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Wild Things

The call and the terror

DESTINATION
Ecuador’s Amazon region & Quito

DATES
February 14–21, 2009 (7 nights)

READINGS
Selected writings of Aldo Leopold, Gary Snyder, Wallace Stegner, David Abram and Horacio Quiroga

Description/Itinerary
From the time we are small children we seem to have a preternatural relationship with Wild Things – being alternately, and even simultaneously, lured and terrified.

What better place to explore what “The Wild” means to us than the Sacha Jungle Lodge, a 5000-acre private ecological reserve in Ecuador’s Amazon region. Sacha Lodge offers a true jungle experience in safety and comfort. Our journey begins and ends in Quito, Ecuador’s capital city, a maze of colonial splendour. A short flight takes us over the majestic snow-covered Andes Mountains to the port town of Puerto Francisco de Orellana, where we transfer to a covered motorized canoe for a two-hour trip down the sediment-rich waters of the Napo River.

During the ride we will spot handsome shore birds such as herons, kingfishers, spoonbills and ospreys between the scattered native huts as we travel steadily away from civilization into The Wild. The lodging at Sacha has been
carefully designed to offer comfort to the traveller yet preserve the environment and rainforest ambience.

Our days will combine discussion of wilderness literature and excursions into the rainforest’s several distinct but equally splendid habitats.

We will decide as a group the difficulty and duration of our outings, led by local naturalists. Wherever the destination, our excursions will proceed slowly in order to appreciate the fascinating details that our guides point out around us. Favourite activities include bird watching and paddling dugout canoes along tannin-rich black-water creeks and lakes, where luxuriant lianas, orchids, bromeliads and palm trees thrive.

Leader
Betty Ann Jordan is an art writer who heads her own art tour company, Art InSite. She also leads art appreciation courses and organizes behind-the-scenes encounters with artists, galleries, collectors and designers. She looks forward to experiencing the Ecuadorian jungle in its darks and brights, in the company of fellow-travellers steeped in the literature of the wild.

Accommodatiation
Sacha Lodge & Casa Aliso, 7 nights

Fees
Price: $2900 Cdn
Single Supplement: $600 Cdn

Fee includes books, accommodation, three meals a day, discussions, walking tours, talks, excursions, admissions and return transfer from Quito to the lodge.

Non Refundable Deposit: $500 CDN due at registration