Cuyabeno – Amazon Rainforest

Staying in the Amazon was surely a one-of-a-kind experience! We didn’t really know that tourists are allowed in the rainforest until we started researching things to do in Ecuador. That’s when it hit us – you can actually go and see the Amazon Rainforest! In the end, we wish we could have stayed longer at one of the most unique places on the planet.

In this article, we will share our experience and everything we saw in deep Amazonia. In the second half of the article, we’ll discuss practicalities, such as getting to the rainforest, booking a lodge, things to pack & prepare. Now, let’s jump right in to the programme!

Day 1

In a nutshell: transfer to Rio Aguas Negras river and then to the lodge; canoe excursion & swimming at Laguna Grande; night walk through the forest.

Arrival & First Impressions

Our 275 km overnight journey started in the historic centre of Quito. We booked an overnight bus to Nueva Loja, which is effectively the gateway town to the Cuyabeno Nature Reserve, one of the few places tourists can visit. We arrived early in the morning in the sleepy town, had a nice breakfast and were soon greeted by our tour guide for the upcoming 3 days: Elvis.

Soon after, we set off on another 1.5-hour shuttle bus ride to a small riverside port, where visitors are taken by boat to the lodges on the Río Aguarico river.

This is no ordinary boat ride though – here, you get the first glimpse at the dense forest that the Amazon is. We took short breaks every time our eagle-eyed guide spotted interesting animals. As I said, this was just the boat ride there – and we already saw toucans, monkeys, parrots, snakes, sloths and tarantulas before we’d even arrived. A proper introduction!

Our accommodation, the Bamboo Lodge, was so much more than anything we’d hoped for. We were expecting to sleep under nomadic circumstances, but instead, we got well-built cottages made of bamboo, a sturdy and sustainable natural material, and well-kept common areas and gardens.

In search of pink dolphins

After a hearty lunch prepared by the amazing chefs on site, we set off on a canoe excursion on the river and to the Laguna Grande to spot pink Amazon river dolphins. And how lucky we were! They quietly swam around our canoes, surfacing from time to time for air.

We continued paddling to a lake that is usually a large plot of land. Our guide told us that local kids play football here in the dry season, and in the rainy season, the plot simply turns into a large lake. He encouraged us to go swimming – we were a bit hesitant at first, but jumped right in, eventually. When else will you have the opportunity to go swimming in the Amazon rainforest?! After we climbed back into our boat, it turned out that not only tourists but also pirañhas enjoy these waters – luckily, they tend to stay near the shoreline where they can easily find fish and other small things to eat. Smaller things than humans, anyway.

Night walk

The staff was already waiting for us with a delicious dinner back at the accommodation. We rested a bit, and soon set off for a night walk around the lodging area. The forest truly comes alive at night with sounds that either scare you, or make you extremely excited – bugs, insects, rodents and birds rattled in the bushes everywhere. One of the most interesting species we saw was the tailless whip scorpion, which you might remember from Mad-Eye Moody’s class in the fourth Harry Potter movie. The huge spider-like animal is not considered dangerous to humans, and can even be held without any consequences. While we had the chance, we preferred not to hold it.

There was an even more terrifying insect, though, that we came really close to: a bullet ant. A bite from these insects is so painful that people swear getting shot at is more bearable. Yes, we did actually hear a story from a traveller who met an ex-US-military guy who experienced both. He said he would rather get shot at again. On the Schmidt Pain Index ranging from 1 to 4, a bite from a bullet ant is considered 4. Even our guide, who we earlier witnessed eating a queen of the leaf cutter ant nest, got very nervous when the bullet ant started crawling towards his hand.

When we returned to our lodge, we found a huge tarantula right at the entrance of our cabin. It was a bit scary but also fascinating at the same time. During the day, she disappeared, and returned home in the evening hours every single day. We were wondering where she was hiding during the daytime…

The staircase leading to the cabin above us held another surprise: a fully-grown Tityus Obscurus Amazonian black scorpion. Interestingly, the scorpion glows under UV light thanks to its exoskeleton, called cutine. Its venom can be highly toxic to humans.

Day 2

In a nutshell: morning visit to the indigenous Siona tribe; explore the premises, harvest and cook yuca roots; back to the lodge & free time to explore; excursion and walk through the forest on the Sendero La Católica research trail; evening boat ride to see caimans

Visiting the Siona tribe

The rainforest greeted us with a lot of rain the next morning. After breakfast, we set off for an eventful day and started with a visit to a tiny village of the indigenous Siona tribe. The ethnic group had very limited contact with the outside world until the mid-19th century, when the rubber-boom reached the region. Today, some of the villages welcome visitors to showcase their traditions, cuisine and handicrafts. Usually, we are a bit wary of these kinds of excursions, as many of them are simply over-commercialised theatres. This one did not feel like that at all.

After receiving traditional face paint resembling features of powerful animals, we explored the family’s garden for a while, which held many interesting plants. We saw gigantic El Ceibo trees (also referred to as “tree of life”), aged several hundreds of years and considered to be one of the oldest tree types in the Amazon, and harvested and tried the beans of fresh cocoa pods. Our guide also managed to find some colourful poisonous frogs that we were able to observe up close. Another interesting, yet more common, plant was the nettle, which is considered to have healing abilities and can even help with back pain. I, Isi, had a go since no-one else wanted to try. After being gently beaten with the leaves, my whole back started to swell up, leaving a tingling and itchy sensation on my skin. Half an hour later, the pain was gone and my back was back to normal. Difficult to say if the plant was the thing that actually cured the back pain, though. Of course, the famous Ayahuasca, an Amazonian hallucinogenic plant, was also growing in the garden. Apparently, the tribes take it and feel like they are reborn as an animal, for example as a jaguar. We did not try it this time around…

Finally, we dug up our soon-to-be-lunch yuca roots, which are grated into coarse bits, dried using a traditional harness, and, ultimately, baked as flat bread over a wood fire. Young Siona girls start to master the art of yuca bread making at an early age. According to their tradition, girls wishing to marry someone, must demonstrate great skill at baking the bread.

Up the watchtower!

After we had returned to the lodge, we had a couple of hours of free time, so we went off to explore the premises. There is a tall watchtower in the camp, so we ventured up with our binoculars to look for birds and monkeys. We were lucky to see brown capuchin monkeys, but most animals are more active during the night or in the early morning.

Sendero La Católica research trail

This trail is located at the north-eastern edge of Laguna Grande. The walk along the circular path takes around 2.5 hours. You can see many ancient trees and learn about medicinal plants used by the Amazonian communities. You can spot many birds, frogs, and, as evening falls, insects come alive in this dense part of the forest.

Searching for Caimans

After we headed back to our boat, we set off again in the darkness to find caimans. It was pitch black with no artificial light illuminating the river, so spotting the animals was quite challenging. Our guide used his torch to look for the reflections from the eyes of the caimans – and luckily, we didn’t have to search for too long! We spotted multiple caimans hiding in the shallow water near the shore waiting to catch dinner.

To our surprise, the forest rewarded us with another rare sight – a boa curled up in a tree right in front of our boat! They are especially hard to see due to their shy nature and their ability to camouflage extremely well.

Day 3

In a nutshell: early morning bird watching from the river; departure back to Nueva Loja; lunch.

Bird Watching & Departure

On our last day, we woke up early for a sunrise bird watching tour, as these animals tend to be more active in the early hours of the morning. We were rewarded with many incredible sightings! We saw a tree full of toucans, more specifically chestnut-eared aracaris, and watched them for a while. We also saw several parrot species and a pair of Macaws snuggling. We also spotted several monkey species, such as Woolly monkeys and Howler monkeys. Towards the end of the tour, we got incredibly lucky and were approached by a family of giant Amazon river otters, which are considered a very rare sight. Our guide immediately commanded us to stay completely still and quiet. They swam right past us doing their morning fishing, and we spotted some carrying their freshly caught fish in their mouths.

Shortly before departure, I went up to the watchtower one last time and got the biggest present: seeing the white-throated toucan, one of the most breathtaking toucans in the Amazon, with bright turquoise patches on its beak! I had been hoping to spot one, and we heard it a couple of times around the jungle during our previous days but were never able to see it. What a perfect ending to an incredible stay!

+1: Day 4

In a nutshell: paddling excursion to Cananbueno Lagoon; evening walk or visit Laguna Grande.

Paddling to Cananbueno Lagoon

We wish we’d stayed longer! On the extra day, visitors go on a paddling excursion to Cananbueno Lagoon, where motorised boats are not allowed. This quiet area is the perfect place to spot exotic animals that would otherwise be easily scared away by arriving boats.

Here you can enjoy your lunch surrounded by the tranquil forest and take a short walk through the greenery. In the evening, visitors can either take a night walk through the bushes or visit Laguna Grande again to look for animals.

If we had the choice to book again, we would probably either opt for the 4- or the 5-day tour package, which are naturally a bit more expensive but also offer much more of the Amazon rainforest!

Choosing your location: Tena vs. Cuyabeno vs. Yasuni

If you are planning to enter the Amazon rainforest from Ecuador, just like us, you might first want to decide which part of the Ecuadorian Amazon you want to visit. There are 3 popular choices:

Tena: the area you can visit is much closer to the town of Tena. It is a secondary forest and does not offer as much wildlife to see compared to the other options. There are more affordable hotel options here, though, and tours that mostly cater to backpacker crowds. It is an ideal destination if you do not want to spend too much time travelling, prefer locations with more tourists and backpackers to hang out with, or are looking for cheaper options and do not mind sacrificing deep-forest experience for convenience.

Cuyabeno: this is a lesser-known destination that offers a more “pure” deep-Amazon experience, where you feel much closer to nature. This comes with longer travel time to reach the heart of the nature reserve area, and a higher price tag. There are many accommodations to choose from with varying lengths of trip packages, typically from 3 to 5 days. We had the impression that visitors are true nature-enthusiasts here, and were not just there for the tick-off-the-list kind of Instagram photos.

Yasuni, the third option, is one of the most biologically diverse places on the planet. The area of the national park that is open for visitors has the most premium accommodations and the highest price tags. According to guides we spoke to, the atmosphere is somewhat “Instagrammy”; you might even spot some celebrities here. Apparently, Will Smith also visited Yasuni a couple of years ago.

Ultimately, we picked Cuyabeno, as it seemed to be a good midway choice that is not too far from the city and offers plenty of diversity and wildlife, and we were very happy with our choice!

Booking your lodge

Once you have decided, you have to book a stay at one of the many lodges. We booked our visit online a couple of weeks before our planned stay. The lodges usually have fixed days for arrivals, so make sure to contact them about your preferred dates early enough. Some of the lodges we approached were already full, so we would recommend booking your stay well in advance.

After reading many reviews, we chose the Bamboo Lodge, which is owned by an Ecuadorian-German couple. As the name suggests, the buildings are constructed from bamboo, a natural and sturdy material with high resistance to the elements of the forest. This is one of the more premium lodges in Cuyabeno and has a good variety of rooms and cabins with very comfortable amenities. The staff were incredibly friendly and the food was really good, especially if you consider that you are in the middle of a rainforest! For a 3-day 2-night stay, we paid $310 per person. Bigger and more well-known lodges in Cuyabeno include Caiman Lodge, Cuyabeno Lodge and Green Forest Ecolodge.

Guides are assigned independently by the authorities, so your choice of lodge does not affect this aspect of your trip. All guides are specially certified, well-educated naturalists who are extremely knowledgeable about the Amazon and truly care about nature. We were lucky to be put in a small group of only 4 people, including us.

Getting to the Amazon Rainforest

The definitive gateway to the Ecuadorian Amazon is the small town of Nueva Loja. This is where most tour companies pick you up and take you to the actual rainforest. The town, also known as Lago Agrio (“sour lake”), was established as a settlement for oil industry workers in the 1960s and grew substantially over the years drawing workforce from all over the country. The transition towards agriculture began as the government started to release more and more land for agricultural production in recent years.

Tourism emerged as a new source of income after tourism and overnight stays were permitted in the rainforest and lodges catering towards tourists started to pop up in the Cuyabeno Reserve.

There are two ways to get to Nueva Loja:

1. There is a small airport in Nueva Loja, however, the airport is currently not operational. The next closest airport is around 80 km to the south in Coca, with multiple active daily connections to Quito. Make sure to verify the current connections here on Flightradar24.
   
2. The other option is taking an overnight shuttle bus from Quito. The lodge you are staying at probably has a cooperation with one of the shuttle providers and can secure a spot for you on the bus. We did this too, and paid $30 per person for a return ticket.
   We set off at around 9 pm (after a two-hour delay) and arrived at 7 am the next day. The seats on the bus were wide and comfortable, and reclined to around 160° so that we could get some sleep. We definitely recommend packing ear plugs and sleeping masks! The roads are also a bit windy, so the bus moves quite a lot sideways during the night.
   If you tend to have a hard time sleeping on buses, we recommend getting to Nueva Loja one day before, so that you can start your tour well-rested. There is not much to see and do in Nueva Loja from a tourist perspective, so keep that in mind for your day off.

Best time to visit

The Cuyabeno region has two alternating seasons:

• The dry season lasts from December to March and from June to August, with little to no precipitation. Water levels are low, and many areas turn into dry land that you can walk on. It is the ideal time for seeing mammals, larger animals and reptiles. You can take more and longer walks on otherwise unexposed paths, and calm waters allow for a comfortable canoe experience.
• The wet season brings significant rainfall from March to June and then again from August to December. Aforementioned dry areas turn into lagoons; the best example here is the Laguna Grande. This season is great for spotting aquatic animals, pink dolphins, amphibians and frogs. You also have the opportunity to explore in a canoe or in motorised boats.

Temperatures stay relatively stable all year round, with a minimum of around 18°C (64°F) during the night and a maximum of 32°C (90°F) during the day. Humidity is a bit lower in the dry season, but still can be considered tropical.

The national park hosts the most visitors in July and August during the international summer holiday season, so keep that in mind if you would like to escape the crowds.

We visited Cuyabeno during the wet season in October and experienced rain almost every day. It did not diminish the experience, though, and our lodge provided sturdy raincoats and rubber boots for our excursions. For us, seeing the pink river dolphins and being able to swim in the Laguna Grande were great experiences, and we would not exchange them for a little more “dry comfort” of the dry season!

Things to pack

Based on our experience, we put together a list of things that will surely make your stay more comfortable.

• Insect repellent: As you might imagine, the forest is full of insects which are especially active during the night. We usually go for the Autan Multi Insect Spray (Amazon), a great alternative to repellents containing DEET, which can stain your clothes for good.
• Binoculars: this is an item that you will benefit from tremendously because wildlife is, well, usually quite far away, and tour guides usually only provide one pair of binoculars per group, so you will have to wait your turn while hoping that the animal doesn’t move. There is nothing more frustrating than spotting an exciting rare species and not being able to take a proper look. Good binoculars can be super expensive, but we were absolute newcomers, so we researched some budget models and settled for entry-level ones from Bresser and Hawke (Amazon).
• Ear plugs: the jungle is loud at night. We stocked up on these Ohropax earplugs from Amazon before our trip.
• Sleeping mask: cabins might not block out the sun completely.
• Hiking clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty, preferably quick-to-dry pieces.
• Neck gaiter: this is a very versatile piece to protect your face from sun and wind; all tour guides use it on the river.
• Sunglasses: especially useful on water to prevent reflections.
• Sun protection: UV levels can be high near the Equator, so make sure to apply sunscreen properly.
• Rain coats suitable for warm weather: these are not only good against the rain but also practical for evening jungle walks, as they also protect you from mosquitoes. We didn’t bring any and were bitten ruthlessly, even through our cardigans and long-sleeved T-shirts.

Also, make sure to learn about what kind of equipment your lodge can provide in advance, as this might vary greatly depending on the accommodation and the service level. This way, you can pack all the necessities accordingly!