We completely enjoyed our 2 days of excursions with David, our local guide. He was knowledgeable, friendly and lots of fun. The ride back to Quito was a long, long trip, due to the mountain pass being closed because of a landslide. Half way to Quito we had to turn around, go back to almost the beginning of our drive and take another route. Our driver, Santiago, drove through the night back through Tena, down to Banos, and up to Quito airport to get us to a flight at 8:30am. What would have been a 4 hour ride, turned into almost a 14 hour trip. Santiago was very professional, kind and determined to get us where we needed to go. We were very thankful for him.
However, I have some comments that need to be said. I gave the experience only 3 stars for the following reasons:
1. We were picked up at 4:30 am in Quito at our hotel. We didn't know at the time, this was because of the landslide, and traffic passing through the area only during specified hours. (we figured this out over the next couple of days) At 9:00am we were dropped off at a coffee shop in Tena and told a taxi would take us to the lodge. About 20 minutes later a taxi came, asked us what lodge we were staying at. We had no idea about the lodge name, only the town. None of the travel details showed a name of the accommodation.
2. We took the taxi, only because the driver had a version of my name in an email. He drove us about 45 minutes to the lodge. There we were dropped off at a sign, and a fellow with a wheel barrow came to take our luggage down a long path to the main reception. When we arrived there at 10:30am no one greeted us, no one knew our names, no one told us what to expect next. We were in the middle of nowhere, with no clue what was going on. Only a couple of staff were there and no other guests. Eventually someone gave us a room key and told us to come back at 1:00 for lunch. Someone should have greeted us and explained our itinerary for the next 3 days. After dinner we met our guide, David, who provided the outline.
3. We were at the SuchiPakari Jungle Lodge. The room was smelly from dampness and septic. There were no screens to allow us to open the doors or windows at night to let a breeze in. Now the room was smelly and stuffy. The towels had holes and stains in them. The sheets were lumpy and old also. I was not confident that the bed spread or pillows had been washed in some time, as they smelled also. (After returning home, I looked up the lodge on line. The photos show much brighter, pleasant looking rooms). The table clothes in the dining room were dirty. They were not changed the entire time we were there. White wine was served at room temperature, The waiter didn't understand why we wanted chilled wine. There was no 'expert mixologist' at the bar (as stated on their website), not even a bar tender. We had to find someone who could get us a beer.
4. There seemed to be no one to talk to about our return trip to Quito. We asked our guide, David, to help us with the conversation and translation in order to plan it. He got the ball rolling and eventually the plan was for Santiago to drive us all the way to Quito.
There needed to be much better communication about what to expect for this 4 day trip to the Amazon. Of the 4 days, 2 were all travel. We did not understand about the problems with the landslide in the mountains, and travel taking so much longer. We should have known the name of our lodge, someone should have welcomed us when we arrived and provided information about our activities for the next 3 days.