La Casa del Suizo is a tranquil Amazonian refuge located on the shore of Ecuador's majestic Napo River and close to the eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains. Perched comfortably above the riverbank and the small Quichua Indian village of Ahuano, La Casa del Suizo overlooks vast expanses of the surrounding tropical rainforest.
After breakfast, we made preparations 
then boarded our water taxi, and navigated 20 minutes up the Napo River which feeds into the Amazon. Along the way we passed Punta Ahuano, the tiny port town 
where the canoes had been waiting for us the night before.After a wet landing 
we entered the tropical rainforest. It was a whole new world of flora 
and fauna 
.
Our hike up and down (mostly up)
and through streams 
was great fun and we finally arrived at a ridge where we were rewarded with a fine view of the rainforest 
in the valley below. Returning from the ridge our guide pointed out curare. 
Juices from this plant have long been used by some Indians for poisoning arrows.
On reaching the Napo River we were given the opportunity to float back to La Casa del Suizo on a traditional balsa log raft. 
The problem is how do you steer 
the thing? In the end our dependable motorized canoe towed incompetent but jovial sailors 
to our home base.
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