Day 99 Thursday 30 July – To Lago Agrio

At 10 in the morning, the bus left for Coca, a dirty oil town further east of Tena. I could take a direct route to Lago Agrio, but there are only 3 busses from here and they either leave very early or arrive very late. Lago is – just like Coca – an oil town and neither of these cities is very safe in the middle of the night, according to my guide and the people in Tena.

About half way to Coca, while I’m almost falling asleep, there is a loud bang. The rear tire on the right just exploded. We stop at the side of the road and the bus driver and his assistant (they always drive in pairs) team up to replace the tire. Everybody else gets out of the bus to get fresh air, sun or to take a piss. With a small group we stand around, watching the changing of the tires, which takes about 20 minutes.

Somehow, we still arrive in time in Coca for me to take my connection. I wish my travel mate from Germany a nice time in Yasuní – the other big reserve – and get on my next bus. When we drive off, the assistant puts a DVD on and… shit, it’s Jean Claude van Damme again. And the same one they showed in the bus from Quito to Tena. They really have a bad taste in films in the busses around here!

I arrive in Lago Agrio early: at 5:30 pm. We don’t stop at the bus station but a few blocks away, but some nice people tell me to take a taxi and they let me know the normal price. For a dollar I get to the hotel. Hotel Lago Imperial is the meeting place for tomorrow, so I figured it would be smart to sleep here as well. There are probably cheaper hotels, but my guide wasn’t really complete with those. For 15 dollars I have a room with a ventilator (AC is 5 more), but I also have my own bathroom, TV and a double bed. Breakfast is included; though I also have a ticket for free breakfast here. Mari will leave this night and will join me at the breakfast table in the morning. From there we will be picked up and brought to the Samona lodge in the Cuyabeno reserve.