Pacoche Lodge and Reserve

The morning finds us heading out by 10:00 for a drive to Pacoche Lodge and Reserve.  It is only about 15 km south of our hotel and the whole way there is dry and desert like until we get about a mile out and everything starts to turn lush and green.  The reserve is conservation area called “Tumbesina’, recognized for its large number of endemic species, many of which are threatened.  The terrain is very dry in this area ... so be driving to a tropical area will be interesting !  From desert to almost rain forest in a matter of minutes.

On the way there, we took a more rural route that wound us through villags and small rural communities.  I love this type of driving because it allows us to see life as it is outside of the cities.  People live simply in this warm climate and all seem to be happy.  We passed many donkeys with their owners delivering some wares.  The donkeys that I see are all healthy and well cared for.

There are small schools and the kids are all wearing uniforms.  Their uniforms are clean and well cared for.  Most that we see are white cotton shirts and navy trousers or skirts for the girls. As well, along the way we saw several little groups of goats - all seemingly knowing where they were going !
And no concern for traffic if they were on the road !  We were quite aware that they demanded the right-of-way !

At the Reserve, there are 3 hiking routes to choose from - short, medium and longer.  They all start with quite a climb down a hillside.  The trail is made into steps with pieces of bamboo trunk.  It makes for easier walking rather than sliding unsafely down the steep grade.  We chose the middle hike which was about an hour and a half.  At the conclusion of our hike, we realized if we had taken the short hike, we would have missed the Howler Monkeys !

Yes !  We saw a family of Howler Monkeys.  Apparently, the reserve is home to at least 3 families of Howler Monkeys with 15-20 members of each family.  We were close to the end of the hike when we came across one family.  The males make loud howls that can actually be heard further than one kilometer !  We didn’t hear any of their calls today though.  Just watched them swinging from tree to tree and eating leaves.

As much as the Reserve information host shows us that we could see toucans, and woodpeckers and Mot-Mots, we heard the songs of many species of bird but only saw hummingbirds and one ‘hen’ type of bird.

This is the leaf/plant that the Panama Hats are made from.  It is called Paja Toquilla.  The process starts by cutting the fronds into fine strings.  They are boiled in water and dried.  The weaving can last from a few days to 6 months for one hat depending on how fine it is.  Which then is the reason the price for a hat can be a few dollars to a few thousand dollars !

Coffee beans in their green form and still on the vine.

This is from a tagua  tree.  From this strange looking piece of ‘fruit’ comes what they call ‘Vegetable Ivory from which they make jewellery and buttons.  The leaves are used for housing and the waste is used for brick making !  The “Tagua Nut” is being substituted for elephant ivory thanks to its similarities in color, appearance, hardness and feel.

We asked to see one of the guest cottages that overlook the reserve.  And we decided we would LOVE to spend one night in this tropical space listening to all the evening sounds from the hammock suspended on the balcony.  The rooms are simple but very clean and offer nice ‘banos’ with showers.

To read more on this preserve, you can go to www.pacochelodge.org/bio.php.  I won’t post all the pictures I took for this blog ... but will post them all on Facebook.

The afternoon was quiet for us.  time on the balcony enjoying the ocean breeze and the fly-by’s from the pelicans.  They do this regularly all day long.  I love watching them !  Daily we also watch the Frigatebirds hovering over the water and the hotel.  They are good fishing - that’s for sure !