Ecuador Amazon Tour Info
Many people think of Brazil or an Amazon tour of Peru when they think of an Amazon tour. An Ecuador Amazon tour is less known, but this certainly does not mean that the quality is less. Sometimes the opposite is even true. The big advantage of the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador is that it is easily accessible for tourists. In just an 8-hour drive, or less than an hour’s flight from the capital Quito, you are already at the edge of the Amazon region, where the Ecuador Amazon tours start.
Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador
Even though only less than 2% of the Amazon Rainforest is in Ecuador, this is still about 120,000 square kilometers, 48% of the territory of Ecuador, or three times the size of the Netherlands! Part of this rainforest is naturally protected from oil extraction, mining and logging due to its geographical location. Other parts of the Amazon Rainforest are being protected with nature reserves and conservation projects. The two most famous Amazon reserves are the Cuyabeno Amazon Reserve and the Yasuni Amazon Reserve. Both are part of the Amazon Rainforest, but different. Both reserves are popular with people who want to book an Ecuador Amazon tour.
Cuyabeno Amazon Wildlife Reserve
The Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (in Spanish: Reserva de Producción Faunística Cuyabeno) covers an area of approximately 6,030 square kilometers of moist tropical rainforest. The reserve was established on July 26, 1979 and is located in the Putumayo canton in the province of Sucumbíos and in the Aguarico canton in the province of Orellana, at an altitude between 200 and 280 meters above sea level. The Cuyabeno Reserve is located, as it were, in a geographical basin between the Andes Mountains and the lower Amazon regions and is characterized by a complex network of rivers, creeks, lagoons and flooded forests that ensure a high biodiversity. A few months a year, this natural bowl fills with water. This influence of the water in the Cuyabeno Amazon Reserve ensures a special interaction and cooperation between the plant and animal species that inhabit the area. An advantage of the large amount of water available in Cuyabeno is that the land is much less suitable for large industries such as petroleum, mining and logging. Travelers who book an Ecuador Amazon tour can sail almost silently between the treetops in the Cuyabeno reserve during the rainy season and observe the animals up close.
Wildlife in the Cuyabeno Amazon Reserve
If you participate in an Ecuador Amazon tour, you will of course want to see wild animals. The Cuyabeno Reserve is home to many different animals including: tapirs, ocelots, bats, jaguars, pumas, capybaras, anacondas, anteaters, peccaries, poison dart frogs, agoutis, iguanas and fifteen different monkey species. Swimming through its maze of waters are turtles, pink freshwater dolphins, giant otters, manatees (used to be regularly seen, but now very rare), five species of caimans and almost 350 different fish species, including the famous piranha. The Cuyabeno Reserve is also home to more than 550 different bird species, making it one of the best places in the world for bird watching! Keep your eyes peeled for colorful woodpeckers, hummingbirds, tanagers, macaws, toucans, colorful parrots, kingfishers, hoatzins and sometimes even the Amazon eagle or Harpy eagle!
Flora in Cuyabeno
The Cuyabeno Reserve and the adjacent P.N. (Parque Nacional) Yasuni are considered natural areas with the greatest biodiversity in the world! Within the tropical vegetation of the rainforest there is a rich variety of plants with no fewer than 12,000 species of plants and trees! These species include bromeliads, palms, ceibos, heliconia, macrolobium, wild roses and no fewer than 60 different species of orchids. Many of these plants are still used by indigenous people for medicinal purposes.
Weather and water levels in the Cuyabeno Reserve
Limited rainfall data show an annual average rainfall of about 3000 mm, with more than 250 mm of monthly rainfall during the rainy season (from mid-March to August) and less than 250 mm in the dry season (from mid-December to the first days of March). When the water level is high, you can sail through the treetops to spot wildlife during your Ecuador Amazon tour. When the water level is low, there is less sailing, but it is easier to spot mammals on foot on the banks of greatly shrunken lakes and ponds. This period is also the breeding season for many of the bird species that live in the Cuyabeno reserve.
General impression about Cuyabeno
The jungle alternates and is combined with a dense green wall and a maze of mighty rivers and small streams. Life is all around you in the Cuyabeno Reserve and you will notice that it is never quiet. You can always hear something buzzing, squeaking, rustling, babbling, howling, roaring, or even honking. Green is without a doubt the dominant color, but the longer you spend in the reserve, the more colors you will discover. If you look closely you can find the most beautiful bright colors between the leaves, colors that belong to the many exotic flowers, birds, reptiles and even insects! Visitors on an Ecuador Amazon tour in the Cuyabeno reserve must be prepared to get wet, not only from the unexpected downpours and sometimes overcrowded rivers, but especially from the humidity. This humidity is usually between 90 and 100%, which quickly makes everything feel clammy. Be sure to pack breathable clothing, plastic bags and other waterproof storage options for electronics and valuables in your luggage.
The Yasuni Amazon Reserve
This reserve was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1989. The Yasuni Amazon Reserve is located on the edges of the Napo and Pastaza provinces, between the Napo and Curaray rivers. The border of the reserve is approximately 250 km from Quito. With an area of no less than 9820 km2, the N.P. Yasuni Amazon Reserve larger than the Cuyabeno reserve. The Yasuni reserve also consists largely of primary rainforest, yet it is less touristy than the Cuyabeno reserve. This is partly because a large part of the Yasuni reserve is still inhabited by various indigenous populations, including the Huaorani, Tagaeri and the Taromenane. Some of these population groups have voluntarily decided to try to continue living isolated from the outside world. However, this autonomous lifestyle is threatened by advancing oil drilling, illegal mining and illegal logging. Perhaps it is because of this that some Huarani tribes have chosen to collaborate with conservation projects and ecotourism initiatives. It is now possible to visit some indigenous Huarani villages on your Ecuador Amazon tour accompanied by a Huarani guide.
The biodiversity of Yasuni
Due to its location on the Equator and between the Andes Mountains and the lower Amazon rainforest, the Yasuni Reserve is one of the most biodiverse places on earth. The Yasuni Reserve is at the center of a small zone where amphibian, bird, mammal and vascular plant diversity are all reaching their maximum levels of diversity within the Western Hemisphere. This mainly concerns the concentration of biodiversity on a relatively small area. There is no other place in the world where you can discover so many flora and fauna species in just 100 square kilometers. Here you will find some figures of flora and fauna species that occur in Yasuni:
– At least 169 species of mammals (can go up to 204 species)
– 595 bird species spotted
– 43 species of endemic vertebrates
– At least 382 fish species (estimates range from 382 to 499 species)
– Despite covering less than 0.15% of the Amazon basin, approx
33% of the reptile and amphibian species of the Amazon are found in
Yasuní (121 reptiles and 150 amphibians).
– 100,000+ species of insects (about the same as all of North America)
– 4,000+ vascular plant species
Tourism in the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador
How your Ecuador Amazon tour can contribute to the protection of the Amazon Rainforest? Sustainable tourism can provide an alternative source of income for local people living in and on the edges of the Amazon Rainforest. When the entire economy of an area benefits from a sustainable source of income, nature in that area also gains economic value. This makes (illegal) logging, mining and poaching much less important from an economic perspective. Tourism also provides international fame. Oil extraction and industrial mining are important sources of income for Ecuador’s economy. Tourism does not yet generate enough revenue to compete with this, but it does provide international fame, among other things. This fame ensures that the natural beauty of the Amazon Rainforest can be better protected from international industries. The Galapagos Islands are a very good example of this.
