Whoo hoo 60th birthday!

Here in Vienna for a surprise birthday party ... fantastic place........couldn't resist the hat shop!!!!!

Our first day with Freddie

At breakfast we meet Freddie our personal guide for the next 4 days. He was fab! We found ourselves in a really unusual situation, the only two people in a whole resort and well, you know, it could be a bit much with only two people and one guide but Freddie wasfantastic. He was from a mountainous region near Tena but had travelled extensively through N America and Europe. During our time with him there was never a time he did not recognizea bird call.. insect trail or plant …and he was really good fun.

So after breakfast we set off in thepouring rain (of course it is rainforest) over to the secondary school where our friend Katy was organizing internships. Its probably a good time to explain how the whole Yachanna complex works. The Complex has 4 main enterprises: The resort, the Secondary School, the scientific research centre and the medical centre. They all support each other.

Douglas & Juan started off by wanting to preserve rainforest, which they still do. They realized that education was an important aspect of this and so they started a school for kids from the jungle. They stay for 3 weeks and then go back to their families. They rotate through 3 programs. Hospitality … running the resort; Micro economics … running a small business usually jewelry making and agriculture.

The students keep pigs, chickens and grow all of the produce for the resort. They take these skills back to their families so that they can better manage their land and get more varied and better food production. Freddie took us on a grand tour of the animals.

When we got to the school buildings we met up with Katy which was great…She was really looking forward to Caroline visiting (her aunt who we met up with on Galapagos trip). The generator had broken at the school (a common occurrence) and so everyone was heading up to the resort where we had the luxury of generated electricity for 4 hours each day from 6.00 – 10.00!

In no time t all it was time for lunch served by our shy students and then siesta! Bliss!

Wellingtons are de rigor in the jungle and they are our footwear of choice from morning to night! Our village walk takes along a narrow path, past the medical clinic started by Yachana and onto the village green. Mud all the way!

When we arrive coco beans are drying but are quickly removed as the afternoon game of volleyball is about to start. This is the secondmost popular sport… soccer of course is the first!

Past very bleak classrooms and volunteer accommodation and onto the village itself. It is so not like where we are staying. Huts, surrounded by mud and dirty washing hanging on lines with children everywhere and chi cha cooking on fires underneath the houses. But you know apart from a few crying babies everyone seemed cheerful and happy.

Back for drinks, fab sunset and dinner and ready to meet our guide 6.00 am tomorrow morning. Who knows what is in store.

We dropped the young family on a remote arm of the river and they had swiftly disappeared into the undergrowth. We travelled on for another hour watching the brown water swirl around us. Every now and then the driver would stop and peer ahead before plotting a path through the turbulence. Two weeks ago there had been a huge flood and new channels had been formed making the river a dangerous beast!

In the distance there was a small set of metal steps leading up into the undergrowth.. this was it! What an incredible surprise we emerge into gorgeous gardens, with tropical flowers, hibiscus, bougainvillea, iris, impatiens bursting with colour. We walk up a steep hill and arrive at our cabin - a huge room complete with verandah and hammock. Things are definitely looking good.

We wash and head up for lunch. Young guys in white coats, greet us with cold drinks and fried plantain. The view is stunning … we look out right across the river AND we are the only people in the resort. We are joined by Juan a founder of the resort.

After lunch, rice, plantains, beans, pork and fruit we are ready to start exploring the village.

And so off to the jungle

And so our Galapagos adventure is over… we arrive back in San Christobal and hop straight onto the internet to try to book a trip to Yachana, the jungle lodge where Katie is staying.

Yeehah! We get onto Paola who fixes everything up in fifteen minutes… we’re just on a flight to Quito we say… call you in a couple of hours. We do and find we are on the 11.00am flight in the morning to the jungle!

Back to the Galapagus Natural Life Hostel… oh my goodness I am so not going to miss those beds,…. Mmmmm wonder what the jungle will bring though! Quick change over of clothes and we assure Gabriella that we will be back in 3 weeks to pick up our bag. Back to the Italian restaurant for dinner.... eat now as we don't know what will be on offer tomorrow.

And we are off to VIP, pronounced VEEP the little airline that will zoom us to Coca an oil town on the Napa river and then it is a 3 hour canoe trip up theriver to Yachana. We are met at Coca by Geranio who is to be our guide up the river. A quick explore of Coca gives us the chance to buya new torch and more sun lotion…. And of course to take more photos of street life.

The canoe is a shock … so big and long. There is a mum and her two daughters who have hitched a ride to a village on the way, Geranio, the driver and us. We don huge ponchos… of course we are in the rainforest and so it is raining! Here starts our jungle adventure.

The river is wide and muddy,every nowand then we pass a dugout canoe or see small family groups on the river bank, washing clothes or panning for gold. Small paths lead steeply up muddy banks and disappear into the lush growth of the rainforest. As Geranio starts to tells us about the wildlife.. anacondas, spiders, caimans etc I start to wonder what we have let ourselves in for!

Bartolome was just such fun. A pretty steep climb which gave fantastic views over the isthmus. Fantastic to sail out to the pinnacles and then to snorkel all the way around. It is amazing how different it is to snorkel in these different places. Snorkelling here started in really shallow water with lots of fish and octopus hiding in holes in the rocks. As the water became deeper (and colder) different species (and sharks) swam below us. Felt fab!!!

As always, love the penguins.... how they waddled and plonk into the sea... so ungainly on land and incredible to see them shoot by you as you snorkel.

Ok so I got the day the wrong way around.... easy to do two months later as I sit in Ches Vegas looking out over the fabulous Derbyshire countryside. 4 days of rain and now the sun is out and it is glorious. Next blog Bartoleme!