Time to Travel: Communing with nature in the valley of the ancients

After two days of cooling our heels in Yurimaguas due to an anti-logging strike that closed down the whole town, we were very keen to get on our way to Ecuador. Not wanting to take a detour back to the coast to cross into Ecuador at the main border check-point, we decided to take the path less travelled via Jaén, San Ignacio and La Balsa. It turned out to be a great decision because, even though the trip was not necessarily faster, it was certainly extremely scenic and just a bit adventurous. Following our escape from Yuri in a packed mini-bus to Tarapoto (everyone wanted to get out and was NOT prepared to wait for the next bus, so it got very cosy..) we took a ‘real’ bus to Jaén, before changing into a series of small ‘carros’ (communal cars) in varying stages of (dis)repair (tire tread and working door-handles are not to be expected) to leapfrog from Jaén to San Ignacio, then from there to La Balsa on the border. The decrepit old two-wheel drive carros churned their way along roads transformed into mires of clinging red mud, scraped through cavernous washouts and overtook heavily laden tip-trucks ponderously inching their way up the winding mountain roads. We were constantly amazed at the feats the drivers managed to pull off in ancient cars very obviously not built for off-road driving. Despite some slipping, sliding and wheel-spinning in the often seemingly bottomless mud, the drivers always managed to coax their old sedans through. We only had one very hairy incident on the way, and even that was averted by a skilled, quick thinking driver: We were sitting in our carro waiting at one of the numerous road blocks (the road is under constant ‘repair’ due to landslides etc) when all of a sudden we noticed a huge truck laden with crushed rock approaching from behind us very, very fast. Much too fast for a truck of that weight to be able to stop in time, especially given that he was racing downhill on a track slick with mud. It immediately became clear that the truck’s brakes had failed, and with roadworkers running and jumping to get out of the way, the quick thinking driver swerved around the line of waiting cars, crashed through the road block and plowed his runaway truck at full speed into a pile of soil next to the cliff, finally coming to a grinding halt a few meters from several other waiting trucks. It all happened so fast that it took everyone a while to work out what had happened. But when we did we realized that if it wasn’t for the truck-driver’s quick thinking, our carro (with us in it) would have ended up looking like a crumpled tin can, squashed from behind by the truck into the cliff in front. The driver, when he stumbled dazed but otherwise unhurt from his soil-covered cabin, received many hearty pats on the back! J

Close call with a big truck - good on the driver for thinking and acting fast!

Lucky the pile of dirt was there to act as a brake!

Lovely little girls don't seem to mind that their main street is a construction site

Energised by this narrow escape, the rest of the drive flew by, and we soon arrived in the ‘thriving metropolis’ of La Balsa. The tiny little town is one of the most chilled border posts I have ever seen: Three or four houses, more chickens than human inhabitants, and border officials sitting around in their singlets, only moving to scratch themselves or swat at a particularly persistent insect. We managed to drag a Peruvian policeman away from his scratching long enough to get our exit papers stamped and then walked across the river to rouse his Ecuadorian counterpart from an extended afternoon siesta. After stamping our passports and welcoming us to Ecuador, he told us that the only bus to the next town wasn’t leaving for another three hours, but that we could buy beer at the little shop across the street J Liking Ecuador immediately, we followed his advice and bought a couple of ice-cold Pilsner from a jovial shop-keeper with an impressive handlebar moustache (a big change from the very hairless Peruvian’s we had become used to!).

We spent a very pleasant hour sitting on the porch of the little shop and watching the chickens forage for whatever chickens forage for in the middle of the road, sipping our beer and reminiscing about our 7 weeks in Perù. Then, very unexpectedly, a young man in a pickup truck leaned out of his window to offer us a ride to Zumba. After such a long time among the very reserved Peruvians, we were very pleasantly surprised to find that Ecuadorians are more than willing to give ‘gringos’ a lift! The four-wheel-drive ute mastered the rough and tumble ride to Zumba much faster than the bus would have, and the good Samaritan was even nice enough to drop us off at the only hotel in the picturesque little mountain town. Although quite old and less-than-pristine, it did offer balconied rooms with spectacular views of the surrounding lush hills for only 15 Euro. And so our first night on Ecuadorian soil was spent sipping a cool drink and watching the vibrant sunset from our private second storey balcony. We had the feeling we were going to like Ecuador a lot J

The sleepy little border crossing at La Balsa - more chickens than humans :)

The tiny little outpost town of Zumba

The view we were treated to on our first night in Ecuador - not bad hey? :)

The next day when we arrived in the perfect little village of Vilcabamba, the feeling was only intensified. Nestled among rolling green hills topped with ochre-red cliffs, Vilca is a perfect mixture of colonial past and eco-hippy present. White-washed, red-roofed houses, a leafy main square and a healthy seasoning of alternative, environmentally minded ex-pats make it a perfect place to sit and watch the world go by. On top of this, the valley of Vilcabamba is renowned for its ancient inhabitants. For some reason (perhaps the water, perhaps the weather, perhaps the healthy lifestyle), people just refuse to die in Vilca! The whole valley is full of tottering old toothless ancients, most of whom have perpetual smiles on their faces. Many people say the place is just so peaceful, relaxed and friendly that no-one in their right mind would want to throw in the towel: If you have found paradise on earth, who wants to find out if the heavenly version exists? J

We found ourselves a little piece of this paradise – a wonderfully rustic adobe hut on the Rumi Wilco Eco-Reserve - a great concept implemented by two biologists from Argentina, Orlando and Alicia Falco. Many years ago, with money saved up from working as guides on the Galapagos Islands, they bought a little patch of jungle bushland on the banks of the Río Champa and settled down to have a family. After a few years, they began to become worried about the effects un-sustainable farming and land clearance were having on the area’s fragile eco-system, and came up with an innovate concept to do their little bit to help. They decided to declare their own hilly hectares a nature reserve, and after a lot of fast-talking, managed to convince several of their neighbours to add sections of their wooded land too. By providing eco-friendly, self contained huts, shade-grown coffee, home-made marmalade and granola to environmentally aware tourists, the Falco family pays for the protection and upkeep of the reserve, which includes several wonderful walking tails. Alicia even goes to the effort of hanging up hand-painted signs (made of recycled venetian blinds J ) throughout the reserve indicating the English, Latin and local names of more than 200 plant species! Not only did we find the concept great and the hosts extremely friendly, we also fell in love with our little hut on sight. After weeks of hostel-hopping, we were so happy to have a little patch of privacy all to ourselves. A mud-brick hut decorated with homely touches, an extremely comfy bed and best of all – a fully-equipped kitchen!!! J We revelled in being able to cook for ourselves again, and splurged on real coffee, yogurt, granola, fresh rolls, cheese and boiled eggs for breakfast, tapas and red wine, fresh salads, vegetables and meat dishes with rich sauces for dinner. We spent our days sleeping in, soaking up the peaceful atmosphere of the jungle around us, walking in the hills, sitting on the leafy main plaza, watching the slow pace of Vilcabamba life and trying to decide what to cook for dinner. To add to our enjoyment of the sleepy little town, we also managed to catch up with some good friends we have been bumping into since we first met them in southern Bolivia. In return for volunteer work at a small organic nursery, they had been given a small house to live in, a perfect little hideaway on the edge of the river, surrounded by lush jungle. We spent a lovely evening with them, sitting on their veranda, lulled by the sound of the stream, feeling the heartbeat of the jungle, getting to know the bugs (see below) and trying (once again!) to find solutions to the world’s problems. J As much as we need solitude at times, good company is also a must when travelling!

Río Champa running through the Rumi Wilco Eco-Reserve

Our little piece of paradise - our jungle hut

Interesting art in our little adobe hut

Our own kitchen!!! Oh joy of joys! :)

Fresh salad!!!!!!

Tapas and wine evening for two in our little hideaway

Getting up close and personal with some of the wildlife in Vilca

Good morning to you too!

After a week of forgetting time in the valley of the ancients, we knew it was time to tear ourselves away from Vilca. But unable to bring ourselves to leave the area completely, we compromised by travelling only a few hours north to the equally sleepy (if not quite as pretty) town of Zamora. Here we were treated to more of the region’s spectacular biodiversity in the Podocarpus National Park. Wrapped in the prolific foliage of the montane rainforest, we explored countless winding paths leading along roaring rivers, to the feet of tumbling cascades and over the crests of cloud-shrouded hills. We might have gone a little overboard with photographs (see below J), but the multitude of amazing plant-life really blew us away – it is like walking through an endless botanic garden. Although we have been in Ecuador for almost two weeks and haven’t really progressed very far, we feel we have a good reason for having got ‘stuck’ in the south – there is something very special about this little patch of the Earth, something that makes it extremely hard to leave.....