Rustic – Maldo Travels

Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve – Days 3 & 4

Jean Maldonado — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 22:34:59 +0000

On the third day, breakfast is served at 8 AM and we were scheduled to leave around 9.30 AM to go to the Indigenous settlement. We made stops when we spotted wildlife and reached the settlement around 11 AM. The people lived in wooden huts living off the land and hunting. A local lady showed us the process of making yuca bread. Yuca grows in the root like a tubercle. The women of the village are in charge of agriculture in the village whilst the men go hunting. Pulling out the root requires a lot of strength but the lady pulled it out with ease. She uses a machete to cut off the yuca from the root and makes an incision before handing it out to us to peel them. The root is replanted and it takes 48 hours for the leaves to grow again. It then takes 6-8 months depending on the climate for Yuca to grow again before it can be harvested.

The group then heads into the hut to wash our hands and then take turns in grinding the yuca. The lady then puts the ground yuca in a flat wood-like woven utensil. This utensil is called an anaconda by the locals as it uses a constriction method to squeeze out the water from the ground yuca. The lady wraps the utensil over the yuca and hangs it on a pole. She uses a stick to rotate and squeeze out the water into a container. This liquid can be used to make a chili sauce, soup, or even a face mask. The dried yuca now has a solid coconut-like like texture. It is placed on a sieve and everyone crumbles it and rubs it against the sieve to thin it out and make yuca flour. The lady then pours some of the flour onto a hot wood-fired plate. She spreads it evenly and presses it down with a wooden bowl to flatten it out. No oil, salt, or any other condiments are used, it is pure yuca. After a couple of minutes, the lady flips it over to cook the other side. The end product is a delicious tortilla shaped flatbread with a little crunch. Total prep time – approximately 45 mins. The locals have it with some hot sauce and make burrito like meals. We had it with the meal we’d been given at the lodge to take to the settlement.

We finished lunch around 1 PM and some of the local kids came to lay out handicrafts their families had made. There were necklaces, rings, and wristbands for sale. Following lunch, there was some time to play football with the locals. It got really hot in the afternoon and at around 2.30 PM everyone was exhausted so we took a dip in the river to cool off. The canoe came to pick us up around 3 PM and we head to the shaman’s village. We made a quick stop at a small village to buy some snacks and water. We got to the shaman’s village around 4 PM. The talk and demonstration with the shaman cost 5 USD¹ and lasted 1 hour. He mainly talks about his experience of becoming a shaman. There is also a demonstration of how to use a blow gun and an opportunity to fire one. He also asked for a volunteer who wanted their face painted with achiote. The last demonstration was of a ritual cleaning on a volunteer. After the talk, we headed back to Laguna Grande for the last sunset of the tour around 5.30 PM.

Day 4 - Homebound

The final day begins early in the morning to go out on the canoes for some bird watching at 6 AM. It had rained overnight so we didn’t see much and were back by 7.30 AM for breakfast at 8 AM. We left the lodge at 9 AM to go back to Lago Agrio. On the way back we came across a number of canoes by the shore. Turns out they had spotted an anaconda chilling on a tree and we got a chance to stop there for pictures. Due to heavy rainfall the night before, trees had fallen into the river so the driver had to accelerate over them. The canoe got stuck on one and we had to help out with getting the canoe back in the river. We had to be quick since another canoe could turn the corner and crash into us. We made it back to the main port by 12 PM to catch the bus back to the hotel meeting point where we’d parked the car.

Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve – Day 2

Jean Maldonado — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 21:23:00 +0000

The lodge has a tower which provides an aerial view of the cabins and the surrounding forest. If you’re into bird watching, the guide recommended getting there at dawn since it’s more likely that you’ll spot them. Binoculars and a long lens camera is essential for good pictures. Breakfast is served at 8 AM and the group is scheduled to leave in the canoes at 9.30 AM to go for a walk in the rainforest. The area for the 1-hour 30-minute walk is called Tierra Firme which translates to Firm Ground. The guide mentioned that it’s called this because it doesn’t flood during the wet season which we were currently in at the time. Wellingtons are provided in different sizes but do get there early, since your size may run out resulting in ending up with oversized wellies. The boat ride took about 1 hour after making stops to see dolphins before arriving at the starting point of our walk.

Upon arrival, the guide gives out health and safety instructions and then begins to explain the medicinal use of trees and plants. Here are some of the most interesting highlight.

The Quinina tree has medicinal features and its flower smell is similar to that of a jasmine flower. The indigenous people cut the bark with a machete and cook it for around 1-hour to 1-hour 30-minutes producing a brownish liquid. They drink it and it’s known to clean the bacteria in your body that causes malaria from mosquitos and also other diseases. The bark can also be chewed and you swallow the liquid to clean out your blood. It is sour and numbs your mouth and is also known to cure cavities. The tree is in danger of extinction because pharmaceuticals have started cutting it down for its medicinal features.

The Curare plant is a paralyzing nontoxic, non-poisonous plant used to coat hunting darts. The indigenous boil it in water for around 24 hours. The water evaporates leaving behind a jam-like solution which is used to coat the darts. When a dart hits a monkey, it takes about 2-4 minutes to paralyze their muscles after which it’ll fall off the tree. If the hunter doesn’t find the monkey, after a couple of hours the paralyzing effect will wear off and the monkey will be able to escape. The guide shaved some of the bark off and gave to us to put on the tip of our tongue. It is sour and numbs your tongue with an anesthesia-like effect. The indigenous also use it like anesthesia for numbing pain when healing cuts from machete/hunting accidents.

Termite nests are used in agriculture to feed fish and chickens. When burned, the smoke can have a fumigating effect to repel cockroaches and also serves as a natural mosquito repellent.

The Yoko tree bark oozes a white liquid when cut with a machete. It has a sweet nectar taste which can be used to treat ulcers, gastritis, or inflammation of the stomach.

By 12.10 PM, we were back at the canoe and the guide showed us how to attempt fishing using a hair and fly – we were not successful but it was fun. On the way back, we made a stop at Laguna Grande for a refreshing swim before heading back to the lodge for lunch and some free time to relax. At around 5 PM we headed back out to Laguna Grande to get there in time for the sunset followed by a night walk through the rainforest. After taking in the breathtaking colors we got to the jungle around 7 PM. Torches are not provided but we used our phones to light the way. We managed to see a leaf frog, grasshopper, tarantula, and many other insects. At one point, the guide made everyone turn off all the lights and stand in darkness for a couple of minutes so that the insects come out because they hide when they see light. We were back at the boat around 8 PM and at the lodge for dinner at around 8.30 PM.

Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve – Day 1

Jean Maldonado — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 13:35:00 +0000

Approaching the tri-border of Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil lies the vast national wildlife reserve of Cuyabeno. This protected area is immensely biodiverse and well known for the pink river dolphin. The tours generally begin from Nueva Loja although the area is better known as Lago Agrio. Since it is a protected area, you cannot make your own way there and must go with a tour. There are 20+ eco-lodges in the wildlife reserve and all offer tours starting from 3 days and 2 nights directly or via agencies. We booked a tour for 4 days and 3 nights from an agency in Quito starting early in the morning on Thursday and ending Sunday afternoon.

Getting to the Green Forest Eco-lodge

The drive from Quito to Lago Agrio is about 6-7 hours so we left before midnight on Wednesday and arrived at the hotel meetup point by 7 AM. Public transport is also an option but takes about 8 hours. Travel time also depends on the weather, since the road down from the mountain can get foggy resulting in longer travel time. The hotel has parking spaces to leave the car throughout the duration of the trip. A complimentary breakfast is served at around 8 AM. The hotel serves as a meeting point for many tour agencies. Between 9 and 10 AM, several coaches will arrive to pick up the different tour groups and it’s then a 2-hour drive to the park entrance. Upon arrival, the guide instructs the group to leave backpacks for them to load onto the boats while lunch is served at a restaurant across the bridge. They advise to take out anything fragile and warn that the bags are not accessible throughout the boat ride and likely to get wet. A home-cooked meal is distributed to the group in containers and we make use of the restaurant’s seating area. At around noon, we go back across the bridge to the pier where the guides hand out life jackets and water ponchos. We’re split up into groups and embark on the motor canoes to commence our journey into the rainforest.

The total journey time to the Green Forest Eco-Lodge is about 3-hours 30-minutes to 4 hours. The guide makes stops when he spots wildlife and we managed to see several birds, monkeys, and sloths. It started pouring down about 1 hour in so we put on the water ponchos. The canoe driver also slowed down since during rainfall, trees are more likely to fall into the river so he had to be more cautious. After an hour of rain the sun came out again and it was very hot for the remainder of the journey. When we arrived at the Green Forest Eco-Lodge, we were shown to our cabin and given about 1-hour 30-minutes to unpack and rest. At approximately 5.30 PM we set out on the canoes to Laguna Grande to catch the sunset which is about 30 minutes away. However, we made a stop since we spotted some pink dolphins at the entrance to the lake. We stayed there for about 15 mins watching them surface every now and then. They only come up for air for about 2 seconds so you have to be very attentive. For the best pictures, you need a proper camera lens; my GoPro only captured a distant glimpse of them.

We managed to make it into the middle of Laguna Grande around 6.20 PM and the sun had already set by then. Nevertheless, the colors of the sky and twilight are magical. This is also an opportunity to go for a quick dip in the lake. Whilst there are alligators and anacondas in the Cuyabeno, they tend to keep away from the canoes and there were dozens of canoes in the lake. So the guide ensured us that it’s safe to go for a swim – ‘more certain/safe than marriage’ were his exact words. By 7 PM it is dark and that’s when we start heading back to the lodge. On the canoe ride back in the dark, the guide looks for animals in the trees. The canoe driver is practically navigating blind which goes to show how well he knows the river. The guide is intermittently waving his flashlight into the trees. He says that the animals’ eyes shine if the flashlight hits them. We were mainly looking for alligators but instead, we found a snake – an Amazon Tree Boa. This one was one of the smaller ones at roughly 1 meter long and the guide said they can grow to 2.5 meters in length. After taking a couple of pictures we continued on our way back to the lodge for dinner.

Following dinner, we are free to head back to our cabins or stay in the dining area to make use of the power outlets which are only available here. Lights and electricity are switched off about an hour or two after dinner at around 9 PM. The cabins are basic with bunk beds, linens, and a mosquito net. Hot water is heated in outdoor containers by the sun, so shower in the morning or afternoon, but at the water may be a little cold at night. Filtered water is provided in the dining area as well as tea and coffee. Meals are tasty and portions are good too. The dishes are standard Ecuadorean meals and not specific to the region as they are not allowed to hunt/eat the animals in the protected area. Only the Indigenous natives of the region are allowed to do so.

Rio Dulce – Rustic Cabins and Adventure

Jean Maldonado — Fri, 18 May 2018 23:25:15 +0000

Located about 4-hours 30-minutes hours south from Tikal towards the Guatemalan border with Honduras, you can find the secluded and peaceful Rio Dulce. There are numerous rustic cabins that line its shores as well as boats and yachts; many of which belong to ex-pats who have chosen this beautiful area for their retirement. The cabin our group stayed in was Tortugal which is the perfect place to unwind after a long trip and take a break from days filled with long walking tours. You could easily spend the day on the deck by the river reading a book or catching up on some emails. The freshwater river is also great to go for a swim and cool down from the hot Guatemalan weather.

A Riverside Fort

If you’re not one who likes to take a break from activities whilst on vacation like myself, then you could go kayaking in the river. It is possible to kayak to the National Park of Castillo San Felipe which is about 30 minutes away. The current of Rio Dulce is quite strong so it can be a tiring journey depending on whether it works against or in your favor. There’s an area on the shoreline where you can secure your kayaks with some rope. The park’s guard has a clear view of the kayaks so they are perfectly safe here whilst you venture through the park. Entrance for foreign nationals is 20 GTQ² and your admission ticket is an A4 information sheet with the fort’s history albeit it is in Spanish only. The national park is quite large and has many well-maintained facilities which include a pool, barbecue areas, and restrooms. There were several local families having picnics and swimming in the river. If you didn’t bring any food, then there are several stalls which sell snacks and small bites to eat. The fort is located on the peninsula at the narrowest point of the river making it a strategic defensive position. At the entrance, a staff member will punch a hole in your ticket and tell you to follow the signs around the fort.

It’s easy to find your way around and you can finish the site in about an hour. Throughout the 16th and 17th century, there were warehouses in Lake Izabal storing goods that were traded with Spain. Rio Dulce is the only way in and out of Lake Izabal, so this fort was built to defend from pirate attacks who attempted to raid the warehouses. Many of these attacks were successful and the fort was even taken over and burnt down at one point. Due to its strategic position, the fort was rebuilt and fortified many times. It was also used as a prison during a period when there were no attacks. In 1955, the fort was restored and reconstructed based on historical documents and excavations done in the area. The result is a collection of rooms, towers, and dungeon from the different time periods.

A Unique Waterfall Adventure

The locals told us about a nearby waterfall which was near our cabin in Tortugal. It was not walking distance and the only available public transport is a colectivo. These are small minibusses that have been adapted to carry passengers. To get to the colectivo³, we were told to walk 20 minutes down to the highway and simply wait by the road since there are no bus stops. They said the colectivos normally come every 30 minutes and to ask the driver to drop us off at Finca El Paraiso. You can identify a colectivo because there’s a guy hanging out the door shouting out the destinations. When one arrived, there were 2 empty seats for 3 of us so we thought we’d have to wait for the next one. However, in Guatemala, there is no such thing as a full colectivo and they just squeezed me in. The locals take these colectivos and some of them bring massive baskets and bags from the market. Now you’d think this is as full as it gets, but along the way, the colectivo made stops and kept picking people up. The vehicle probably had a capacity for 15 people and I counted 26. It was so overpacked that it couldn’t make it up a slight inclined slope and the assistant had to help push it up.

Our journey to the waterfall took 40 minutes and cost us 15 GTQ. You then pay 20 GTQ for the entrance at the Finca Paraiso and then walk about 20 minutes along the trail which is easy to follow; you can’t get lost. This is a completely natural place with no facilities whatsoever so wear your swimwear underneath your clothes. Do not bring any valuables either as you’ll be leaving everything by the riverside. What makes this waterfall so unique, is that you get a scorching hot waterfall flowing down into a cold river. You can also go under the waterfall into a cave and the heat makes it into somewhat of a natural sauna. We met a local who turned out to be family of the owner and he showed us around the maze-like underwater caves. He even showed us that you could jump off from the waterfall into the river but we didn’t dare to attempt that. It was a magical and relaxing experience that was definitely worth the journey.