In the jungle

From Quito's mountainous year round spring like weather one can go by car within a few hours to freezing alpine climate, to coastal tropical or to steamy jungle. This past weekend we made our first visit with a group of friends to the Amazon basin.

The drive takes you over a pass east of Quito to a height of 4,300 meters and then down, down a winding mountain road which over about 75 km brings you to an altitude of 600 meters.

This eastern side of the Andes mountain range is lush and green and the views over the amazon basin unbelievable beautiful. This is where the melting ice from the snow covered volcanoes and the heavy rainfalls trickles down in streams that gathers into the tributaries of the mighty Amazon River.

One of those tributaries is the Napo river in the Napo province, capital city isTena. from here it would be possible to go by river all the way to the end of the Amazon river. What an adventure that would be, put it on the bucket list.

Our destination this time, however, was a small cottage resort a few kilometres outside Tena. The place is owned by a Belgian couple and they have named the place hakuna matata, an unlikely name here as it is Swahili and means "There is no worries". The name fits the place perfectly, though, truly a place to lay back in the hammocks and just enjoy the sights and sounds of the jungle


Endless beautiful jungle

The arrival over a swaying hanging bridge and a pretty rough stretch of jungle path to Hakuna Matata set the pace for the stay. 

hanging bridge crossing the river

The group on the hardship jungle trip

And then it becomes rather luxurious with the hammocks and the warm pool to soak in


not a bad place for a day or two

start of the Amazon river

There are trails all around, slippery and muddy for sure as every afternoon, almost at exact same time a thunder storm with heavy rain comes through. Beautiful walks, lots of colours, birds, and its told snakes, although they always disappears before you see them.

sunrise outside our hut

parasite plants growing on tree, beautiful

cacao tree with fruit




The sun set from Hakuna Matata. The big light switch is pulled and within 10 - 15 minutes it goes from day to tropical night with sounds one has to be there to appreciate.
So to stay with the Swahili of this jungle far away from East Africa 'Karibu Sana'