Rain. As in Forest.

I’m going to write about rain. Specifically, rain in the rain forest. During our trip to the Amazon Rain Forest in eastern Ecuador, we expected rain. After all, it is a “Rain Forest”. And we experienced rain. Not very much, but it was there. And it was different.

The time of year was late February. This is the end of the dry season. Upon our arrival aboard the Manatee Amazon Explorer, we were told the river was very low. They were expecting the rains to come any day now. Once they came, it would rain until June. Glad I’m leaving in a week.

The dry season comes with many benefits. For instance the river is low, so that means the forest is very open to hiking, as it is dry. During the wet season, the forest floods, and you must take canoes into the forest. The dry season also means fewer mosquitoes. I can’t think of any time during the whole trip we were pestered by insects of any type. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of bugs, but they were for observing, not for swatting!

The dry season also comes with issues. Since it is dry, many trees and plants are not flowering or producing fruit. Because of this, there is a lot less animal activity. Less activity means less encounters and fewer animals seen. Although we saw a fair share of wildlife, our guide said there are many more during the rainy season.

There were many sandbars exposed in the river and this made for slow going. Captain Dali had his hand full navigating the Manatee under these conditions. Several times the Manatee hit bottom and became stuck. The experienced crew was quick to resolve these issues and get us back under way, by steering, reversing the engines and just using some creativity. One of the crew would take the motorized canoe and sail ahead of the Manatee. Using a large bamboo stick, he would measure the depth of the water and scout a route for the Manatee to safely navigate. As passengers on board the Manatee, we put our complete trust in Captain Dali and his crew, and each time the river became treacherous, they successfully navigated through it.

For the most part I would say the weather was outstanding. The temps were in the low 80’s most days, cooler at night. The humidity was always very high, but with the low temps, it was reasonable for a rain forest on the equator. Those few days during the week we did encounter rain, it was no big deal. The crew provided us with rain ponchos as a part of our gear, just in case.

The first encounter we had with rain was in the afternoon while we were on a hike in the forest. The forest got very dark. Then it started to rain. Clearly it was rain. You could hear the rain. It made a distinct sound as it fell on the forest canopy a hundred feet above our heads. The difference was you couldn’t feel the rain. It never made it to the ground. The canopy was so thick it created a natural umbrella. We experienced this a couple times during afternoon hikes. It is a very interesting phenomenon to hear the rain, smell the rain, and feel the temperatures drop, but not get wet.

During our hike to The Kapok Tree, it rained further upstream from where we were. A lot. In the course of our afternoon adventure, the river rose 4 feet. By the time we returned to the river bank, it was a mad rushing torrent of muddy water, covered in debris and white foam. The Manatee had more trouble navigating this torrent of water than the sandbars. The debris was the main concern. Whole trees would go floating by. We’re talking mature 100 foot trees. If the Manatee were to strike a tree that large, it could do some serious damage.

All in all the rain was an interesting thing that added a nice twist to the adventure.

Until the last day.

On the last day, we went on a nice hike in the forest. It began to rain. No big deal, as in the previous encounters with afternoon rain, the canopy kept us dry. Then it didn’t. At some point the canopy decided it had had enough and dropped the water on us. The rain came down harder and harder. The ponchos were keeping us dry, but they were also hot. This was starting not to be fun.

There are a lot of ups and downs while hiking in the rain forest. It is not level ground. The jungle paths became more and more muddy. The slopes became more and more slippery. Yours truly is still a little gun shy of muddy trails after that broken leg incident in Ireland just 9 months before.

Finally our guide decided this was enough. We started back for the river bank to go back to the Manatee. It was a long, slippery, wet, and miserable hike back. As conditions deteriorated, my progress became very slow going and the group started to pull ahead of me. We all made it safely back to the canoe and I was the last to arrive. The rain was relentless. The dry season had officially ended.

The next morning we boarded the motorized canoe for the 2 hour ride back to Coca. It was still raining. Luckily the boat had a tarp roof and that kept most of the rain off. Still, much blew in from the sides. We covered ourselves best we could and made the most of it. By the time we got to Coca, the rain had tapered off for a little while. A quick taxi ride to the airport and we were ready to board our flight back to Quito.