As always, I was looking forward to my stay at the student house in Ecuador. The work is demanding, but it does me a lot of good every time.
Byron greeted me in Quito and we were able to stay in the city for 2 days to do some more shopping for the PAKASHKA-SACHA student house. But on the day of travel, fully packed, we received the unpleasant news that there were roadblocks around our destination, Tena.

The government is planning to build a large prison in Archidona, a small town very close to the student house. The residents of this region are not happy with this decision, however, and have organized a so-called Paro; roadblocks around the entire region. This means that travel to and from there is no longer guaranteed. 

Despite everything, we dared to take the bus to Tena, taking a detour, because at the moment certain access roads to Tena are not affected. And we were lucky until just before Tena. About 15 km outside the city we came across the first road blockade. Despite the bus driver’s attempts to negotiate with the occupiers, we were unable to pass. Everyone had to get out. The occupiers let us pass through the barricades on foot. A 2 km walk lay ahead of us to the next village, Napo. The walk was actually no problem, but with all the luggage it was a challenge. In Napo we hoped for other buses or taxis. But no chance. After the village of Napo there was another road blockade. So we continued on foot. This time uphill towards Tena. Here too they let us pass the barricades on foot and on the other side we immediately came across a taxi. However, just 300m by taxi, there was another road blockade. Despite all our negotiations, the occupiers did not let us pass. So, we unloaded all our luggage and walked across the blockade. Many motorbikes were waiting on the other side of the blockade and offered to help. However, with so much luggage, this was not an option.

And then luck struck. A driver who had got stuck himself and wanted to drive in the opposite direction took us back from where he had come and drove us to our door.

So the otherwise 5-hour journey from Quito to Tena became an 11-hour adventure. When we arrived at the student house, we were relieved to find a wonderful dinner waiting for us.

Bienvenidos en la Selva