BACK IN ECUADOR--YIPPEE!

Sooo Good to be back

Chris T. on the Rio Quijos

The team is assembled once again in Ecuador. Don, Larry, Darcy, Chris, Hilary, Eduardo, Lili, Memo, and Hector are all together again in Borja getting ready for our upcoming season. We spent the last month paddling great rivers in the northwest, and while it was a little hard to leave, I must admit that putting the drysuit and poggies into storage for the winter was a wonderful feeling.

Don B. on the Rio Urqusiqui


Here in Ecuador, we've busted out our shorties and sunscreen and hit the rivers for a week of exploration before our season starts.

Darcy G. Rio Urqusiqui

Hilary N. on the Rio Quijos

While we were all working our summer jobs in the US, Ecuador’s Oriente (the eastern half of the country) was enduring its “rainy season.” The rivers often reach flood-like levels between the months of May and September, so each year we come back, we get to go exploring on all of our old favorites to see what has changed. Larry V. doing some river access exploration

Chris T. on the Rio Jondachi

So far, we haven’t found any major changes (the Jondachi and Misahualli had already had their big floods before we left last year), but we did find many small, subtle differences in the rapids. For the most part, we think things of changed for the better, many rapids seem cleaner than they used to.

Small World's Kayak Fleet--we've got over 60 kayaks!

We've also been busy preparing the lodge for the upcoming trips--Eduardo's got the gardens looking outstanding, Don, Chris and Hilary have our kayak fleet all ready to hit the rivers, and Larry the grounds (the cabins, yoga pilapa, and trail to the river) in tip top shape.

Darcy G. Rio Quijos

Besides being back on the rivers, we are all psyched to be back in Ecuador in general. We’ve already enjoyed mountain views, otter and watusi sightings, Lili’s amazing cooking, and many friendly smiles from our neighbors.

Without Memo, getting to the Jondachi can be very difficult. Our Banos bus got stuck in a freshly graded patch of sand on our way to the put in. Luckily, after about 30 or 40 minutes, a dump truck was kind enough to pull us out.

We are all looking forward to a season full of great kayaking trips; and after our bus got stuck in fresh sand on the Via Tena we are particularly looking forward to driving around the country in our Sprinter with Memo behind the wheel! But mostly we can't wait to show people what amazing rivers Ecuador has to offer.


Stay tuned into the blog for trip reports throughout our season.

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