Amazon

A few facts for you

1) It’s winter in Ecuador, despite the fact most of the country is Southern hemisphere.

2) It’s a full moon, but they get 4 days of full moon nights every month

3) The sun goes down at the same time all year around

4) Ecuador does not have any Amazon rainforest

Interesting fact that last one, especially as we signed on for an Amazon rainforest experience. The kicker is in the detail as Ecuador does have a bit of the Amazon “Basin”, i.e, the bits that lead into the Amazon. Not to be phased by this small fact, Robyn and I have decided to call the Ecuadorian rainforest we are in “the Aramazon”, no not a typo, but Adam and Robyns AMAZON.

The place we are staying at is owned by a tour company that gets a lot of government business and does a lot of tourism promotion with overseas Journos. Its is quite a nice spot, about 3 ours drive from Quito the quick way, of 8.5 the long scenic way we came in.

The place is called Los Cascades and as the name would suggest there are a few waterfalls on the place which is why we picked it. The best thing of all is that Robyn and I are the only guests. We feel a bit like Posh and Becks, without the stupid accents and the billions of dollars. But we have the place to ourselves which is awesome.

In the info we saw on the place it shows itself as a C level of difficulty with the worst being E, so we figured it would be fine, given they probably scale for oldies and the like. Well, that may have been a little foolish of us.

Yesterday was a “trek” to the Waterfall with lunch and a swim and then a bit of a stroll back to the lodge for a lazy afternoon. Sounds awesome right. It was pretty amazing. They said it would about 5 hours so we set off with a local guide, Fabian, Rob and Myself. It was really interesting seeing the animals, learning about the jungle and rainforest and we saw some amazing stuff. If you want to know more about that, email Rob, ‘cos that’s not what I am going to talk about…..

I have decide that the C level of difficulty could stand for any of the following:

1) Cant be Serious

2) Cardiac Arrest

3) Climbing Skills required

I kid you not, the walk into this waterfall is something to be believed. We are in the rainforest so naturally everything is wet so we need to wear gumboots (Wellingtons to you poms out there), that instantly relieves you of most of your grip which is bound to make things fun.

Mud, these guys came up with the concept. It is everywhere. No grip, mud, big rocks, tree stumps. This had it all, oh, and that timing, 5 hours. About right. 2.5 hours in to the first waterfall, 1 to the next and 2 back out again.

Have you noticed how waterfalls are always in the bottom of valleys? Hadn’t though of it myself until the way in.

At one point in the descent we rounded a corner to find a mud wall with a 30m staggered drop and a rope on each side to “help” you down. God couldn’t have helped me down smoothly, let alone these ropes. I was covered in mud from top to toe. It was too much for my frayed nerves and I was glad at last to come to the first waterfall. Time for lunch and a swim.

Nope, change of plan, walk another hour to the next waterfall and we would swim there. Good Grief! So off we go again, crossing the river, up mountains down mudslides until finally we arrived. The water was freezing but that was not going to deter Rob and myself after the ordeal I had just been through.

Then, oh dear god, the climb back to the lodge. “2 hours away”, the guide tells me. And with a grin adds, “ and mostly uphill”. NOOOOOOOOOOO!! I though we had made some tricky navigation and ended up closer to the lodge, not so.

So up the hill, not on a gradual increase, oh no, straight up the side of the valley wall, with Rob chirping in with” Amazing how quickly we are going up”. Kill me now. And we are only 30 minutes into the climb.

I was lagging at the back, and Rob was making all sorts of excuses for hovering at the back after being admonished by me several times for undue heckling. She was taking pics and inspecting mysterious animals I never saw, in fact all I saw was the next rock, slippery stone or outcrop in front of me. I never for once doubted I’d make it…. I just wasn’t sure which day.

Needles to say we made it back, but the afternoon was shot and we all hobbled back to our rooms. For our guide, Fabian, it was also his first time at this lodge and on this walk, and he has sworn never to come back again. Maybe that is what the C stands for ………………… Completed – Never Again.