We hired a guide with his boat to take us down the Napo to see the jungle.We were on the river for about 6 hours. It is a kind of touristy thing. I don't really like doing touristy things. I like to just go where things are happening and then look around. It wouldn't have been possible to see the Napo and the jungle any other way, and that is the way it was with a lot of things we saw, kind of oriented to the tourists.
We made a few stops along the way and got out and snooped around at a couple villages that were built in traditional ways. They still use a lot of bamboo and thatch, because it is free and readily available. Some places that are more established use tin roofs. Windows are merely holes in the wall to let in light and air. We came prepared to dose ourselves with deet to keep off the mosquitos, but to our surprise there weren't any. I don't believe I have seen more than half a dozen in the 3 months we have been in Ecuador, and like everything else in Ecuador, they move slow.
The first picture is of a dug out canoe. They have quite a few of these that they use for local transportation. The ones I saw ranged from 12 to 16' long, and they either stood up and poled them or paddled them, depending on how swift the water and going with or against the current. This one was getting loaded with cooking bananas, which they generally harvest green, so they will be firm. They are larger than regular eating bananas. There are a number of dishes they make with bananas. In Riobamba I had one that was done on a charcoal barbecue that had been split and had cheese in it. Flavorful is the best I can give it.
The second picture is a small town near Tena that we launched from. The restaurant was across from the town square which was a park. Monkeys were everywhere. They were all over the buildings, telephone poles, wires, and trees. They like to steal whatever they can from the tourists or whomever. Just before I took this, one was hanging by his tail trying to steal the hat from a person on the porch below. Note the mother with a baby on her back.
The 3rd picture shows the boat we went on. They are long canoes made of rough boards almost 4' wide and 25'-30' long with a 75 horse outboard on the back. That seems to be standard transportation on the Napo, and probably all of the Amazonia. There is a framework of pipes to hold tarps above, to keep off the rain or sun, as the case may be. In our case it was rain. I guess you can't have a rain forest without it. We were all soaked, but it wasn't uncomfortable. The indigenous people use the canoes for trips to town to haul produce and people. Lots of bananas get grown in the jungle. Even though it was touristy, nothing is fancy. We had to jump in the water to help luanch the thing because when they bring the boat back they just run it right up onto the muddy bank where it sticks fast.
Where we stopped for lunch at a remote place where there was a ferry crossing. The ferry was powered by two outboard motors and would take one vehicle at a time. There was there was one of those canoes the same size as the one we rode on that was a dugout, same as picture one. However, I never saw a tree big enough to make a boat like that where we were. Everything we saw was second growth, and not large. Apparently you have to be willing to make a three days journey into the jungle to see the real thing, and get to where the natives are still running around naked and living as they have since the beginning. And they are there, but unfortunately there is a lot of oil in the jungle and once the roads are cut to get the wells in, the loggers then use them to harvest what they can, and poachers come in and harvest ocelots, parrots, toucans , monkeys, snakes and whatever they can to sell for pets or food. Exploitation is alive and well in the Amazon.
Also, where we stopped for lunch, I found this raft. We saw a few of these in use by the jungle folks. I suppose those that can't afford a canoe, can whip one of these together in a few days. They seemed to be used for moving bananas. Every here and there along the shore of the Napo they go in and clear a spot and plant small plantations.
The last picture was of our guide's assistant. He was a real nice kid, whom I wished I could talk with better. He brought his pet anaconda along for the ride. The snake generally stayed in his backpack. He showed me that if you break open a coco pod, you can suck a slimy juice off the seeds that is very tasty. The seeds are what they get the chocolate from but they very bitter. They have coco plantations in the jungle as well. He also showed me how to pull the shoot of a certain kind of palm called paja toquilla so you can eat the tender ends. It is used to make baskets, and for Panama hats. The leaf of the plant is used for thatching roofs. the plant grows low like a bush.
There are many more pictures I would like to send of the trip on the Rio Napo, but this gives the idea.
Pete
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