ONE MAN'S IMPRESSION OF THE ARAJUNO JUNGLE LODGE
We had traveled for hours over some very interesting roads before we finally reached the Arajuno River. It was late in the afternoon, not long before sunset. Our bus crossed the river on an old steel truss bridge and pulled off the road. At the base of the bridge, a canoe was waiting for us.
The canoe wasn't like the American river canoes I am familiar with. It was about the same width as an American canoe, but was much longer, maybe 40 feet long. It was powered by a outboard motor. We stacked our gear in the canoe, boarded and headed up river.
A few kilometers up river we saw a tower extending above the treeline, and a small beach. Overlooking the river was the Arajuno Lodge. Our canoe pulled in and the guy that owns the place came out to greet us. His name is Tom Larson, an American from Nebraska.
The lodge itself is a main dining hall/kitchen/meeting place surrounded by small cabins and cabanas. The cabins were nicer than I expected. The cabins have thatched roofs, screened in windows, bathrooms (flush toilets!), showers, hot and cold running water and 12 volt electricity. The beds were beds, not cots or hammocks. They were comfortable and they were clean. The cabin we were in could sleep six people. The other cabins appeared to be about the same size.
Little rock-lined trails meander between the cabins and the main hall. There's also a sand volley ball court. Flowers, giant plants, trees, bamboo, vines, moss, airplants and all sorts of other things seem to be growing everywhere.
The days there are different than I expected. The sun rises and sets at about the same time every day year round. There is no seasonal change in the length of days/nights.
The climate was different than I expected also. Being almost on the equator, I expected it to be humid and hot. My home is in about the center of the United States(Oklahoma), and our summers there are much hotter and more humid than the time I spent at the Arajuno Lodge. There were no air conditioners in the cabins, but everyone in our group was able to sleep comfortably at night. While I don't know the exact temperatures, the days felt to be around 90 degrees farenheight, the nights probably in the low 70s.
The mosquito
problem was also less than I expected. Yes, I used insect repellent, but it
just didn't seem to be that big a deal. We were there in late October, the
dry season. I don't know how different the wet season is.
The food was excellent. It was all fresh, new, not too weird, healthy and tasty. There were many fruits and vegetables I had never seen or tasted before. The meals we had meat it was usually grilled fish and maybe chicken once.
I thought it was noteworthy that several in my group(all Americans, used to American food) commented on how much better they felt at the end of their stay. They each attributed this to the food they had been eating.
We had water, beer or Argentina wine to drink. Apparently Ecuador doesn't make a good wine, I'm not a wine person, but others in our group who are into wine enjoyed it.
The activities around the lodge were fairly low-key and laid-back.
Some of us went
hiking on trails into the primary rainforest. The hike was demanding,but not
real lengthy, at least the trail I was on. We were given rubber
boots, like dairy farmers or cement workers use to hike in. These are water
proof and give excellent protection against insect and snake bites (no we
didn't see any snakes at the lodge or on the trails). But as hiking boots
they're not as good as... hiking boots. But I guess that's to be expected.
All of us tried out the rope swing that swings out over the river. That was fun.
There were sit-on-top kayaks but none of us tried those. The river isn't fast enough to be challenging to white water kayakers or canoers, but would be okay to just play around in.
We did swim in the river which was very refreshing. It's not a cold mountain stream, and it won't sweep you away. But it sure felt good after a hot day. There are no pirhanas in the River Arajuno.
There was a volley ball court. But we never got around to that. We could play volley ball at home. There were just too many other things to do that we couldn't do at home.
All of us especially enjoyed siting out in the hammocks in the evenings, watching the river, drinking a beer.
At night several of us (those not afraid of heights) climbed to the top of the tower and watched the stars with a glass of wine at hand.
TIP: Use caution ascending a ladder with a wine bottle and/or glass in hand; use EXTREME CAUTION descending a ladder with an empty wine bottle and glass in hand).
I know it's a cliche, but the air is so clear and the night so dark...you just won't believe how many stars are visible until you see it youself.
One day, Tom Larson, the owner, brought out an honest-to-gosh blow gun. It was about 8 feet long. We all tried our hand (mouth, actually) at shooting a dart at a pillow cushion. The thing is much more accurate than you would expect, and has much more range.
We spent a lot of time just looking at the flowers, insects, butterflys, spiders and birds around the lodge. You don't realize how biologically homogenous life in modern cities is until you see just how diverse life is in the rain forest. Amazing.
As mentioned earlier, I expected to see snakes, but didn't see any. I did see a Cayman( a small variety of alligator).
I sort of expected the jungle, away from civilization, to be quite at night; it's not. Its a non-stop chorus of insect, bird and animal sounds.
We spent three nights and three days at the lodge. We all enjoyed every minute of it, and our only regret was that we had not booked a longer stay.
Doug Henderson
Tulsa, Oklahoma,