5 Day Cuyabeno Amazon Experience - Adventure in Ecuador's Rainforest

DAY 1:

Our adventure starts early in the morning in the town of Lago Agrio. You will meet us at Meeting Point Restaurant, (before calling Blue Planet Hotel), in Lago Agrio at 8:00 AM. The meeting point is located at Desvio del Puente Rio Aguarico, Nueva Loja. We then take our private bus for approximately 2 hours to reach the town of Tierras Orientales, located on the banks of the Aguarico River. At this point, we will provide you with a Box Lunch and prepare to take the motor canoe. Our journey downstream Aguarico River lasts approximately 3 hours, until we reach the bocana, place where the river Aguarico joins the river Cuyabeno. Here, we will have the opportunity to enjoy an incredible landscape, since it is a place where you can observe without difficulty the pink dolphins of fresh water. We will also notice the great difference between the secondary forest and the primary forest. Afterwards, we continue our trip for 30 more minutes, upstream the river Cuyabeno. Finally, we will arrive at our Amazon Lodge located in the lagoon San Francisco, inside the reserve Cuyabeno.

Along this route we will be able to appreciate the great biodiversity of the forest and photograph several species of animals such as monkeys, birds, reptiles and aquatic mammals. You will be able to observe them without difficulty since our guides will provide you with binoculars if needed.

Finally, we arrive at our Lodge where we can relax and familiarize ourselves with the place.  

After dinner, our guide will give us a briefing about the activities for the following days and will invite us to go on a night walk around the camp in search of interesting nocturnal species such as insects, spiders, amphibians, tree snakes and many other animals.

DAY 2:

The best time for bird watching is before dawn, so our activity will start at 6:00. We will take our rowing canoe to enjoy the sunrise and the incredible landscape of the rainforest and to navigate through small lakes near the Lodge. During this tour, we will have the opportunity to observe a wide variety of species of birds and mammals. We then return to our Lodge to enjoy a delicious breakfast.

After a short rest, our guide will invite us to take a 3-hour walk in the forest. He will share his knowledge about the practical use of medicinal plants that his ancestors have transmitted through generations. He will explain to us his connection with the world of botany before returning to our Lodge to have a delicious lunch. At 16:30, we will once again take our rowing canoe to navigate around the lagoon of the Ceibo, meaning giant tree of the jungle, located near our Lodge. Here, we will admire the forest flooded by black water, also called Igapo, considered within the tropical rainforest as one of the 5 ecosystems dominated by the famous trees of Macrolobium. These trees have the great ability to store nutrients in their bark and therefore become home to countless microscopic animals, epiphytes and many species of birds. Afterwards, we will visit the San Francisco river, a narrow white water river surrounded by exuberant vegetation where we can find species of birds that are not found in bigger streams. When the night begins to fall, we will venture downstream in search of caimans (family of lizards), and species of nocturnal animals such as fishing bats, tree boas and nocturnal birds.

DAY 3:

An early activity (around 5:45) allows us to enjoy nature in its pure state since the best hours to enjoy the rainforest and its animal life are before sunrise. We will navigate upstream the Cuyabeno river in our motor canoe for approximately 1h30. This time being the best one for bird watching, we will have the opportunity to admire a large number of species along the river. Once reaching the saladero (clay bank full of nutrient-exposed river banks), we will witness 5 species of colorful parrots and parakeets who come every day around 7am to have breakfast. Back to the lodge, we will savour our own tasty breakfast.

After taking a rest, we will hop in our motorized canoe to go downstream along the Cuyabeno River, enjoying a prosperous rainforest activity. We will arrive at  bocana, where the two rivers meet. Once again, we will see the freshwater dolphins up close and delight in a wonderful landscape where the coloration of the white waters full of sediments coming from the Aguarico River mix with the black waters full of tannins coming from the Cuyabeno River. After having enjoyed this morning, we return to our Lodge where they wait for us with a delicious lunch.

At 16:00, we will take the canoe to go to the Bird Observation Tower, which is built around one of the largest trees of the area, called a Ceibo tree. From the top, at 28m (92 ft) high, we will have a breath-taking view of the Canopy and the rainforest. This will give us the opportunity to hear and observe a great diversity of animals.

Before returning to our Lodge for a yummy dinner, we will make a short night walk around the tower in search of new species of insects.

DAY 4:

Once again, we prepare to go in search of new adventures and new species of birds to enrich a little more our "check list".

After a breakfast at 7:00, we will take our rowing canoe down the Cuyabeno River until we reach the San Francisco River. After our boat ride, we will enjoy a box lunch and then take the Terra Firme trail for a 3-hour walk. The guide will share his knowledge about the flora and fauna of the area and we will return to our camp. 

DAY 5:

This day being our last one in this wonderful place, we will go on a canoe ride to witness the awakening of this incredible nature and try to spot more birds.

A delicious breakfast will be served at 6:00. After breakfast it is time for the return trips make sure your luggage is prepared and ready to go. We will sail 30 minutes downstream on the Cuyabeno river and then take the Aguarico river upstream for 3 hours until we reach Tierras Orientales around 12:00. 

From here we will drive back to Lago Agrio to the Meeting point for the shuttle bus back to Quito.