Plan Your Trip
This 4-day/3-night Amazon tour will allow you to explore the vast area of Ecuador’s Cuyabeno National Park. Through a number of dugout canoe trips and hikes in the rainforest, you will be able to admire unique species of birds, like tanagers, toucans and hoatzins, as well as giant Morpho butterflies and various species of monkeys. You will also spend a whole day visiting the indigenous Siona community to experience their daily lives and local traditions. Later, stop by the home of the local shaman for an authentic spiritual cleansing ceremony.
The Tapir Lodge will be the base-camp for all these activities, where you will have time to relax, recover your energies, and enjoy fresh, healthy and delicious food prepared by the experienced chef and served by the lodge’s experienced and professional staff during this South American vacation.
“The trip to the Galapagos was really fantastic! Although it was quite short, the trip itinerary made time for us to do quite a lot of things. Everything went very smoothly, too.”
AM: Your tour will begin with a 30-minute flight from Quito to the Amazonian town of Lago Agrio. Once in "Lago," you’ll be picked up by the lodge's own private transportation service. On board a truck, four-wheel drive vehicle or bus, we will drive 2 ½ - 3 hours to “El Puente” (The Bridge), which is the entrance to the Cuyabeno Reserve. Throughout this drive, you will have the opportunity to view striking landscapes created by the combination of rainforest, rivers and small towns. Some 60% of this road is paved and the following 40% is open road, which means that you can expect either a dusty road or a muddy trail, depending on the weather conditions.
PM: At “El Puente,” you can enjoy a box lunch and meet your tour guide. Afterwards, we will continue our trip via motorized canoe (12mts. / 24 ft. long). You will be provided with a rain poncho and a life vest, while your luggage will be covered in plastic to prevent it from getting wet in the event of rain. Along this narrow river, you will be able to admire the wide variety of flora and fauna that the Cuyabeno Reserve has to offer. After close to 2-1/2 hours of sailing, we will arrive at the attractive Tapir Lodge around dusk (5:00-6:00 PM).
Dinner will be served at approximately 7:30 p.m., after which time your guide will give you a briefing on the next day’s activities and the required gear. You’ll then turn in for the night at the relaxing Tapir Lodge.
After a good night’s sleep, your day begins with a delicious 7:30 a.m. breakfast. Afterwards, you will be provided with rubber boots before heading out on our first journey of the day.
Depending on the size of the group, we will take either a larger motorized canoe or a small, 15-feet-long, wooden canoe called a quilla. Accommodating up to four passengers and guide, these small vessels are nonetheless quite stable. In fact, the indigenous inhabitants use these canoes as their main source of transportation.
Riding upriver to Laguna Grande (“Big Lake”), we will proceed slowly so that you can observe the surrounding plant and animal life. The trip takes about 30 minutes by motorized canoe or one hour by paddle canoe. Our destination is an Igapo, which is a seasonally flooded forest. The flora found here is unique, with an abundance of ancient macrolobium trees. These have adapted to the surrounding environment, which allows them to grow straight out of the water. These majestic trees also provide the perfect habitat for other plants such as bromeliads, orchids, ferns and Cacti.
Completing our Igapo excursion, we will begin a 3-1/2 hour hike on "terra firme" along the Red Palm Trail. This will be your first encounter with primary rainforest, which is the habitat for many terrestrial mammals such as tapirs, capybaras, jaguars, agoutis and other species native to the rainforest. You will also have a chance to see a variety of ancient trees such as Lianas and Giant Palms, as well as bird species such as woodpeckers, tanagers, macaws, and toucans. With luck, we will come across two or three species of monkeys. This trek follows a path that loops around in the rainforest; bringing us back to our point of origin. Our return time should be around 1:30.
After lunch, you’ll have a couple of hours to try a little Piranha fishing or just relax in one of the lodge’s hammocks.
Later this afternoon, we will take the canoe to a new area of “Laguna Grande” in search of birds and other animals. As an option, you can go swimming, which is perfectly safe here. Depending on the weather, we may be able to admire a breathtaking sunset, as we pass the time enjoying the surrounding symphonies of the rainforest until nightfall.
This evening, you can join in on a nocturnal safari to look for caimans, birds, frogs and tree snakes on the shores of the lake and river.
Depending on the weather conditions, we should be able to get an early start on our morning birdwatching excursion. At about 6:00 a.m., we will take our canoe and navigate the river's current while sighting the exotic birds of the area. These range from Blue and Yellow Macaws, Scarlet Macaws, Blue-tailed Emeralds, Hoatzins, and Amazon King Fishers – just to name a few. Boasting a bird list of more than 500 species, the Cuyabeno Reserve a privileged location for birding and a delight for seasoned as well as beginner birdwatchers. We will return to the lodge at around 7:00 a.m.
Upon our return to the lodge, breakfast will be served at 7:30. Afterwards, we will meet on the pier and travel downriver on a 2-hour canoe ride in search of Morphos (Giant Blue Butterflies), Toucans and Macaws, as well as monkeys, if we’re lucky.
We will then begin a 2-hour trek into the rainforest, where we will be silently greeted by ancient Kapok trees. Some of these magnificent specimens are at least 800 years old, while the roots of these ancient marvels can grow as large as a small room. During this hike, we will stop in the village of Puerto Bolivar, where ethnic-Siona inhabitants have chosen to reside. Following Puerto Bolivar, we will stop at another small settlement and meet the local shaman (Alberto), who spends part of his time curing and treating the local inhabitants with his vast knowledge of medicinal plants. There, we will break to enjoy a tasty box lunch and relax. Once we conclude our lunch break, Alberto will spend some time with us. This humble man possesses more than 50 years of wisdom and knowledge regarding the rainforest and the use of medicinal plants. For those interested, you can participate in an authentic “healing” ceremony, which should last about 40 minutes. There will be some free time to ask Alberto questions or simply take pictures of and with him. Handcrafts are available for purchase, all of them crafted out of materials provided by and obtained in the rainforest. We will say goodbye to Alberto and his family at about 3:00 p.m., and then canoe back to Puerto Bolivar.
There, we will be greeted by a local Siona family, where we will take part in the making of Cassava Bread. Yuca (Cassava) has always been an essential food supply and is one of the main sources of carbohydrates for the indigenous communities of the rainforest. After gathering the yuca, it is peeled and ground into a paste, which is then pressed to eliminate most of the water and the starch. The remaining dried product is fried in a pan for a few minutes, turning it into a rather neutral tasting pancake-like bread, which you will be able to sample. After saying goodbye to the villagers, we will navigate back to Tapir, arriving there just before dusk.
A farewell dinner will be served for you at around 8:00 PM. During dinner, you can enjoy a Passion fruit cocktail while you’re more formally introduced to the lodge’s hardworking, attentive and diligent staff members.
Following breakfast, served at 8:00 a.m., we will coordinate and schedule your departure from Tapir Lodge. Departure from the lodge is generally between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., depending on flight times, river and road conditions as well as the guide’s decision. The lodge's staff will attend to the luggage, making sure that all of your belongings are loaded onto the canoe. We will depart Tapir on a scenic boat ride back to Agrio Lago and make our way back to the bridge, where private transportation will be waiting for us. You will then be driven to the airport in Agrio Lago for your return flight to Quito. After being assisted with checking in, we will wish you a fond farewell, hoping to see you back in South America soon..!!.
| Room | Double | Single | Triple |
| 4 Days | US$ 728 PP | US$ 946 PP | US$ 728 PP |
| Days |
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“We had a great time in the jungle. Our experience was amazing. Can’t wait to tell you more about it.”
