When Kat’s parents visited us in Ecuador, we took them to the jungle for a few days of adventure at Cotococha Lodge. Cotococha is located close to Tena, Ecuador, right on the banks of the Napo River (one of the headwaters of the Amazon). Francisco Orellana, the man who first navigated and named the Amazon, started his exploration of the river right here in this part of Ecuador on a tributary of the Napo.
We stayed in beautiful cabanas on the river with lanterns for light and no electricity.
Everyday we would head out in canoes and travel up the river on different adventures.
The river was pretty low when we were there, so sometimes we got stuck and had to get out and push the boat.
Our first adventure was a hike through the jungle to a beautiful waterfall.
We saw so many unique kinds of plants on our hike including walking trees, banana plants, false ginger, and all sorts of lilies and orchids.
The Amazon Rainforest reaches across nine countries in South America & is one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet. The jungles of Ecuador contain more than 500 species of birds & 15,000 different types of plants.
The next afternoon we visited a wildlife sanctuary on one of the tributaries of the river. This sanctuary was started by an Ecuadoran & Swiss couple to give animals that can’t survive on their own in the wild a place to stay. They use the animals as a lesson in conservation and students travel from throughout the world to study there. The day we were there we met students from France & England. We also saw lots of really cool animals.
On our final day in the jungle, we visited a traditional Kichwa village to learn a bit about their culture. We learned how they make traditional pottery and Chicha, the traditional fermented drink. Kyle and I learned how to use blowguns and shot darts at a wooden parrot target. And we got to dance some of the traditional dances with some of the younger girls in the village. At the end of the day, Kyle and Bob were cleansed by the local shaman.
Our trip to the jungle was the perfect combination of adventure and relaxation. We had a great time!
Leave a Reply