Maya and I left Baños at 4:30 in the morning so we could reach the town of Coca in time to rendevous with a boat scheduled to carry us deep into the Amazon jungle. Google maps predicted a 5.5 hour drive. We added a 2 hour safety margin for good measure. The rain which had been falling all night intensified making visibility and road conditions poor. At the one hour mark we came upon a fresh (matter of a few minutes) landslide that blocked all but a cliff side sliver of the road. Determined not to miss our connection, I drove very carefully around/over the debris holding my breath as the bottom of the car scraped over the rocks, tree branches and mud. We squeaked through with the slimmest of margins and 3 hours later with the rain abating and our progress right on schedule, we started to relax feeling we had dodged a bullet. Not so, as we approached a line of traffic at a complete standstill. After walking to the front of the line I discovered a landslide that was blocking the road. I was told that there was a second one just a few hundred feet further down the road. It took a little over an hour for a small Bobcat dozer to arrive on the scene.

It made quick work of the first landslide and immediately began working on the much larger second one. Thirty minutes later the traffic began moving forward and we still had just enough time to make our boat. We drove less than a mile and traffic stopped again. This time the Bobcat operator just stared at the collapsed mountainside in front of him and took out his cell phone to call for reinforcements. It took 30 minutes and a hike to high ground for him to get a cell signal. He returned having summoned assistance and began attacking the mud.

An hour later he had cleared about 20% of the slide when a big bulldozer arrived on the scene. The two working together cleared the way in another 20 minutes. We would not reach Coca in time for the boat’s scheduled departure but perhaps it was delayed or waiting for us. By the time I hit third gear, I could see a now familiar pattern of brake lights ahead. Another landslide. To make a long story short this happened six more times for a total of ten landslides, the last one being the largest. In total we were delayed by six hours. When we finally arrived in Coca, we were met by an agent of the jungle lodge we had reserved who explained that we could shift our 4 day stay back by one day and helped us to secure a hotel in town.