Day 11: Río Napo and Road to Cabiñas San Isidro
Sporadically during the night, Spectacled Owls continued to call. A new trip owl, TROPICAL SCREECH-OWL, joined the chorus. As warm as it had been during the day, the evening air was quite comfortable. We had adapted pretty quickly to the absence of electricity. I recalled how Costa Rican Ornithologist and author, Dr. Alexander Skutch, with his wife, Pamela, lived without electricity or running water at their Los Cusingos property for over six decades. We could certainly make do for two nights at Gareno. (Richard’s interview with Dr. Alexander Skutch.
In the morning we awoke to a light rain. OK, so much for my “buy an umbrella and the rain will stop” theory. We dressed and packed our bags. The bags were left outside our cottage door for staff to collect and carry up to the bus.
As we gathered for breakfast, José made a surprise announcement. After leaving Gareno we would make an unscheduled detour to the Río Napo to take a boat upriver to find Hoatzin. José had negotiated the trip with Pedro and Rodolfo. We were very excited to hear the announcement since we had known that Hoatzin typically live and breed along rivers. Our itinerary didn’t include much in the way of this type of river exploration.
While we ate, lodge staff hauled our bags to the bus. With the bus loaded, we thanked the staff and hiked up to the parking area. Rain had made the steps a bit more slippery – but I was happy to have my newly purchased umbrella to ward off the rain. Gee. Somehow the concrete steps at Tandayapa weren’t looking too bad right about now.
By the time we arrived at where José thought the boat landing was located, it had stopped raining. We disembarked and waited for further instructions. While we waited, we added more new birds: YELLOW-BROWED SPARROW, ORANGE-BACKED TROUPIAL (heard only), TURQUISE TANAGER, GRAY-BREASTED MARTIN, BLACK-CROWNED TITYRA, CHESTNUT-CROWNED BECARD, MOTTLE-BACKED ELANIA, LETTERED ARACARI, MANY-BANDED ARACARI, CHESTNUT-EARED ARACARI, SHORT-TAILED SWIFT, SCARLET-CROWNED BARBET, and BLACK CARACARA.
As we birded, a group of school children from a nearby school came out to the road to greet us. In broken Spanish, we made our introductions and then took pictures. Through the miracle of digital cameras, we shared the photos with the awestruck kids, many who had probably never seen their own picture before.
Apparently the landing was a little further up the road than initially thought. Back on the bus, we rode for less than a kilometer. When we got off, it was only a short walk to the river’s edge.
From earlier glimpses we had deduced that the river was quite wide, but we didn’t appreciate just how wide until we were standing on the bank. Clearly, this was every bit as wide as the Mississippi, and had a very strong current. Ecuadorians who lived on or near the Río Napo used it as a principle means of transportation, mainly in long dugout canoes. Several canoes were observed maneuvering up and down river.
On the bank below was our transportation. Shaped similarly to a dugout canoe, it was constructed of wood planking and had a 40-hp outboard motor. An awning ran almost the entire length of the boat. From the bank we picked up STRIATED HERON, OSPREY, and ORIOLE BLACKBIRD.
The boatman signaled us to board. We carefully walked down a series of steep steps carved into the river bank, and one by one, boarded at the bow. The process was somewhat slow and awkward. The overhead awning caused us to have to walk hunched over. A series of benches, which accommodated two people sitting side by side, had to be rearranged as people boarded.
The feeling of balance on the boat was like that of a canoe – “tippy”. It didn’t exude a lot of confidence. Miguel, our boatman, fired up the outboard, shoved off, and we began our journey up river.
As the boatman steered with his left hand, he constantly gauged the depth of the river using a long wooden pole gripped in his right hand. Rodolfo, standing at the bow, was poling in a similar fashion.
There were large areas of shallows where the speed of the fast moving current was more obvious. At times the current seemed to be too much for the motor but using the shoreline as a visual reference, we were obviously making progress. Along the riverbanks we observed human activities. People cooking or loading what appeared to be bags of crops into dugouts. More evidence that the river was a mainstay of commerce and transportation.
Eventually we left the main channel and headed up a river tributary. Not long after, we sighted GREATER ANI. The current had lessened and in a couple of kilometers, Miguel beached the boat on a sandbar. As it turned out, we were not yet where Rodolfo said we needed to be for Hoatzin. This would be a portage around a set of rapids. We exited the boat and hiked across the sandbar. Meanwhile, Miguel and Rodolfo muscled the now passenger-less boat up river, at times having to lift rocks from the river bottom to clear the way.
On the other side of the portage we again, slowly, re-boarded. We motored up another three or four kilometers and beached again. This time we were going to walk the rest of the way to where Rodolfo knew there to be roosting Hoatzin. But Hoatzins were not the only birds we encountered. Almost immediately we found a pair of BLACK-CAPPED DONACOBIUS.
After hiking about a half kilometer along a narrow trail flanking the river, we begin to hear – and eventually see – HOATZIN. What a remarkable prehistoric looking bird!
We continued to hike the narrow trail (baby-stepping across a wobbly single-log bridge at one point) to where the trail ended on the opposite side of the marsh bordering the Hoatzin roost. Along the trail we picked up: GREAT ANTSHRIKE (heard only), SPECKLED CHACHALACA (raucously calling; a few seen by some in the group). Two more heard only as they flew past: CHESTNUT-FRONTED MACAW and DUSKY-HEADED PARAKEET. YELLOW-CROWNED TYRANNULET, CRESTED OROPENDULA, LESSER and GREAT KISKADEE, GRAY-CAPPED and SULPHURY FLYCATCHER.
Our “couple of hours” boat trip now had exceeded two hours and we needed to be on the road. Back at the boat we began our loading ritual. With four of us already onboard, suddenly no one else was getting in. Where was everyone? It turned out they were busy looking at BLACK-BILLED SEED-FINCH. Rats – we, who were stuck on the boat, missed seeing a trip/life bird! Oh, well, it is what it is.
With everyone aboard, we started back. At the portage site, a couple of dugout canoes piloted by young boys making their way up the river. As parents, it gave us pause to see children undertaking what seemed to us to be a fairly difficult and potentially dangerous undertaking – and without parental supervision. But they seemed to be very much at home on the river and no doubt, completely capable. Huck Finn would have been envious.
We were surprised that we hadn’t seen more aquatic birds – heron, egret, cormorant, etc. – but we did add: SNOWY EGRET, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, RINGED KINGFISHER, WHITE-WINGED SWALLOW, and DRAB WATER-TYRANT.
With the current now in our favor we made quick time motoring down river. The return trip was further shortened because Niko had driven our bus to a landing further upstream. The landing wasn’t quite as steep and was very active. A broker (buyer) was negotiating prices with farmers, who had delivered their goods by boat to sell to market.
Back on the bus, we made a stop along a grove of Mauritia palms, prime habitat for POINT-TAILED PALMCREEPER. Walking the road for several minutes, while José played a recorded call, a bird was finally heard responding; two were eventually observed flying between palms. Given the size of the bird (8 1/2 inches), and the height of the palms (over 100-feet), it took a while to pin one down. One finally perched up, singing loudly and stayed put long enough for numerous looks through scopes. While the name “creeper” might imply that is in the Woodcreeper group, taxonomically speaking, it’s more closely aligned to the Horneos (Furnariids). In any event, a striking bird: chestnut brown back with starkly contrasting black and white streaking on its head, neck, throat, and underparts. We also picked up YELLOW-HEADED CARACARA, GLITTERING-THROATED EMERALD and FORK-TAILED WOODNYMPH. Heard only: BUFF-THROATED WOODCREEPER.
Our boat trip to see Hoatzin had eaten up far more time than we had expected. Chasing the Palmcreeper added to the deficit. Not for a moment would we have missed either opportunity but now we needed to make time if we were to arrive at Cabiñas San Isidro at a reasonable hour and still allow for more stops along the way.
Rodolfo lived in Tena so we would not be doubling back to Gareno. We dropped Rodolfo off at a small downtown Tena restaurant where we also picked up box lunches. José had phoned in an order from the bus before we reached Tena. Since Gareno wasn’t able to put any lunches together for us this was the next best option.
We bid Rodolfo farewell and with our box lunches in hand, we first stopped outside of town for some fuel and a bathroom break. Not far from the gas station we found a pull-off to stop and eat our lunches. The pull-off, part of a road construction site, overlooked a river and a wet marshy area. It was birdy but we didn’t add anything new to the trip list.
We were again on the same highway we had taken down to Gareno a few days earlier. After a couple of hours driving we stopped at a large bridge over the Río Cosanga. Any ducks? This time seemed to be the charm. A drake TORRENT DUCK was spotted diving from rocks and swimming in the river. It took some searching before the whole group was able to find the rapidly moving duck. Back on Day 3, Mike and Richard had seen a female Torrent Duck, which everyone else had missed. Tonight, everyone was going to be able to add this prized target bird to their checklist.
Just outside Cosanga was the turn-off to Cabiñas San Isidoro. The road turned into a driveway and soon we were unloading in the lodge’s parking lot.
Rho Ann, the lodge manager, greeted us and gave a brief description of the lodge’s layout. From the parking area there were two wide paths: One path lead down to the dining area and a few cabins and the other lead down to the Mirador lounge, and to the rest of the cabins. Rho Ann assigned us our rooms, gave us directions as to which path to take, then lodge staff began delivering bags. It was now just after 5:30 – dinner was at 7:00. From the parking lot we added INCA JAY.
Most everyone had one thing in mind – a shower. Nearly everyone’s cabins were on the Mirador lounge path. The lounge offered comfortable seating, a deck with a view of the valley, and wine and beer. At 7:00 we began to drift into the dining area which also had a small collection of sale items made by local artists. And of course, T-shirts.
While good food was the norm at every lodge we had stayed at so far, San Isidro raised the bar. The culinary delights that emerged from the kitchen were unforgettable. Rho Ann carefully described each dish, explaining in detail what herbs and spices were used, and happily answered any and all questions about ingredients and preparation.
In addition to our group, other guests arrived for dinner, providing one more example of how small the birding community really is. While we were at Tandayapa, we had bumped into Bill, a birding acquaintance of Richard’s. We crossed paths with Bill and his wife once more as they entered the dining room! Also at the lodge was Charlie Vogt, one of the owners of Andean Birding, the tour company we had used for our Day 1 of birding (with guide Boris Herrara) at Antisana.
Completely stuffed and entirely relaxed, José reminded us that we were to have brought our flashlights since we would attempt some owling after dinner. Somehow we must have missed his announcement – none of us had our flashlights with us. A sudden rainstorm had blown in and, Richard also reminded us that we should always have our umbrellas on hand too (this information, according to Richard, was posted on a sign in our room as well). Perhaps we were too preoccupied with showers to have paid any attention!
It took a few minutes to walk back to our respective rooms to retrieve flashlights (in the dark, duh!). We re-assembled inside the dining area but before we headed out, we sat and did our daily checklist (95 day total/42 new to trip total). While we were in the middle of the checklist, Bill walked in and asked if anyone would like to see the “SAN ISIDRO OWL”, which he had found sitting in a tree midway between the dining room and parking lot. The checklist could wait. In short order we found ourselves looking at the owl. How easy was that!
We returned, finished our checklist. It rain began to fall again. Since we had already picked up the main owling attraction, we opted to retire. The next day would find us birding some of the trails around San Isidro as well as along one of roads in the area.
