An Ecuadorian Amazon Lodge Hidden in a Jungle Paradise

----

By Doug Hansen

If I close my eyes, I can still feel the warm tropical breeze blowing across my face as our cigar-shaped motorboat purrs down the brownish, silt-laden Cuyabeno River, heading for the remote Siona Lodge in Ecuador's Amazon region. Our two-hour boat ride into the heart of the 2,300-square-mile Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve exposes our small group of adventurers to brilliant blue iridescent morpho butterflies, monkeys and a toucan. I am spellbound.

A travel agent in Quito, where we had family, had encouraged me to take the 50-minute flight from there to Lago Agrio, a forgettable little town named for the bitter waters left behind by an oil project. In the morning our group piled into a Siona Lodge van that careened down a curving, bumpy road through a landscape once teeming with jungle and wildlife, now cleared and converted to homesteads by poor farmers who didn't realize that nutrient-poor rainforest soil produces meager crops.

After two hours we arrived at a ramshackle restaurant across from the Cuyabeno Reserve headquarters, the river's entry point for motorboats taking visitors to and from the reserve's five lodges. I felt a surge of adrenaline as we walked down the gangplank to our slender 40-foot boat. Then the boat's engine roared to life, and we set forth into the mysterious green expanse.

As we progressed through the rainforest, our eagle-eyed guide spotted and explained details about otherwise invisible birds, monkeys, lizards, tree sloths and even a group of rare river dolphins. As much as I delighted in seeing exotic creatures, I was also mesmerized by the extraordinary variety of tropical plants.

What made this scene surreal, however, was the sound of the jungle. The noise of our boat's motor was periodically interrupted by the sudden pulsating, shrill sounds of an unseen army of cicadas. We craned our necks to spot toucans making their distinctive, high-pitched chirp while perched in the tallest trees.

Eventually we emerged from the confines of the river and glided across a lake sprinkled with trees that appeared to float on the water's stillness. Large and small bromeliads with striking red curved leaves nestled on the branches, surrounded by orchids, delicate ferns, stringy mosses and philodendrons. Lime-green parrots screeched at us while snow-white egrets gazed indifferently as we passed by.

Our boat finally reached Siona Lodge and our reclusive quarters. Covered wooden walkways connected the five duplex bungalows and the combination kitchen-dining area and sitting room. Each wooden structure sported a palm frond roof that blended with the jungle. At the far end of the compound a small hut at the edge of the lake provided a platform for gazing at the sunset, chatting or meditation.

I eagerly anticipated each day's new adventure -- a sunrise birdwatching expedition; a nighttime search for caimans, whose eyes glowed in the flashlight beam; two jungle hikes; and a refreshing daily sunset swim.

The first of our two terrestrial outings involved a three-hour daytime hike in the nearby jungle. The lodge provided the necessary rubber boots so we could slog through stretches of foot-deep mud. Our guide spotted tiny but colorful poison-arrow frogs, medicinal plants and a 3-foot-long earthworm that he told us is used by the Siona Indians for fishing bait.

I was excited to do a night hike, but I was shocked by how quickly and dramatically the inky darkness transformed the landscape into a forbidding place. We peered ahead into our headlamps' pale circle of light, stepping cautiously over rocks and roots. Shadowy objects lurked beside each step. We succeeded in finding a harmless but wicked-looking tailless whip scorpion, a large owl butterfly and a green leaf-shaped katydid with 10-inch antennae.

Our final excursion was a visit to a Siona Indian village. Another two-hour boat ride took us through a maze of twisting waterways until we reached our destination -- a jungle clearing sprinkled with Siona Indians' wooden huts. The clouds overhead produced a light sprinkle of rain that grew into a torrent as we moved along the village's grassy pathways. Machete in hand, our guide cut large banana leaves for us to use as disposable umbrellas. A local woman used her machete to unearth a bulbous yucca root that, when mashed and cooked over a set of hot stones, produced savory, tortilla-like bread.

After a brief rest and lunch, we were greeted by the village's diminutive leader, who was also the region's principal shaman, or spiritual healer. He led us to a spacious communal hut where we sat on log stools on the hard-packed dirt floor. After a few minutes, he reentered the hut wearing his shaman-best regalia: an emerald green tunic adorned with a bandolier of crisscrossed strings of tawny nuts; a necklace consisting of dozens of fine strands of green, red, blue and white beads along with two dozen sharp white boar tusks and a jaguar claw. Above his red-streaked face he wore a resplendent headdress made of vivid yellow, crimson red, orange and turquoise feathers.

A translator enabled us to ask him about his life in the village and his shamanic duties. After patiently answering our questions, he chose me to demonstrate one of his healing rituals. Normally he would ingest hallucinogenic herbs for multiday healings, but this time he chanted while gently striking me with a bundle of medicinal leaves. I kept my eyes dutifully closed and felt open to whatever aid the jungle spirits might invoke.

As our four-day stay at Siona Lodge ended, a 7-foot caiman crawled ashore next to our pier. A cook fetched pieces of meat that we tossed into the fearsome snapping jaws before we departed with a sense of awe and gratitude for our profound experience in this wilderness paradise.

----

WHEN YOU GO

Siona Lodge: sionalodge.com

Doug Hansen is a travel writer and photographer in Carlsbad, California. See more photos and articles at HansenTravels.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

----