This is the first city (of many) in the Amazon rainforest of my trip. Tena is known to be the “cinnamon capital” of Ecuador. However, I did not see any cinnamon related businesses (or cinnamon in general).

Two rivers converge in this town: Tena and Pano. According to popular belief, Pano is the male river and it joins the female Tena. Together they form a bigger river (which is also called Tena).
People here are quite welcoming and kind. When they see a camera they wave, smile and scream the commonly used “ponte guapo pa la foto” (make yourself handsome for the photo). And this is because they are used to tourists (so much easier to photograph here than in Latacunga, although it was a bit difficult to find serious, rather than smiley faces).

Again here are some shots of my first day in town, which I spent walking around the city. Tena is pretty small, so I think I covered almost all of it. The first night I watched a weird festival: a mix-up of traditional dances of Ecuador and Bolivia, with performing singers of reggaeton and pasillos (national Ecuadorian music). After that, and as usual in the rainforest, it rained cats and dogs.

Next stop: El Coca