Ecuador: Day 1 - Quito to Sacha Lodge

DWoke up at 6:15. Didn't close the black-out curtains to the hallway, so every time I rolled over I thought was morning and I was already late.  

The name of the hotel is Rincón de Puembo. According to the card in the room, they have a pool, a sauna, a gym - too bad we won't be staying. 

Dad spotted a Magnificient Hummingbird in the garden on the way to breakfast.

Fun and excitement was the order of the day after breakfast. After a ride to the airport from our same driver as the night before (and in similar silence), we found out that our flight was not at the expected 10:20 am, but at 11:25. Also, they had no record of us being on the flight. #Awesome. At this point, Dad started a very well-contained freak-out. Thanks to modern technology, I got wifi at the TGI Fridays in the airport with the purchase of a coffee and tried to contact our guide company. No luck. Dad found a pay phone and tried calling some numbers we found on the website. No luck. So I called Mom using FaceTime and sent her the numbers, knowing she could continue calling when we couldn't. Her persistence paid off (thanks Mom!) and we soon got a FaceTime call from one of the representatives. Turns out, both we and the hotel had been misinformed, and we were not supposed to schedule another ride to the airport after all, but instead wait for our guide to come get us.  Since we left early (thinking 10am flight), we totally missed the guide.  Once we got the call, though, it was only a matter of minutes until Andrew, our guide, showed up. Flights were confirmed, canoe plans made, and we were off to Coca. 

All sorted, we met with the Sacha Lodge group and were loaded on a bus and brought to a house by the river. After a light lunch we got on a boat and sped the 40+ miles downstream. Not much to see there but other boats. 

Upon docking, we walked a trail and were loaded into canoes and cruised across the lake to the lodge. 

After an orientation meeting with Mike, the manager, we took a little time to settle in, then met up with Andrew, our guide, and Wilmer, our local guide. We took a canoe out near sunset and paddled along the lake and down the stream. We saw some birds there, including a hoatzin, and had to backtrack because it was getting dark. 

After a shower, we met Andrew again for dinner and a beer.  All told, we were back in the room, and ready for bed by 9:30, alarm set for 4:15AM. 

I'm going to try to add some photos here, but no guarantees, as the Internet here is quite slow.