After a week in the Galapagos, we spent one night in Quito near the airport – just relaxing and enjoying the mountain air. Then back on an early flight west to Coca, the hub for Amazon lodge trips.

We were met at the TINY airport and brought to a boat dock. They issued us tall rubber boots and sent us out.

We took a motorized canoe (seats 20+) about 40 minutes from town.

Beth walking to our bungalow at the lodge. We had our own hammock out front perfect for reading and birdwatching.

Our typical day included a 1-3 hour activity in the morning and afternoon. Activities were hikes, birdwatching on a 90-foot tower, paddling around the near-by lagoon, and even a night-hike. We had all our meals at the lodge dining room (open air to birds, monkeys and bugs), and had plenty of siesta time between activities to read, rest, and enjoy nature on our own.

Beautiful trees of the jungle from one of our bird observation towers.

A rainbow over the lagoon near our lodge.

Sometimes we got to walk on boardwalks through the trees.

And sometimes we tromped through the mud up to the top of our rubber boots.

BIG trees.

Flowers. We didn’t see any really crazy ones, but lots of pretty colors.

Monkeys! We saw three species of monkeys, including these most rare fluffy guys.

Our guide, Eduardo. He’s been guiding >10 yrs and knew a TON. And carried a machete.

He showed us medicinal plants, insects. Then cut this new palm branch, shook it out…

And braided me a traditional wedding headdress. Me and the “walking palm tree” that sourced the material.

The best time to spot animal (bug and frog) life was at night. We had one awesome night hike. I was a rockstar at spotting things, then Eduardo would tell us about them. Here’s a few of my favorites:

Beautiful false-eye moth.

Heavily-armored millipede. When you startle him, he releases a chemical that smells like almond.

Pretty rare find – a leaf bug!

One of the few (thankfully) big spiders we spotted.

The most fun was the frogs. They were mostly out at night too.

Pretty green frog on a leaf.

Big-eye frog.

Ready for my close-up!

My favorite wildlife of the whole stay – a translucent “glass frog”. Light shines right through!

Our last day we visited a near-by local village and learned about religious and political history, and how the oil industry is impacting the villagers and environment there.

School at the village.

Kids in the school. One room for 12 kids age 3-13.

A combined-style house. Part traditional wood/palm and part oil-company-provided steel (LOUD in the rain!).

The only bad part was that I spent most of our time at the lodge feeling pretty sick. We spent one morning “activity” time taking the canoe back into town where our guide took us to a clinic and translated at a doctor for me. I was tested for Dengue fever, but just had a stomach infection cleared up by some antibiotics. Just continued my trend of checking out medical facilities in developing countries. (I peed in a cup using a dingy toilet under a staircase.)

It was really neat to be in the middle of so much nature, get out the birdwatching binoculars, chat with our German table-mates, and just experience one corner of the vastness of the Amazon.

Our trip ended with one more night in Quito and an early-morning flight back to the US.

We’re currently enjoying our time in Colorado seeing friends, family, mountains, and lots of burritos. More stories from that coming in a bit! Please leave a comment if you’re checking in. We love to know who’s reading.