of our scheduled departure.
We did not encounter any traffic on the way to the airport. I spent most of the trip asking P and D how they were feeling. The drive was no more than 40 minutes door-to-door. Within minutes of our arrival at the airport, we had printed our tickets using the Latam ticket kiosks and cleared security. That left us with about two hours of sitting in the terminal. (The whole experience made me wonder why our Amazon lodge advised us to arrive at least two hours before our flight. It could have been worse, though. At least we didn’t follow the advice of the Swissotel concierge and leave at 5:30 for our 9:50 a.m. flight).
Shortly before boarding, a gate agent came around to take the temperatures of everyone in the gate area. Boarding began with courtesy boarding for families with small children who need additional time. Since P is 8, we assumed we were past the point where it was appropriate for us to take advantage of early boarding. When we did not head to the gate for courtesy boarding, the same gate agent who had taken our temperatures came over to personally invite us to board the flight.
The flight itself was quick and uneventful. The only surprise for me was how large the plane was. I had been expecting a plane similar to what you would find on a short haul flight between two nearby cities in the US (such as the 2 seat across, 12 row planes we have flown between Detroit and Toledo while visiting my in-laws). Before long, we were passing over large expanses of jungle — and then over areas that were depressingly denuded of trees.
Latam handled deplaning in an organized fashion, calling us off in groups to maintain social distancing. The arrivals area in Coca is basically just a big, empty room with two small restrooms. Using the restrooms seemed like the smart option, so we queued up. P succeeded in using a dark and smelly men’s room, but I admitted defeat when I realized that there were neither lights, nor toilet paper in the ladies’ room. Then we headed outside where we were greeted by two men holding a Napo Wildlife Center sign. One of the men took our luggage and the other stood with us while we waited for the rest of our group. All together, there were seven of us: our family, a retired couple, and a father and college-aged daughter.
The drive from the airport to the dock in Coca was incredibly short. We then had time to use the restroom and put on our sunscreen and bug spray. Our guide, David, also distributed release forms for everyone to sign and explained how we would be travelling to the lodge. The wait in Coca was just long enough for P to grow impatient. Eventually, we were given life jackets and invited to board a motorized canoe.
I had a moment of confusion upon boarding. I thought we were supposed to grab our lunches as we boarded and I wasn’t sure which ones were vegetarian, so I stopped at the front of the boat to rummage through the pile of lunches. David came to investigate the bottleneck and explained that we would actually have lunch delivered to us at our seat. I caused another delay when lunch was delivered because D and I received vegetarian meals, while P was given a meat sandwich. I tried to just return the sandwich (and keep the snacks) since P wasn’t going to eat the vegetarian salad options anyway. David instead offered to have another meal delivered for P. But another guest decided to get things moving by giving P his salad (which P, of course, did not eat).
With lunch sorted, we were on our way. The ride to Napo Wildlife Center is about 2 hours by motorized canoe, followed by an hour in a regular canoe. We ate as we travelled. The vegetarian salad option did not look impressive, but it was surprisingly tasty — primarily because it included a huge chunk of ripe, delicious avocado. Our lunch bags also included an amaranth drink, an apple, chips, and a chocolate bar.
Because of how fast the motorized canoe travels, you do not see much wildlife on the first segment of the transfer. For that reason, P was excited to reach the Napo welcome center and transfer to a paddle canoe. We had another opportunity to use the restrooms and stretch our legs. Then, our group of seven climbed into a smaller canoe for the last leg of the journey. Things started out pleasantly enough as we rowed along looking for wildlife. But the rainforest soon lived up to its name. What started as a drizzle developed into a downpour. We put on our raincoats and accepted the ponchos that David offered in the hopes of keeping our backpacks dry. For a while, our efforts seemed to be working. But as the boat filled with water, our backpacks became partially submerged. Meanwhile, our raincoats proved useless at keeping our bottoms dry. If you so much as twitched a butt muscle, a pool of water would make its way under the coat and soak through your pants.
By the time we arrived at Napo, our bottom halves were soaked through. But even for people stewing in a mix of rainwater and sweat, the first sight of Napo is something to behold. You come around a bend in the river and it appears before you across the lake, enticing you with promises of dry towels and clean underpants. David told us that the main tower is even more impressive on a sunny day, but it looked fairly amazing in the rain too.
Upon arrival, the hotel required all of us to stand in an ozone box one by one. Then we were welcomed by the hotel manager and the restaurant staff with cocoa, fruit, and a little plate of cheese and veggies. I was not excited to sit down again in my wet pants, so I stood awkwardly behind the table while trip logistics were explained. When we received our room assignments, I made a beeline for our cabin (and dry clothing).
The rooms at Napo are bungalows set on stilts above the water. Our cabin had a large main room with a sitting area and two beds, and a separate bathroom. There was a deck in front with a hammock and chairs and a second deck in the back with a jacuzzi tub. The tub had been filled for our arrival; being greeted by bubbly water and the lit citronella candles was a wonderful welcoming touch. We had a dip in the tub and then relaxed in the cabin. We went down to the restaurant area around 5 to see if we could spot any wildlife from the observation tower. Unfortunately, another guest had beaten us to the tower and was operating a noisy drone. (We later learned that we could have seen monkeys if we had looked behind our cabin; our neighbors reported seeing a whole troop of tamarins there). We accepted defeat and went down to the bar for snacks and drinks.
Dinner was at 7:30. We were seated in the same group of seven with whom we had arrived. (That was something I had not anticipated. Fortunately, everyone in our group was very nice. But I am not great with new people at the best of times and so it took a lot for me to be sociable after so many months of isolation.) The meals were a set menu each night, but the chef did accommodate dietary preferences. I do not remember the details of what we ate and when, but dinner was always 3 courses. The first course was soup, followed by a main dish, and a dessert. Everything was always well-seasoned, well prepared, and delicious. I was a particular fan of the hot sauce that was on the table at every meal. We did not see it in other places in Ecuador, so I think it was a regional specialty.
Travel Monkeys 