Day 16: Returning to Quito

Friday, September 5, 2008

The trip home was a long one. We left Tiputini late because a Huaroni family had come to the station in the night and taken 20 gallons of gas. That’s the traditional culture evident again in that if someone needs something they just take it. When we departed we all waved goodbye to the staff that wasn’t traveling with us, especially Timoteo. On the boat ride we saw quite a few indigenous families on the river, some fishing, some traveling on the river; we also saw wild jungle dogs – which are just dogs that have been brought to live in the jungle even though doing so has potentially hurt other species.

After the 2.5 hour boat ride, it was onto the bus again. I sat in the back row – again – big mistake. It is a very bumpy road and the back just launches in the air. I spent the first hour laughing with Tomas at Annie because she had to pee so badly. Every time we went over a bump she would let out a noise, and she kept singing to herself to try to distract herself. We were finally able to stop at one point and let people go to the bathroom in the woods – unfortunately toilets are few and far between in this region and we had to be far enough away from any Huaroni settlements before going to the bathroom. Tomas and I chatted in Spanish, mostly laughing at Annie or other people. He, along with about 6 other members of the Tiputini Staff, accompanied us back to the oil station for safety reasons. (Again, the Huaroni frequently stop road traffic and take everything). Once we arrived at the oil station we had to wait for over and hour for the boat to arrive to pick us up. Some of us played cards, we danced a little, ate our lunches, and said our final goodbyes.

The cool breeze on the boat felt great as we sped down the Napo River because sitting at the station was deadly hot and humid. We all took our shoes off and lounged in our chairs, enjoying the wind. Several of the girls in the back of the boat played hand clapping games – it was pretty fun reminiscing. As the ride continued, more and more people laid down to go to sleep. I ended up sleeping for about 30 minutes, which was much needed sleep as I had not gotten much the night before. The arrival in Coca brought back the intense heat as we were no longer cruising on a river – although for the next several hours I felt like I was still on a boat…

Since we had about 2.5 hours to kill before our plane left for Quito, we stayed at the hotel, got some drinks and snacks, and just relaxed. Many people played with the monkeys again, along with the parrots, turtles, otters, and coades. Katie D and Lisa B both paid 2 dollars to go swimming in the hotel’s pool. Finally it was time to go home. (Yes, we have begun to refer to Quito as home). The Coca airport is very small, the security almost non-existent, and is very crowded. I felt bad for anyone in our vicinity because I knew we smelled pretty awful. Luckily we were all clumped together on the back of the plane. The flight only took about 20 minutes, and we were able to see Antisana (a snow-capped mountain) above the clouds.

David Cevallos met us at the airport in Quito and we boarded the bus and headed back to Hotel Walther. It took about twice as long as it should have due to heavy traffic, so when we finally arrived we were all thrilled. I showered, then went to La Mariscal for dinner with Lisa, Shawna S, and Sam. We went to a place called Tomate and got 2 huge pizzas and just stuffed ourselves silly. Then it was back to the hotel and to bed because we were all exhausted and had to get up early the next day to head to Banos! I also finally mentioned to Ricardo, our hotel manager, that I had a bra go missing a while back, as did another girl in our group…weird…