Having
been just 6 of us in the lodge (capacity 32) it was rather a nasty surprise
when hoards of others arrived last night. Still it did mean a buffet
dinner but sadly having eaten so much for lunch at the Kichwa Community I only
had a small salad. Being our last night together we all had a few
beers and a good laugh. I said to Vittorio I was so grateful that he and
the boys spoke such good English otherwise it would have been a very quiet few
days!
There was
another clay lick we could try for on the way back to Coca but it would mean
leaving at 6:30 sharp. It rained very heavily in the night and all
our clothes, the bedding etc felt very damp so it wasn’t very easy to sleep.
We had the
customary 1 ½ hour paddle along the creek and there we said goodbye to Hugo and
Blue.
Danilo's amazing webbed feet.
We transferred onto a motor boat and went a few minutes to the clay lick which this time was a wall. Luckily there were loads of birds there but sadly we couldn’t get very close.
This one is blown up a lot so maybe very pixelated.
The trip back along the Napo was as uninteresting as it had been coming down but a few snaps I took along the way.
Just nearing the dock at Napo, we noticed people on the bridge and it transpired that the army were doing exercises.
Our flight
back to Quito was uneventful except that they decided the Lads could squeeze
into normal seats (despite Andreas having requested legroom). Anyway
a couple of people volunteered to move so they had exit row seats which were
better.
Having
said our goodbyes and promised to email them some pictures, we collected our
bags and met our transport to the San Jose Garden Hotel which is only 15 mins
drive from the airport. A lovely hotel with beautiful grounds; it was designed 30 years ago as a retirement complex but all the
proposed residents died before it was finished so it ended up as a conference
centre and then a hotel too. Apparently when it was built they never
dreamt it would be under the flight path of an airport (built only 6 years
ago). Despite its pledge to do everything for its guests, we were
somewhat let down by events:-
- For a late lunch in the conservatory, we headed to an empty table laid up for 4 only to be told to leave as it was reserved. We were then put in the breakfast room which was dark, miserable and totally empty. The reserved table remained empty the whole time we were having lunch. Apparently president elect Lenin Moreno (I kid you not) was visiting.
- Two heated swimming pools, jacuzzi and a spa except when Ian went to investigate he was turned away from one pool as it was “occupied”. The Moreno effect again. So after covering the room with damp clothes in attempt to dry them we made do with a quick dip in the smaller pool. It would have been nice to walk around the 10 acres of gardens, there was a bird list of 25 or so species which could be seen and some lovely flowers but by the time we’d repacked the cases the light was fading.
- As we had to leave at 04:45 (yep, not a typo) we asked for a breakfast box to take with us. We were assured that it wouldn’t be necessary as a mini breakfast station was set up in the corner. However, when we presented at 04:20 there was a coffee pot which appeared to be empty and a kettle. After a few words, more coffee appeared together with cartons of milk and bottles of yoghurt drink – not exactly breakfast. We had another go and managed to get bread plus cheese and ham so I slapped some cheese between two slices of bread and there we stood, no plate just a serviette!!! Being a hotel close to the airport which provides a free transfer you’d think they’d used to people leaving at all hours (the flights seemingly continued all night)