Ecuador, more than just a whitewater paradise!

The power of water!  The transition between the 2 falls at San Rafael

It’s easy to get caught up in all the great whitewater in Ecuador and to forget about how kick ass the scenery is as well!

A "small" waterfall plunging into the Rio Quijos

So, this week’s blog is dedicated mostly to the stuff we get to see while we are kayaking around this amazing country.   Yes, yes, it’s really because I did a bad job of getting whitewater shots this week, but the scenery deserves its dues as well!

 Crossing the "sketchy" bridge on our way to the Rio Anzu

This week we had a Class III trip plus 2 Scandinavian guys (Donald from Norway and Jens from Sweden) who were down doing a private 10-day kayaking course.

 Michal playing with some local kids after a nice introduction to creek boating on the Rio Tena

Our free trip winner from last summer's contest—Greg from Fort Collins—was on the Class III trip reaping the benefits of his winnings.  And damn that guy was just so high strung.  He couldn’t relax for one minute!  (joking, see the photo of Greg napping in the waters of the Upper Napo).  

Just one of the many beautiful flowers we have around our lodge

We also had Eric and Sarah, 2 philosophy professors who wouldn’t stop asking each other “if” and “why,” and then Michal, the Polish kayaker who wouldn’t stop asking me if we could stop and take a siesta!

 Greg enjoying Michal's suggestion for a siesta.  He found laying half in the water and half out gave him that perfect temperature balance he was looking for in the tropics!

Everyone got to paddle 4 days in Tena (6 days for the Scandinavians) and 3 days in the Quijos Valley and we saw some awesome scenery along the way!

The Class III gang enjoying a big water day on the Jatunyacu

Donald and Jens liked the boating and the jungle scenery so much that they’ve already signed on to Tarquino-Loco Adventures, to do the big trek from Canada down to Ecuador. 

Greg and Michal enjoying some jungle scenery on the water to San Rafael Falls

Last year Tarquino bought a giant truck up in Alberta, Canada and then drove it solo all the way down to Colombia where he then put it onto a ferry to get it the rest of the way into Ecuador.  He loved the journey so much that he is thinking about doing it again and Donald and Jens seem game to be his co-pilots! 

Eric and Sarah standing in awe of this incredible feature

They are stoked to get the full tour of Mexico and Central America stopping to sample every empanada they can along the way.   Then hopefully they will layover in Ecuador for a week or 2 of kayaking to get over their road weariness at the end of the trip!

Small World Adventures