Day 4

The sky cleared overnight and we were given a spectacular view of the snow capped Antisana volcano.



Loading our luggage into the bus. Not enough time at this stop.


Flowers and plants growing everywhere


On the road and a couple more quick views of the volcano


As we headed down the east side of the Andes we pass several waterfalls


At a bathroom break we found these recycling containers. The programs to recycle and reduce litter must be working since there was very little trash along the highways of Ecuador.


Road construction to upgrade bridges


One of the many streams as we descend out of the Andes


Local capital of Tena


A moth on the wall of the man's restroom




The road ended at La Punta Ahuano and now we take canoes down the Napo River to Casa del Suizo




A truck is ferried across the Napo River while we head to the Casa




Casa del Suizo




Shortly after we arrived at Casa del Suizo the rain came down very hard (welcome to the rain forest)


The rain didn't last long


A view of the Napo River from Casa del Suizo


After lunch we were back in the canoes and headed down river




A short distance down river we pull in



We are greeted by some of the local children


We walk from the river toward a local village


A banana flower


Our tour guide shows us a way to protect your nose from sunburn


The flower of the cocoa tree. The flower is about 3/8 inch across


A cocoa pod, the fruit of the cocoa flower


White flowers were all over


Spider on a tree


A vine climbing up a tree


One of the local villagers shows how a local drink is made


One of our guides tries a sample of the drink


Local crafts. We bought one of these


Found this insect trying to hide from my camera (about 1/2 inch long)


Mary tries her luck with a blowgun. She did about as good as I did. We both missed the target


Other members of our tour group did much better with the blowgun


The blowgun winners



Local girls washing clothes in the river as we head to our next stop


We cross the Napo River and pull in at the small town next to Casa del Suizo


A demonstration of local pottery making.


Up the street from the pottery demonstration and we see a demonstration of balsa wood carving. This carver made all of the wood carvings at Casa del Suizo


An example of a balsa carving in our room

Day 5

There was a light rain overnight and we were up early for another day of adventure in Ecuador.

The view of the Napo River from our room



After breakfast I grabbed the camera and took some photos of flowers around our room









A bee on a banana flower


A snail crossing the sidewalk





This tarantula was found on the beach near our canoe


Back in the canoes and we head up stream for a walk through the forest





A fire tree in bloom





A grasshopper type insect found in the rain forest


A Walking Palm


The base of the Walking Palm has sharp spikes to keep animals off it


Frog


Bull Ant


Mary on one of the bridges


A tree that is sometimes called the "Viagra Tree"





A millipede on Mary's arm


Termite nest


Back to the river and time to go rafting down the Napo


Building a balsa wood raft


Rafting down the river




After lunch we went to a butterfly farm


Several varieties of butterflies are raised inside a large greenhouse and allow to fly freely. Cut up banana is place throughout the greenhouse for the butterflies to eat.


The main butterfly raised here is the large (2.6–7.9 in) Owl Eye butterfly (genus Caligo)


Owl eye eggs


Owl eye eggs attached to the underside of a leaf


A small owl eye caterpillar.


Some of the other butterflies












A close up look






Back at the lodge I found this large cicada