Horseback trek in Ecuador

After having such an amazing time in the mountains and then in the jungle I was feeling a little bit at a loss for what to do next which was going to come close to either of the afore mentioned. On returning to Iquiotos I had a message from Julie who was in Vilcabamba in Ecuador. She was planning to do a horse riding trek and was willing to wait for me! I flew back to Lima and managed to get a night bus, 18 hours up to a town in Northern Peru called Piura. I had hoped to connect straight through to Loja in Ecuador, but there was only a local bus service available and the next bus didnt leave until the next day.



Cow girl Julie!

 The bus company was  named Loja International and although this may give off the impression of grandeur it was most definitly not the case. Still, the bus was three quarters empty which helped alleviate the stiffeling heat. It took about 2 hours to get to the border where there were a total of 6 "offices", 3 on either side of the border to be visited to get exit and entry stamps. Luckily the bus driver was patient and the locals helpful as to which office had to be vistited in what order!
There was a noticable change in scenery pretty much as soon as we hit the roads in Ecuador. The infastructure of the roads and villages seemed better and the countryside less grey and dusty and much more tropical.  Its quite mountainous and in some parts reminded me of the lake district or North Wales. There were even Freisian cattle to complete the picture. The bus stopped frequently and filled up with locals and children coming back from school. Every so often vendors would get on the bus selling ice cream cones or packets of banana chips. I had come prepared had made rolls and had munched through about 3kg of peaches and mandarins Id brought the afternoon before.  After arriving in Loja, just after dark, I caught another local bus to Vilcabamba, the end of my fairly epic journey.



My horse "Bitey"

 The following morning, after meeting up with Julie, I found my self at the office of Gavin, the Kiwi cowboy. Gavin is in his 50s and has been living in Vilcabamba for over 20 years, running his horse trekking buisness. Vilcabamba has beautiful scenery and mild weather and has over the years attracted hoards of American ex pats who has brought land and built properties and also loads of hippies! It is quite a weird mix of nutcases. There are lots of cafes around the main plaza from whos tables you can watch the fire eating Argentinian "gypsies" or listen to someone playing the digerydoo or buy jewellry from one of the MANY girls making it to facilitate buying their next bit of weed or spirulina juice from the Juice bar. I was quite glad to be heading out to the hills on one of Gavins horses to stay at his lodge on the edge of the Parque Nacional Podocarpus.
Julie, Gavin and I were joined by Edgar, Gavins Ecuadorian horseman assistant and also Andy and Chris, a couple of English guys who now live in NZ.

We rode for about 4 hours up small steep trails high into the hills overlooking a distant Vilcabamba. I have to say my bum really hurt and I was glad to see the lodge and get off the horse! The views were spectacular. Gavin had brought the land 20 years ago for about $3000, he has about 5 acres. There was a rectangular shack as the sleeping accomodation and also the main lodge which was a triangular building with all sorts of animal skulls and bones decorating its facade. I couldnt help notice that there were hundreds of empty bottles of rum stacked up one side. There was also an open air long drop toilet with a great view!

During the ride up the mountain Gavin and Edgar had been picking oranges and passionfruits which they now turned into juice for us to drink whilst admiring the sun set and taking turns to chop the wood for the clay stove. A bottle of white rum appeared on the table which was quite nice to mix with the juice, but my stomach had been feeling a little delicate (I think from all the fruit) so I didnt drink very much. Gavin, however, seemed to get rather drunk and rather stoned quite quickly, and as he was preparing our dinner started rambling on about UFOs and the like.

After a rather uncomfortable night in our slightly bug and rat infested shack and after a breakfast of hash browns and very strong coffee we headed off into the hills on foot. The trails are far too dense and obstacle strewn to go by horseback. Gavin, now thankfully sober, is very knowlegable about the plants, animals and local folklore of the area. There were lots of tropical plants and wild orchids and he pointed out animal tracks made by spectacled bears and mountain lions. We walked for about 6 hours and eventually reached the summit of the hill, about 3100m.



Gavin

 We had lunch sitting on top of one of the mountains over looking the lush valleys below us. It was boiling hot, but Gavin predicted that it was the sort of heat the brought rain, even though there wasnt a cloud in the sky. Sure enough within 15 minutes there was a sudden short but heavy down pour that made the steep scramble down through the forest very, very, slippery.

The evening was a repetition of the night before with Gavin having a personality transplant due to excess alcohol and weed. Mostly it was funny, but his constant rambling and repetition did get a bit boring. At one point he produced clear plastic bags with old, dried, white animal excrement inside them, exclaiming excitedly that this was mountain lion poo! Juile and I were near hysterics. He then persuaded us all to lie on our backs to watch the sunset upside down. You had to be there to believe it really!

The next day we saddled up the horses and rode back down the mountain to Vilcabamba, stopping en route at a road side cafe for freshly made melon juice. All in all, it had been a thoroughly fun and bizaare couple of days.