South America by Geezer

[RexBuck]

Originally Posted by Jick Magger

Hey Rexbuck

Happy New Year. Its nice to see you back on the road. Great photos indeed. Keep them coming.

Thanks Jick. It is good getting back on the bike. Will be resuming the solo trip in a couple of days.

[RexBuck]

Originally Posted by GaryWild

Hey Rex and Mrs. RB

Those Galapagos shots were really good. You really have a way with photographing iguanas. I am fascinated with the tortises....are you allowed to touch them?

Have fun,

Gary

Thanks Gary. I think the Iguanas were my favorite animal there - certainly tops in the ugly category.

The rule there is you are supposed to keep 2 meters from the animals - kind of hard sometimes. The guide kept claiming the meters we use in Canada must only be about a foot long. Well, hell yah - we fish in Canada.

[RexBuck]

Got back to Quito, sorted out all of our stuff needed from lounging around on a boat stuff to riding two up stuff. Had left the bike and a ton of stuff in the ample storage of Casa Helbling. Now just leaving a ton of stuff.

Headed east for the town of Tena in the Amazon Rainforest. Going to a place called Hakuna Matata. At this time I have to give some big props to MotoTreks who directed me to both Hakuna Matata and Casa Helbling. It is a huge help when we can rely on other traveler’s experiences to identify the great places to go.

A spectacular road through the Andes. Ecuador is making a great effort to upgrade most of their main roads and are doing a wonderful job. Great pavement, great engineering and spectacular scenery. The only bad habit they have is to build these really nasty v-shaped ditches on both sides of the road so, very difficult to stop and get decent pics.





Strange having someone on the back of the bike – everything is a bit different. But, we got along fine until the road into Hakuna Matata. It had started raining and the road was unpaved and a bit slick slick in places but quite rideable.

Came upon this little suspension bridge and we are going up the middle but I couldn’t figure out why I seemed to be slowly veering to the left . . . towards the boards for cars which are raised a couple of inches. Looking back.






I glance at the suspension cable on the left which is low enough at that point that falling on it will do nothing but act as a giant fulcrum as we launch over the side into the river below.

Finally decided a combination of me going too slow and Mrs RB intently looking over my left shoulder worrying about the little holes in the bridge ahead were giving the steering a life of its own.

Woke up and gave it a little right hand and got out of there with no problem.



Noticed the rocks in the road are now a lot rougher than on the other side and were pretty slick from the rain and crap on them. Figured riding two up (which I’m not particularly good at – hell, I’m not particularly good at riding one up . . . ) on these wet rocks wasn’t a good idea. So, stopped to let Mrs RB off to let her walk up, my foot slips off the rock it's trying to cling to and promptly dumped her in the weeds – see, told you I wasn’t that good. (Sorry no pics)

Got righted again and hauled ass up the road no hay problema. Waited for her at the little Indian community a ways. She decided to walk the rest of the way to the resort – that was probably a good idea.

I was checked in and unloaded when she finally showed up. She was yakking on about a snake she saw on the road along the way. We went down to the restaurant and had a look on Google for “Ecuador Snakes” and, I shit you not, this is the one she identified:




Mmmkay! Snigger . . . Showed it to one of the guides and amongst their sniggers, (I was guffawing by now ) he told us what she saw would likely have been one of the Giant Earthworms found in the area which look similar to this thing. Apparently the Indians cook them up and eat them . . . another delicacy I think I’ll pass on.

Hakuna Matata turned out to be a delightful place. Nice big rooms, beautiful location in the jungle, great food and the altitude is just high enough to not have mosquitoes.









They served an outstanding breakfast and dinner.











Decided we would do the Amazon Rainforest trip through the hotel. Pick us up along with our guide Fausto in a cab - typical cab for the area






and drive for about an hour to the edge of the Napo River. Hop in one of these long, narrow river boats and head off down the river.









All of a sudden the Native boat driver starts acting weird and turns the boat around and starts to kind of howl . . . for a few minutes. We are drifting towards this island and we find out this is where he lives and he is calling his wife (I’ll have to try that when I get home) to come out to the river. She finally shows and he throws her a couple bags of fish and we carry on.





The river gets quite shallow in places - it is hard to see in this photo but there is probably a good one foot drop off from the calmer water in the foreground to the shallow rapids






Branches seem to meander all over – we finally head down one narrow branch that is so shallow that the boat is sliding down the rocks – tough wood. This empties into a different and smaller river and we now head upstream. This seems like right out of the movies – jungle right down to the shore, lots of jungle sounds.





Finally spot our first monkeys, Wooly Monkeys






These guys are pretty beefy






Then a bunch of little Squirrel Monkeys





Boat drops us off and we start hiking through the jungle. Why they give us gum boots





The roots of this tree grow above ground and have some really nasty thorns on them. The natives use these like a grater for their food.






Little poison mushrooms





Fausto finds this very poisonous frog – the red on the back is where the poison is





Finds some of these nasty Conga Ants whose sting is apparently worse than any other. They are almost an inch long. I can now understand why survival in the jungle can be difficult for the inexperienced.






See these termite nests all over the place - at first we thought they were burls





Stop at an animal rescue place and look at all the animals they have. Mostly seized from smugglers trying to get them out of the country. Of the animals they receive, a third die, a third are released into the wild and the remainder are unable to survive on their own and are kept in their sort of zoo facilities.













Came across this guy paddling a traditional dugout canoe





Stop at a Amazon Native village. See how they make pottery, taro root drink and pan for gold.





They cook then mash up Taro root and let it ferment for a week or so then, party on. This lady had a big cup of the fermented stuff and passed it around. Let's just say it didn't suit my taste. Fausto grabs the cup and downs the whole thing and seemed quite pleased with his score.





Pan for gold with wooden pans - can get a few grams a week.

[Sunday Rider]

Great update RB.

When you say you dumped her in the grass, I assume you are talking about the moto and not Mrs. RB?

Glad everyone is doing well and no exotic bites from the locals.

Wishing you a continued safe trip.

[RexBuck]

Originally Posted by Sunday Rider

Great update RB.

When you say you dumped her in the grass, I assume you are talking about the moto and not Mrs. RB?

Glad everyone is doing well and no exotic bites from the locals.

Wishing you a continued safe trip.

No, that would be both of the hers . . .

It's all part of the experience riding behind the Great RexBuck!

[Vernonpedro]

Perhaps, RB, you should admit to your gentle readers that Mrs. RB rides her own GS800, and that hers has rather fewer scratches on it than yours does. Just sayin'.............. Pedro

[Pete_Tallahassee]

Ouch!

[RexBuck]

Originally Posted by Vernonpedro

Perhaps, RB, you should admit to your gentle readers that Mrs. RB rides her own GS800, and that hers has rather fewer scratches on it than yours does. Just sayin'.............. Pedro

Oh Hell, everybody's 800GS (get it right, eh?) has fewer scratches on it than mine but mine has character . . . and stories to tell. And, there will be more. Trust me . . .

[Vernonpedro]

Well said, Stevo - definitely scars of honour! And I'm looking forward to hearing many stories over many scotches. Stay safe, buddy, and don't drop that beautiful Mrs RB again. Hugs to her, envious grins to you. P.

[RexBuck]

Originally Posted by Vernonpedro

Well said, Stevo - definitely scars of honour! And I'm looking forward to hearing many stories over many scotches. Stay safe, buddy, and don't drop that beautiful Mrs RB again. Hugs to her, envious grins to you. P.

Oh, when have I not been able to regale you with more BS than normal people can handle when you ply me Scotch or, Bourbon or, Tequila or . . . I may be easy but I ain't cheap.

[RexBuck]

Couple of people we met at Hakuna Matata were Ricardo and his girlfriend Alia. They are travelling around Ecuador on Ricardo's new 650GS. Super nice people which just reinforced my very positive experience with South American people so far.





Left Hanuka Matata for Baños - a relatively short ride of about 180km. As soon as we got to nearby Tena, it started raining, then it rained harder. Had about 2 hours of everything from drizzle to downpour.


Stopped outside of Puyo for a break and some gas and a coffee and get chatting with this guy in the store. Turns out he used to be the mayor of Puyo and that city had some sort of sister city arrangement with Vancouver, BC. He was able to travel to the Great White North a couple of times and received a royal tour of BC back in the 90s. He was at this store with his son who has a milk processing plant and was delivering a pickup load of milk to a bus who was taking it on to another city a couple hundred miles away. Novel way to deliver milk.


West of Puyo the road got real interesting again as it ran up this valley. Curvy and a whole series of tunnels – some pretty long and just because they were in a tunnel didn't stop people from passing each other. Pretty canyon.






Came out of the last tunnel and Ricardo and Alia pull up beside us so we stop to say hi. After they left, we are looking over the gorge at these waterfalls and all of a sudden hear a bunch of screaming and see this contraption heading across the gorge. Gotta do that!






Mrs RB wasn’t too impressed. Tried to talk her into doing the zipline that ran parallel to the basket . . . she was able to express her displeasure with that suggestion with very few words.





This guy was the "operator" encouraging this contraption to drag the basket back and forth over the gorge.





The waterfalls apparently used to be a lot larger but they built a dam up stream and cut a lot of the water off.


They even had a Zebra - don't see many of those around here . . .







Arrived in Baños which is a really nice little town.






Then headed up the mountain to Luna Runtun where we had a reservation - another successful MotoTreks recommendation. Great ride up the mountain, beautiful grounds, great food and a super view.







Spectacular view of Baños from our room














From the hot tubs





Were supposed to be able to see the glow of the Volcan Tungurahua behind us at night but the clouds weren’t cooperating keeping the peak blanketed. So, thwarted once again to see something on fire from a volcano.


Went into town the next night and stayed at the Hosteria Floresta - a great hotel for bikers. A bit more of what I am used to. Good parking, good internet and a block from town center.





Went to this great little Spanish restaurant which had a Tapas type menu. Outstanding sausages apparently made by Nuns up in the mountains using Spanish methods.

[moto-treks]

Great stuff RexBuck, love the pics You're making me wish I was back down there exploring the sights, sounds, smells and food.

[RexBuck]

Originally Posted by moto-treks

Great stuff RexBuck, love the pics You're making me wish I was back down there exploring the sights, sounds, smells and food.

Thanks. I can really see wanting to come back to many of these places for longer periods in the future. But then, there are a lot of other places in the world to see also.

[GaryWild]

Hey Rexster,

Enjoyed the entertaining anecdote about Mrs. RB's solo jungle hike. I think that your judgement is getting clouded by the high altitudes. I can only imagine that if I were to abandon my wife alone on a steep, wet mountain road to "walk the rest of the way up", she would come up with similar stories as well.

Have fun, sure am enjoying hearing about your trip back here.

Gary

[RexBuck]

Originally Posted by GaryWild

Hey Rexster,

Enjoyed the entertaining anecdote about Mrs. RB's solo jungle hike. I think that your judgement is getting clouded by the high altitudes. I can only imagine that if I were to abandon my wife alone on a steep, wet mountain road to "walk the rest of the way up", she would come up with similar stories as well.

Have fun, sure am enjoying hearing about your trip back here.

Gary

Thanks Gary. Actually the altitude there was below 3000 feet so must have been something else clouding my judgement.