Author: Kara Rountree

Hot springs?  Yes, please!

After returning from the Amazon, we had a couple of days in Quito before we had to fly again, so we took a break to enjoy volcanic hot springs about an hour outside the city high in the Andes Mountains. The Papallacta Hot Springs was beautiful. We arrived before our room was ready, took a hike along an adjacent nature preserve, and enjoyed the hot pools while the front desk held our bags. We soaked in the warm water and watched the clouds crawl across the mountains for most of the afternoon. It even rained pretty hard for about an hour, but we didn’t care. The cold raindrops felt nice as we floated in the steamy water. It was very peaceful and relaxing. 

The next day, we took a spontaneous side trip to visit a rose farm. Roses are one of the top six exports for Ecuador, which makes production very important for this region of the country. 

Sacha Rose Farm is located in the heart of the Ecuadorian Andean region at 10,500 feet above sea level. Natural springs, rich soil, and the perfect amount of sunlight are needed to produce the biggest roses on the planet. And boy, are they big. Some stems can be over 6 feet long and the bud base as big as you fist. 

In Ecuador, you can purchase 25 long-stemmed roses of any color for $2 US. Yes, only two bucks. Try to get away with that this Valentine’s Day!

We took a tour of their flower beds and the production facility. It was fascinating to see how they were sorted for various markets, prepped, boxed, and stored for shipment. We were told it takes only two days from harvest to arrive anywhere anywhere in the world for customers to purchase. 

The farm exports to major distributors for 50¢ to 90¢ per stem depending on the rose. That’s quite the markup when buying roses from your local florist. 

We didn’t know what to expect when we decided to visit this farm, but the tour turned out to be a nice surprise. 

We’ve visited the Ecuadorean highlands, the Amazon, and the coastal region. We have one more region to visit. Any guesses where we’re off to next?

As we make our way back to Coca for our flight to Quito, we wanted to leave you with an understanding of the incredible wildlife in this area. 

The last few days have been eye-opening and educational. We loved every minute of our time here.  La Selva Ecolodge isn’t a zoo or an amusement park. It is the real deal. The area surrounding the lagoon is teaming with life and this is their home. We were merely guests here. Even though we were told several times that wildlife sightings aren’t guaranteed, we were very fortunate to see so much during our stay. 

The Amazon is wild and untamed, some creatures can actually kill you, but with great guides, jungle friendly insect repellent and a pair of rubber boots, you can immerse yourself in the beauty of the the rainforest. If the Amazon region isn’t yet on your list to visit, you have to add it. 

Our naturalist guide shared with us some photos he had taken of some (but not all) of the wildlife we encountered and told us we could share them. We also took so many photos we couldn’t post them all, so we added them to the end of the video. We hope you enjoy it. 

We are in Ecuador for another 15 days. This country is incredible.  If you are interested in a trip to Ecuador, we can help you plan it.

Today we visited a smaller clay lick in the Yasuni National Park where, if you are lucky, the scarlet macaws come down for a drink of the mineral-rich water that pools in this area. It had rained heavily the day before, so our guide warned us we might sit there for three hours with no wildlife sightings, and to bring a book to pass the time. 

From the river, our guide led us through a small coffee plantation, and a narrow rainforest trail to a covered outdoor theater constructed by the park for viewing without disturbing the birds. Our small 4 person group were the first to arrive and got prime seats in the front row. Then we waited. We had to stay seated and completely silent (you know that was very hard for me) to not spook the macaws. Surprisingly, after about 10 minutes of reading our books and periodically searching the trees for macaws, we heard squawking from above and the tree tops began to move. We saw one macaw, then two, then four. Within minutes about ten huge scarlet macaws were milling about in the trees!  After further squawking, the first macaw dropped to the ground and began to drink, a minute later the second, then the third. Once the fourth dropped and tried to drink, a scuffle broke out and two flew back into the trees. This continued as each bird took its turn drinking. After about 20 minutes of watching these colorful birds, a loud barking call was made off in the distance, apparently alerting the flock of a potential danger. They all took off at the same time and were gone. Our guide told us that might be all we would see for the day, but sometimes they come back, so again we waited. About an hour and a half later as more people were entering the theater, a new group of macaws began to drop in. It was an incredible sight to see. These creatures are magnificent!

Our afternoon excursion was a trek through the rainforest in search of new flora or fauna. We saw a fungi called the wine cup (our kind of fungi!) and had to escape a migrating group of army ants who were using the same narrow trail we needed to walk down. I kept seeing the scene from Indiana Jones where the ants swarm the bad guy, so I picked up my pace to a light jog and got the heck out of their way. 

This was our last day in the rainforest, as all good things must come to an end. We aren’t happy we are leaving this majestic place, but we are leaving it very happy.

Our adventures aren’t over yet. We still have more of this beautiful country to explore.

Today we canoed back to the Napo River to visit a clay lick where parrots congregate and eat the clay from the hillside. They do this to get minerals like sodium from the clay they don’t get elsewhere and to counteract toxins that build up in their bodies from the berries in their diets. From our boat we could see hundreds of parrots on the wall and hundreds more in the nearby trees waiting to take their turns. We spotted four different varieties.  They were easy to spot because they all congregated together in line parrot groups along the wall for protection.  These included yellow crowned parrots, blue headed parrots, mealy parrots and dusky-headed parakeets.  This was fascinating to watch. 

Our guide spotted a boa constrictor on a tree branch near the clay lick who was waiting for his moment to catch breakfast.

Later we visited a local Kichwa community and learned a lot about their culture and how they live. We were given a tour of their school where roughly 65 children attend school from grades 1-6 with only three teachers to teach them all. The school was empty since we visited on a Sunday, so sadly, we didn’t get to interact with any of the children. We were then escorted to a family homestead where we learned how they constructed their homes and cooking areas from local materials. This was not a fake tourist village. This was the real deal. 

They were kind enough to prepare some samples of food typical in their diets for us to try. Watch the video to see what we ate.  You know this is going to be good. 

In the evening we took a forest walk and saw a mahogany tree estimated to be over 600 years old. These trees were decimated to build furniture but now are protected. We felt so small just standing next to the roots of this giant tree!  We also saw several frogs and insects but the highlight of this walk was the family of three owl monkeys in the hollow of a tree. They were adorable!  

We are loving our time in the Amazon. There are things to see and experience everywhere we turn and we are absorbing every last bit we can before we have to leave.