THE NEW AIRPORT

We met Wilmer and Pablo at 6:45 a.m. for a ride out to the new airport - first day opening! They had no idea how it was going to go. Wilmer was going to stay with us until we met the guide from Sani Lodge to get us our tickets and help us board. We had quite a wait.    There wasn´t a single plane there yet. First flight was to be at 9 a.m. but of course was delayed. Our 10 a.m. flight didn´t leave until 11:30. There were tons of TV cameras and news reporters around shooting all kinds of scenes. A group of important looking dignitaries were walking around looking very pleased. Later they all gather out back on one platform so we knew something was arriving. Two fire trucks headed out to the tarmac facing each other. All the crews were gathered outside. Finally a TAME plane landed, turned around and the firehoses made a water arch and the plane passed through. It did the same when our AeroGal plane landed.


By this time our Sani lodge person had showed up and Wilmer handed us off to her, we got tickets and went through security. She gave us each a badge to put on our shirts (nothing on our luggage - that becomes important later!) and we went down to the gate to wait. There we met Bob and Joan, more Sani Lodge trippers from Portland, OR (he´s an electrician, originally from NY; she´s a surgical nurse, originally from ND) This also was their first time in Ecuador and they were headed to the Gal. Isl. after the jungle (if I had to do it again, I would skip Guayaquil, come to Quito and do jungle tour first, and then dry out in the Gal. Is.). Their son recently graduated and is working in southern Ecuador with a river trekker. They had shipped his kayak over for him when they came. We had a great time the whole trip with them; they were in our group with Delfin, our local indigenous guide, who spoke great English and was incredibly knowledgeable and great at spotting birds (LOTS of birders on this trip!) and other animals. We also met Adrian from Wales, who works in food systems, and he was in a different group. But a lovely man who at the end really helped Betty out at the airport when she was trying to communicate about her lost backpack! (since he spoke some Spanish; had had a Spanish speaking girlfriend).



Finally we loaded and took off for Coca. We met Steve and Janet, couple from Chicago via Detroit - she is an art designer for a Nat. Geo book publisher, and he is a musician who travels around the midwest, especially to college campuses with a live karaoke show - I think he´s the piano player! And Janet´s brother traveling with them, Frank. They were with Freddy, the guide from the Sani community, during the day.

We were met in Coca by Delfin and taxied to the port. We were told to put our bags down on the platform and use the toilet as it would be a 2.5 hr. boat trip to our next stop. Betty was in first and put her backpack (we had left other bags in Quito at Brune´s) and went to the bathroom. When she came back out, the guys were loading the bags into the boat and we were told to get in. I had asked if we should have raingear in case but was told there was an awning on top of the boat. We ended up kind of in the front of this long motorized canoe. We headed downstream and soon it began to pour! Somehow other people had been given rain parkas but not us! Betty and huddled for about an hour and finally someone said for us to ask if they had more parkas. We were soaked but I was getting chilled (IN THE JUNGLE!) but the parkas helped!

We arrived after maybe 2 hours to a platform on the riverbank and walked for maybe 10 minutes on a boardwalk through a swamp to another small canoe. The locals paddled us another 15 minutes to the lodge. Someone had cut a bunch of sawgrass from the sides and it had created a huge grass jam that we had to pull our boat through!! Betty cut her hand on the sawgrass!

Arriving at the thatch covered lodges, we were greeted by a waiter with DELICIOUS martinis, I guess, and some snacks. Well appreciated! We were shown to our hut - 2 beds each with great mosquito netting, own bathroom and little porch. One family took another small canoe and were paddled to their camping" lodge - an open A-frame with a tent and mats inside - for much cheaper. No bathroom, Leslie (the mom) said they used a cup during the night!! a former doctor from LA, her husband Omar from Mexico City, and their 6.5 year old son Ocean. Another Danish birder was also camping. He had hired his own private guides but ate dinner with our group. He said birding was an obsession!!



Getting to our room is when Betty realized they had NOT loaded her backpack with the luggage. It had toiletries, binoculars, long underwear and her outer nice jacket that she will need in southern Chile boat trip when it´s cold!! Searching brought no results, and many calls and inquiries later, no luck! People loaned her t-shirts, some pants, toothpaste, flashlight (the electricity goes off at 10 pm and we needed to see to get to the bathroom at night!). She was VERY upset needless to say. Oh, I forgot her medications were also missing: malaria tablets, blood pressure meds, cancer medication, Phosomax! Someone supplied her with the malaria tablets but others she went without. Others loaned her underwear and socks. Bob bought her a beer. We had a delicious dinner (the food here was outstanding!!) we had hot showers and went to bed, Betty very annoyed at herself for not checking on her backpack. I didn´t check if mine was loaded either (I had a rolling suitcase/backpack plus my daypack that I kept with me). Bad night for sleeping for her.

Up at 5:30 am for breakfast and the start of our jungle adventures!