The day started very early for our change of location from
Tarapoto to Gocta. We had a quick
breakfast at the hotel before loading into the van before 8:00am. The first drive took us to around 10:30am
where we drove through beautiful country, small towns and mountain road all
morning. The views were incredible and it was still very hot out in the
morning. The driver/guide listened to some music that was a bit techno for me
but all in all the drive was fun. Daniela slept a little bit.
Our first stop was at an orchid nursery. The orchids are
grown out in the wild but with all sorts of help from techniques they have
learned over the years. There are some 3000 species they raise there. Obviously
we couldn’t see all of them. Some grow at different times of year and flower
for very specific periods. Still we got to see a lot. After the orchid farm we
walked higher up the hill to their hummingbird sanctuary. They have several nectar feeders on the top
of the hill with a small porch-like platform that you can get in to see the
birds come in and feed. There are at least 10 varieties of hummingbird that
come to the area. We probably saw most of them. Even though it is difficult to
photograph them I managed a few good pictures by using sports mode and just
plugging away at it. It was honestly awesome how close they got and what they
sound like. It occurs to me now I should have taken some video but I didn’t
think to then.
After the orchid nursery we got back in the van and rode
until lunch time. We had a boxed lunch which was a pork sandwich at the top of
a mountain pass overlooking some beautiful scenery. It rained for a little bit
while we ate. After lunch it was back in
the car where we drove on to Gocta. This did take a little while and we
probably arrived around 4pm or so. We got situated in the Gocta Lodge which is
where we were staying for the duration of this visit. Then when we were settled we played a couple
games of chess where we each won one game then it was basically time for
dinner.
For dinner I started with a criole soup and then had a
vegetable lasagna because they didn’t have the meat version. Daniela had the
criole soup and a river trout with tomatoes.
Both were really good. For dessert I had ice cream and she had a crepe
with ice cream and we both had coffee. The coffee is raised in the local area.
It was very rich tasting. I liked it a
lot. While we were eating a bat came and
started eating insects outside the dining room.
It was interesting. Daniela had never seen a bat before. After dinner we watched a Jacky Chan movie in
the common room and then Couples Retreat (both in Spanish). Then we turned in for the evening. There are a lot of insects up in this region
but with the lights out we were reasonably well left alone. Fortunately it
didn’t rain during the night.
The pictures from day 10 can be found here.
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