Conquistadors: The Stories: Gynner Coronel (Location Manager, rafting on Coca and Napo rivers)
Making Conquistadors was a lot of fun and a great adventure I think for all those involved. The entire Rios Ecuador team had a lot of fun and a lot of challenges to meet the needs required for the river and whitewater scenes.
I think retracing part of their steps was a powerful first hand lesson in history which makes you truly appreciate the hardships these men put themselves through centuries ago.
A Race Against Time:
We had the lovely coincidence that the first day the BBC arranged to work with us was the same day that the finals of the National Rafting Championship in Ecuador were taking place and I was captain of one of the three teams in the finals. I had to somehow manage to meet the BBC crew in Quito early in the morning with the mini bus, camping equipment and food for the upcoming days, our cook plus and old hardy looking jeep which David Wallace had requested to do some shots as we drove over the Andes. The rafting competition happened to be just a couple of hours down the road from where David wanted to shoot that morning. The plan was that I would accompany the BBC crew till I got them situated around the highest point of the pass over the Andes and then I would catch a passing bus and go win the rafting competition. Our driver and another Rios Ecuador staff person would help the BBC crew throughout the day and get them to our lodging for the night where I would catch up with them after this long awaited rafting event.
Things started falling behind schedule when the old Jeep began stalling as it crawled up the Andes to the pass. The wind was blowing, the temperature was chilling and the clock was ticking. If much more time was lost I would not make it in time to for the race where the rest of my team stood awaiting. Then the jeep broke down all together. After a few minutes we got it rolling again and David found a mountain background which he liked and was suitable for shooting. Once they got situated I was free to head off for the competition but I found the windswept high Andes road was practically deserted and we had not seen a bus for nearly an hour.
For a long time I sat awaiting by the side of the road in my quiet desperation. I knew I should have been on my way nearly an hour ago and had an impending feeling that the competition might already be lost for me and my team whom had trained so hard.
Just around that time I finally saw the outline of a vehicle approaching in the distance and I got in the middle of the road, ready to make it stop at whatever price. The gentleman had heard about the rafting championships taking place and was more than happy to give me a lift. I remember his name in Spanish was "Angel" and I felt as if he was my guardian angel out to save the day. He could only take me about half the distance to where the race was because he had an important stuff to do but as soon as he dropped me off a speeding pick-up truck was flying down the road and I stuck my thumb out again. He came to screeching stop and hollered at me to jump in the back. I did so and at this point I found myself travelling at breakneck speeds down the backside of the Andes into the Upper Amazon jungle. The route we were travelling was the same Francisco de Orellana had taken centuries before but the circumstances were much different.
I had travelled this road many times but never at the speed this maniac was driving. I put my rafting helmet and lifejacket on to help protect me in case he lost control in the windy mountain dirt road and hunkered down in the back of the truck.
By the time we got to where the competition was I had actually regained about half hour time because of the insane speed we had been travelling. To the amusement of my team I jumped off the back of the truck with my rafting equipment and outfit already on. They had been waiting a fair bit and were about to be disqualified when I arrived. The race got started and we had an excellent performance throughout the day and came in a tight second place in the end.
We were happy enough with our results and very uplifted. It was the indigenous members of this first rafting team composed mostly by natives from the Upper Amazon jungle that were to spend the next few days working with the BBC crew in retracing the steps of Francisco de Orellana by navigating the rapids of the headwaters of the Amazon in balsa wood rafts.
For us it was one great adventure followed by another. It seems like life is always a bit of an adventure in this corner of the World, like it was for those first explorers.
Would you do it again?
In a heartbeat!