Travel logistics: Coca to Nuevo Rocafuerte

Getting from Coca to Nuevo Rocafuerte is relatively straightforward.

This is the view of The River from our hostel in Coca. This is the last bridge we saw that crosses the Mighty Napo.

Boats leave from Coca to the border almost every day (at least every other day) and cost $15.

The boats leave from the docks in Coca right behind the Naval station. You need to get there before 7:00 a.m. to reserve your seat and make sure there is space for your bags. If you bring rice sacks full of food, they will charge you $2.50/ bag.

We went to the docks the night before our boat left and bought our ticket from a heavy-set woman who was selling them. She worked for the Cooperativa de Transportes Fluvial Orellana (062882043 or 090488570).

Getting from Nuevo Rocafuerte to Pantoja (the first town on the Peru side of the border) is also relatively straightforward.

This is the chariot that took us from Coca to Nuevo Rocafuerte. Notice the boat to the left that supplies the beer to Nuevo Rocafuerte.

Once you are in Nuevo Rocafuerte, you will be approached by any passerby, asking you if you would like a ride to Pantoja. The boat costs $50. It's always best to find other people heading that way to split the costs. There is a migrations office in Nuevo Rocafuerte located next to the Municipio. There is Ecuador cell reception with Claro, and we were told that you can go to the local high school to use the Internet.

This shows Parque Nacional Yasuni in Ecuador, one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. There is more biodiversity in the photo than the entire state of Michigan.

There are a few hostels in town. The price is about $5-6 per person. We were originally told it would cost $7 per night for a private bathroom but were able to bargain the woman at Yarug Wasi down to $5.

They sell all the basic essentials in Nuevo Rocafuerte, except a bit more expensive than you'd find in the city. This is to be expected because of the cost required to transport goods.

Getting from Pantoja to Iquitos is where this journey becomes a true adventure.

No matter what anyone else says, there is no schedule for boats from Pantoja to Iquitos. The local government sends a boat there about once a month, but there is no schedule as of our travels.

We had called Nuevo Rocafuerte from Coca to see if there was going to be a boat coming soon. Francisco, the guy on the other end of the line, said that a boat had recently left Iquitos for Pantoja and should arrive in 3-5 days. I had gotten Francisco's number from the boat company that operated the Coca-Nuevo Rocafuerte route as someone who knows the boat schedule to Iquitos and thought that he would know. With this information, we decided to head straight to Nuevo Rocafuerte to await our imminent departure to Iquitos.

When we were on the boat to Nuevo Rocafuerte, I decided to ask a few other people about the boat from Pantoja to Iquitos. Everybody told me that a boat had recently left Pantoja for Iquitos on Sunday and that nobody knew when the next one would head upriver.

It turns out that all the people on the boat were right and the guy who I was told knows about the schedule as well as anyone else was wrong.

Lesson of the story: there is no schedule.