May 18, 2021: Amazon and Quito (Author: J)
Our final wakeup at Napo Wildlife Center came much too early. We had to be up and dressed for a 5 a.m. departure. The travel time back to Coca is longer during the high-water season because you are travelling against the river currents, so late risers might want to take that into account when booking.
It was hard to drag myself out of bed and nearly impossible to get P up. (It did not help that he was despondent to be leaving Napo and its many species of monkeys). Fortunately, departure from Napo is as seamless as every other aspect of your stay. We left our bags outside our cabin where they were picked up and wrapped so that they would remain dry in the event of rain. Then, all the departing guests and their luggage are loaded into canoes. All of this is accomplished in the dark and it was a bit eerie to push off across the lake into the darkness.
Because of time constraints, we did not stop to look for wildlife. David did, however, point out some bioluminescent worms floating on the lake as we rowed past. Between the current and the extra weight from our luggage, it was clear that we were not making great time, so one of the other guests offered to help row. Our boat team was happy for the help and, while we didn’t pick up much speed, it was clear that the extra hands did make for lighter work.
I spent the first part of our boat journey keeping P, who had dozed off, in an upright position. He is a notoriously restless sleeper and I worried that he might otherwise flip himself off the boat and into the darkness of the river. By the time we arrived at the welcome center and transferred to the motorized canoe, it was no longer dark, but it also wasn’t sunny. The morning brought another storm with it. Thankfully, the motorized canoe was covered.
Once all the departing guests were on the motorized canoe, the Napo staff started passing out breakfast. Given the meals we had enjoyed so far, I should not have been surprised to see that this meal was another elaborate affair. First came the carafes of coffee and juice, then the boxed meals, and finally, some additional warm items. We had another miscommunication about this meal because we opened the box to find deli meats, among other items. When I returned the boxes and asked about vegetarian options, I was ensured that the meal was “only cheese and bread.” I had to open the box and point to the ham, which apparently was not supposed to be included. It probably would have been easier to just throw out the ham, but wasting meat seems like something that would put us on the vegetarian naughty list. I’m sure we are, instead, now on the Napo fussy guest list.
The trip back to Coca definitely seemed longer than the trip from Coca to Napo. I am sure a lot of that has to do with the fact that it is less fun to leave than to arrive. The trip from the dock to the airport was just as quick as I remembered, though. The Napo staff led the whole group to the airline check-in desk where we received our tickets after showing our passports. For whatever reason, we were required to check our carry-on bags (something that seemed odd to me since other passengers were allowed to carry on bags of a similar size). We were then given plastic bags containing water and a snack and sent to the boarding area. Because our flight was delayed, we had a bit of a wait and not much to do. The plane arrived about an hour late, and we boarded and made the short flight back to Quito.
At Quito airport, we were met by our driver from Casa Gangotena. (We elected to book all our transfers through our hotels because of Covid. In normal times, a taxi would be an easy and more affordable option). Then we made the now familiar trip from the airport into Quito. P grumbled about being back in a monkey-free city, but that all changed when we arrived at the hotel.
Casa Gangotena is a boutique hotel in a historic home in Quito’s old town. It sits right on the Plaza San Francisco, steps away from several historic sights. The hotel is a bit of a splurge compared to other hotels in Quito, but the room rate included high tea, drinks, activities, breakfast, and a spectacular level of service.
Like Napo, Casa Gangotena had an ozone machine that we needed to stand in before entering the hotel. Then, we were directed to reception. The woman at the front desk initially offered to hold our bags for us so that we could go out and explore the city. But when I asked if there was somewhere that we could clean up and change before we went out, she instead decided to check on whether our room was ready. It was, so a member of the bell staff led us upstairs.
Our room exceeded all expectations. It was a generous size with beautiful finishes and had been set up to welcome three guests. I have found that hotels often do not count children as guests and will fail to provide things like towels and water for them. But Casa Gangotena had ensured that there was three of everything, from robes and slippers to face masks, in the room. The best part was that our room had a private terrace. I was delighted to walk out onto the terrace and see the Virgin of Quito looking down on me from her hilltop home.
After freshening up, we decided to head out in search of lunch and an ATM. With directions from the doorman, we found an ATM in a nearby pharmacy and then stopped at a diner for what we hoped would be a quick lunch. After some initial miscommunications due to my limited Spanish, we ordered a pizza — hold the meat — and some drinks. The wait for those items seemed interminable. The cashier actually went back to the kitchen to check on our food a few times because she was that it was taking so long. When it finally came, we scarfed it down in record time. (Considering our remaining plans for the day, we ate much more than we should have at this meal).
After lunch, we walked back to Plaza San Francisco to visit the church. Because it was drizzling, we had large umbrellas and it was a challenge not to poke anyone’s eye out with those at we navigated the narrow streets. The church museum was open despite Covid and I coerced P into taking a look. He had been looking forward to returning to our room to watch soccer, but he humored me by keeping his grumbling to a minimum as we toured the museum. For some reason, the museum requires that you see its collection with a guide — something that seems unnecessary considering how well-marked the exhibits are.
Our guide started the tour by asking — voice full of hope — if we spoke Spanish. When we said no, she started the tour in perfectly serviceable English. But she seemed so uncomfortable speaking in English that I told her to switch to Spanish and we would do our best to follow along. She was nice enough to keep her narration simple and, between my knowledge of French and my months of Duolingo Spanish, I understood enough to translate a bit for P and D. Iglesia San Francisco is a stunningly beautiful church with an interesting collection of colonial religious art. (The relief carving depicting murdered Franciscan missionaries in grotesque and bloody detail was among the more unique and memorable things we saw). Had it been allowed I would have enjoyed wandering a bit. But the short tour fit P’s attention span, so it was probably for the best. We finished up, thanked our guide, and then made the short walk across the plaza and back to our hotel.
Our plans for the remainder of the afternoon were to rest, go to tea, go to the evening’s cultural activity, and then eat dinner at the hotel restaurant. This all sounded great on paper when we planned the trip, but I did not take our extremely early wakeup time into account when planning. We were a subdued and tired group when we reported for high tea, but we summoned the energy to sample each of the snack items on offer. We were droopier still when we went to the evening chocolate tasting, but we were happy we went. We had a wonderful experience talking one-on-one with a member of the hotel staff about his life in Quito, his country, and, of course, chocolate. (My apologies to everyone at CG because I did not make notes while there and so I do not remember the names of any of the wonderful staff members who made our stay so special).
By dinner time, we were barely functional and barely interested in eating. We wound up sharing two appetizers and one main course, all of which were excellent. I felt bad that we were taking up a table given the capacity restrictions, but we simply had not considered how tired (or full of chocolate) we would be by 7:30. After dinner, we took a peak at the city lights from our terrace and then went straight to bed.
Travel Monkeys 