On the road again

Let me preface this blog by stating that after viewing hours and hours of National Geographic films, arriving on the islands is a disappointing experience. So if you are not into: getting close up and personal while making your own pictures of the prehistoric creatures, if you are not hoping to be personally walking in Darwins shoes, go somewhere else.    You can cruise from one volcanic surface to another and see some of those iconic creatures from the movies, but the colorful abundance seen at the National Geographic channel will not be found.    And although I seem to have in the past found the right mating season during nature trips, this time we missed the blue footed boobies courting  dance and settled for a view of birds nesting on eggs.                  The sea lions however had their playful young all around them and the fake "harem master" was noisily showing off his command position. The real master, who had the exclusive rights to the ladies, had left the scene as

  (Napo river from 3000 ft as we approach Coco)                                                   (The same river as we speed toward Yasuni National Park) In a motorized long canoe-like vessel, expertly steered by Sixto at high speed, we traverse the Napo River from the left border to the right evading sandbanks and half submerged trees. Sixto as it later turned out became our native guide during our stay in the Amazon forest.   (Miguel distributing lunch with Sixto in the background) Gary, Linda, Sandee and I flew from Quito an hour plus southwest to Coca, officially named on Ecuadors map as Francisco de Orellana, after the famous conquistador that sailed in the first half of the 16th century from the Napo river over the then unknown Amazon river to the Atlantic Ocean, searching for gold Inca treasures, battling with the storied female Amazon warriors (a name he coined) and bringing that new world to the King of Spain to keep.   (At the edge of the lake looking for its next meal) The