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7 Days from$977 p/p in USD -
DeparturesYear Round
Destinations
Ecuador,
Tour Type
Guided, Small Group
Safari Standard
Camping
Tour Overview
This is the most adventurous tour into the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest in our program and includes camps in different places deep in the Cuyabeno Reserve. The tour explores the upper and lower parts of the reserve, with canoe rides along the Cuyabeno and Aguarico Rivers until the border with Peru and exploring the Lagartococha Lakes. You visit native communities, stay at traditional open huts with thatched roofs and in tents at campsites deep in the rainforest (all beds/tents are equipped with mosquito nets). This kind of adventure trip involves simple accommodation but with high quality equipment and service and that toilet and showers will be shared.
General Information
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Safari types:Camping Safari, Guided Safari, Wildlife Safari
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You will visit:Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, Aguarico River, Cuyabeno River, Lagartococha River, Lago Agrio
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Wildlife:Birds, Toucans, Parrots, Monkeys, Sloth, Pink River Dolphin
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Activities:Game Viewing, Walking Safari, Canoe, Nature Walk, Birding, Cultural Experience, Swimming
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Getting around:Bus, Motor Boat, Canoe
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Start/end:Start in Lago Agrio, end in Lago Agrio
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Minimum age:12
How to get there
- Touristic bus ride (6 hours each way)
- Domestic flight from Quito to Lago Agrio and back
What to bring
- An original ID document with photo (passport or identity card)
- Rain poncho
- Long sleeve T-shirt
- Cotton socks
- Shorts
- Sandals or comfortable walking shoes
- Sweatshirt
- Flashlight with spare batteries
- Personal medicine
- Toiletry bag (IMPORTANT: biodegradable soap and shampoo)
- Swimwear and towel
- Hat
- Sunscreen
- Sunglasses with tether
- A waterproof or water-repellent backpack
- Insect repellent
- Zip lock bag or plastic bag
- Camera
- Binoculars (We recommend 10X40)
- Notepad
- Swiss army knife
- Wet wipes
- Reading material
Price Per Person – USD
From USD 977 per person
If you are a solo traveler a single supplement will have to be added to the total price
What's Included
- Bus transportation from Lago Agrio to El Puente and back to Lago Agrio
- (Tourism Ministry-Licensed) bilingual naturalist guides trained in eco-tourism
- All meals from lunch on day one until box lunch for the last day (including purified water)
- Accommodation according to the program at the lodge in double rooms with private bathroom and at the camp sites in double tents including all camping equipment, such as bedding for long expeditions (sleeping mats, bed sheets, blankets, pillows, and towels). This kind of adventurous trip means that simple camping toilets and showers will be shared.
- Personal equipment: lifejackets and rubber boots (up to size 45 – size 45 and up provided upon request prior to the tour without additional cost).
- Tea, coffee, hot chocolate available at the campsites
- Catering for vegetarians
What's Excluded
- Trip Quito – Lago Agrio – Quito
- Airfare Quito – Lago Agrio – Quito US$ 260 (40 minutes one way)
- Bus Quito – Lago Agrio – Quito US$ 60 (6 hours one way – transport in a private bus in international groups)
- US 5 Dollars for the visit of a native family (to be paid on-site)
- US 5 Dollars for the visit to the Kichwa tower (to be paid on-site)
- Additional beverages and meals
- Single supplement
- Tips
- Personal insurance and expenses
- Personal equipment besides lifejackets and rubber boots
- Any short-term price increases regarding fees and taxes.
Disclaimer
- This itinerary is owned and delivered by ‘Responsible Travel‘
- All prices are ‘From’ and may vary at the time of booking
- Display price is usually based on two people sharing
- ‘Responsible Travel‘ reserves the right to change the content and price of the itinerary
- All itineraries and services are subject to availability
Day by Day Overview
The tour begins at 09:30 in Lago Agrio. Your transfer by bus/truck brings you to El Puente (approx. 2 hours), the main access to the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve and the last place in civilization. Here you will have lunch (box lunch) and then drive in a motorized canoe on the Cuyabeno River for about 2 hours until you reach the lodge. With a little luck, you can already observe the first monkey and bird species along the way. The river is extremely narrow in this region and allows you to experience the wildlife up close. After you arrive at the lodge, you will have time to recover and go on your first exploratory tour of the surroundings of the lodge. After dinner, your bilingual guide will inform you about the activities of the following days.
After breakfast, you will start your adventure in a motor canoe along the Cuyabeno and Aguarico Rivers, entering the Amazon until you reach your campsite, looking out for birds, sloths, and monkeys along the way. Box lunch. The canoe ride will take approx. 4 hours, but you will make stops to stretch your legs and enjoy the sand beaches of the Aguarico River. In the afternoon you will arrive at the Zancudo campsite of the local Kichwa community.
Before breakfast, you will visit a salt lick at the riverbank which many parakeets and parrots visit (note: on rainy days only a few birds come to these places). Then you continue downstream the Cuyabeno River to the confluence of the Cuyabeno and Aguarico Rivers, the latter being a white-water river. You will continue for approx. another 3 ½ hours towards the border with Peru until you reach the Lagartococha River. Following the Lagartococha River upstream you reach the camp site situated deep in the remote jungle, accessing the flooded area shaped by a system of lakes and small rivers. Here you will have the opportunity to discover some lagoons connected by blackwater rivers and explore the different ecosystems of the flooded forest or Varzea region. Box lunch. In the afternoon enjoy swimming in the Delfin Cocha Lake while observing some of the name-giving freshwater pink dolphins (Inia Geofrensis). Overnight and dinner at the campsite.
Enjoy a silent exploration of the area with your paddle canoe before breakfast. Later you head up the Lagartococha River by motorized canoe looking for the Terra Firme forest, a pristine primary rainforest. Then you visit Puerto Estrella, a remote Secoya community, where indigenous Peruvians and Ecuadorians live together. Box lunch included. The local guides will explain the traditions that their ancestors have passed on from generation to generation until today. Secoya women usually offer jungle bread made from yucca (manioc) to their visitors. In the afternoon you will return to the camp and in the night have the possibility to go on a canoe trip to look for caimans (Alligator family). Overnight and dinner at the campsite.
Early in the morning, you can enjoy a birdwatching tour with the paddle canoe. After breakfast, you’ll start your way back down the Lagartococha River and then upstream the Aguarico River to reach the Zancudococha campsite. After lunch, you explore the area with the paddle canoe and enjoy the sunset in the jungle. Overnight and dinner at the campsite.
After breakfast, you continue the navigation upstream of Aguarico River. Box lunch included. On the way, you stop at one of the small riverside villages from the local Cofan community to see their handicrafts. In the evening you reach the lodge. Here you have some time to relax, enjoy dinner, and go on an optional night walk (no extra costs).
Before breakfast, you have the option to make some last memories of this wonderful place experiencing the jungle waking up when rowing silently with your canoe along the river. After breakfast, it is time to get your luggage ready for your trip back. You navigate along the Cuyabeno River upriver to “El Puente” where a box lunch awaits you before taking your bus/truck back to Lago Agrio, where you will arrive approx. at 15h00.
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