After breakfast at the hotel, and with the assistance of staff from the hotel, Adventure Life, and Sacha Lodge, we made the quick flight to Coca, where we had lunch in the Lodge office while staff transferred luggage. It's a very short walk from there to the dock on the Napo River where we climbed aboard a 60-foot motorized ''canoe''.
The Napo, we learned, is a major tributary of the Amazon, though from where we were the Amazon was 400 miles downstream. Yet even this far upstream the Napo is a spectacular river. I tried to calculate how many Missouris would fit in its banks (three?...four?). Wide as it is, it can also be very shallow (as we were to learn the next day). It's the color of coffee heavily doctored with cream as it carries a huge volume of sandy silt down from the Andes. Heavily braided with islands and sand bars, which change with every storm, and thick with floating logs and snags, it presents a serious challenge to boatsmen. Nevertheless our pilot guided us unerringly for nearly two hours, back and forth from bank to bank as he kept to the main channel. I don't know what our speed was in knots, but the wave of spray we kicked up went four feet above the gunwales.
At a clearing in the jungle we disembarked and as squirrel monkeys played in the trees above us, we walked about a kilometer on a plank path to the shore of Lago Pilchicocha (Squash Lake). Our guides paddled us across to the lodge dock in an eight-person canoe.
Sacha, we quickly discovered, is an enchanting and hospitable outpost of civilization and a great spot for our introduction to the Amazon jungle. Over hors d'oeuvres and ''jungle juice'' cocktails Marco, our guide, filled us in on how the lodge operates: meal schedule, exploratory activities and recreational opportunities.
After an hour to settle in our party of six set out to begin unlocking the secrets of the jungle, with the help of Marco and Macaco, our indigenous guide. We saw cacao fruit growing above our heads, and an endless train of leaf-cutter ants at our feet. They would have been all but invisible except for the bright green, postage-stamp sized leaf fragments they bore relentlessly homeward.
We learned about adaptive strategies among jungle plants: the battle is won by the tall since only one per cent of the sun's light reaches the jungle floor. Several types of root structure have developed to support the tall trees. Some send down dozens of roots in a teepee shape; others, like the kapok, have great flat flanges like the fins on a rocket ship. These flanges are remarkably resonant. When struck, the noise carries far into the jungle and the indigenous people have taken advantage of that to devise a communication system.
After a sumptuous buffet in the lodge we assembled for an unworldly canoe ride through the jungle night. Our flashlights caught the red eyes of a large caiman across the lake but it slipped below the surface as we approached. Paddling quietly up Anaconda Creek we passed directly under a pair of magnificent snail kites 20 feet above our heads. Around a bend a striated heron perched on a branch six feet over the water.
Back in our little thatched cabin suspended on pilings 10 feet above the swamp, a chorus of frogs sang us to sleep.
The response from Adventure Life to my first inquiry was prompt and promising. I worked with Jamie Broeckel, Trip Planner, via text, email, and phone calls- always extremely responsive and thorough with information and explaining the process to arrange a private tour for me to Malaysia Borneo. Within about week, the booking was complete and I made decisions because of Jamie's great customer service , friendly manner, and overall competence on behalf of the company's travel expertise. Now I have an itinerary, additional Trip Planner Assistants, several links for vital information for traveling to Maylasia, etc. Still many details for Sept. trip, but now the heavy lifting is done and I can enjoy the rest of the anticipation and research!! Thanks Jamie- you are amazing!!!!
Susan Campo
2 days ago
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
3 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.