Siona Lodge: Day 1

May 8

This morning, we enjoyed breakfast at the Hotel Vieja Cuba then left early in the morning for the airport to head to Lago Agrio where we were met by our tour guide Luis who would be with us throughout the entire Siona Lodge trip, and two couples with whom we would get to spend the trip. We took a bus tour that lasted approximately two hours and got to see the leftover pipelines from the oil industry running beside the road. The roads in this area are actually a direct result of the oil industry, as the oil companies needed a means of reaching the petroleum. We passed by several farms and homes and stopped in a small town at a shop to pick up some “last chance” items before we got to the boat launch. We arrived for lunch at the building that is the first real stop on the way to the lodge. This is where we got in the boat that would take us to Siona Lodge. We were able to see many different kinds of insects and animals along the way, and made regular stops as Luis told us more about the wildlife of the region. Once we arrived after several hours on the boat, we were able to settle into our cabins before taking a night hike to look at life in the rainforest after dark. We used flashlights to navigate through the jungle. Arachnids and insects were the most common sight during this excursion. Dinner was served at 8 pm then it was lights out at 10 pm to be ready to start the next day with breakfast at eight. We saw lots of wildlife throughout the day, both on the boat tour and during the night hike, below is a list of what we saw:

Amazon kingfisher, Woolly Monkeys, Squirrel Monkeys, White-fronted Capuchin monkey, vultures, tarantulas (Goliath and Tree tarantula), Scorpion spiders (really a cricket), Wolf spider, Weaver spiders, Smokey jungle frog, Blue morpho butterfly, Snake birds, Blue-and-yellow macaw, Monk saki monkey, Turtles, Emerald lizard, Anacondas, Sloth, Bats, Greater Ani bird, Greater patoo, Crimson crested woodpecker