Tena: Welcome to the Jungle

There was one early indication that we’d arrived to the jungle: Above the power lines in Tena wandered a host of monkeys.

During carnival weekend, we decided to take a break from city life in Quito and head out to the Amazon. An early morning bus delivered us to Tena, a common jumping-off point for jungle tours. From there, we took a bus to a smaller town called Misahuallí to search for housing. And there our eight-person group broke off into two teams: one hostel hunting and another backpack guarding. As an official guard, I spent hours sitting in the plaza, watching the monkeys, feeling my hunger, observing the chaos of carnival. There I sat in the weighty thick of travel’s core element: waiting.

In the end, it turned out that we didn’t need to bus to Misahuallí. Our Ecuadorian friend in the group spotted a friend of hers, and he suggested taking us to their hostel — surrounded by jungle and equipped with a pool.

Sold.

Selina

Selina Amazon-Tena sits alongside the Río Napo, a tributary to the Río Amazonas. We arrived in the late evening after a bumpy ride in the friend’s truck. As beer bottles rattled around between my hands, I wondered numerous times when we’d arrive. And then suddenly Selina’s entrance opened up before us: a tiki torch-lit pathway winding down past vines and trees and flowers to what felt like an absolute paradise.

With an indoor-outdoor concept, the space invites leisurely hangouts in the movie theater, dining room and upstairs terrace (stocked with a small supply of meh travel books that people have left behind). As some of the only guests in the new location, we scored a room right on the river. Aside from the bugs (which one reviewer noted are the “size of iPhones”), this place is equipped to sit back and relaaax.

And this isn’t the only location. Selina operates dozens of millennial-friendly hostels throughout the Americas and in Europe. The concept is experiential: stay, dine, work and play alongside loads of other young creatives on the move. (Selina, we love you. How about a sponsor for MUTA, eh?)

Ahuano

Oh, carnival. It’s distinct in every city, but you can always find a few key elements: music, dancing, COLOR. We celebrated in a nearby town — accessible from Selina by bus then canoe then truck. Along the way, we put on our masks and prepared to be drenched in everything from cold water to eggs.

In the end, we got slathered in paint of every color, the most aggressive being a deep green that lingered for days in the folds of our skin.

AmaZOOnico

Post carnival, we opted for a visit to AmaZOOnico, an NGO wildlife rescue center with 25 years of history. The real adventure was getting there: we repeated the process of bus to canoe, but this time, the dock sat below a house. One resident — age 8 — welcomed us, asked if we needed transportation to the refuge, and promptly arranged our canoe transport. Thanks, Maité.

After waiting for a while at the shore, our canoe arrived and the driver took us down Río Napo to the remote refuge.

AmaZOOnico is operated by a handful of enthusiastic volunteers from all corners of the world. Our guides — passionate animal lovers — led us through enclosures for recovering birds, monkeys, pigs, snakes, turtles and more. Animals were caged, but the guides emphatically expressed that AmaZOOnico is no zoo. As such, our guides discouraged interaction with the animals — somewhat difficult as the birds continually screeched “HOLA!” in our direction. I respect AmaZOOnico’s mission, and I really wanted to enjoy the visit. But it was a strange experience — to be there amidst the animals but to feel like we were intruding. Next time, I’ll send some cash to support the effort.

After a handful of days in the jungle, we decided — somewhat reluctantly — to return to the city. On our way out of town, we enjoyed a surprisingly delicious dinner in the Tena bus terminal. If you’re there, be sure to pop into El Escondite de Sabor; it was one of Tena’s greatest little treasures.