Amazon

Tour boat on the Napo River in the Amazon region

The Amazon is a region of Ecuador.

Provinces

The Amazon basin spreads over 6 Ecuadorian provinces: Sucumbíos, Orellana, Napo, Pastaza, Morona Santiago and Zamora Chinchipe.

Cities

Arranged by province.

Napo

• 1 Baeza (Ecuador)
• 2 Papallacta
• 3 Tena , the provincial capital of Napo

Orellana

• 4 Coca , the provincial capital of Orellana, officially named Puerto Francisco de Orellana after the Spanish explorer who was the first to cross the South American continent traveling down the Amazon River in 1541-42.
• 5 Nuevo Rocafuerte

Pastaza

• 6 Puyo

Sucumbíos

• 7 Lago Agrio , the provincial capital of Sucumbios

Zambora Chinchipe

• 8 Zamora

Other destinations

• 1 Cuyabeno Wild Life Reserve
• 2 Limoncocha National Biological Reserve
• 3 Yasuni National Park

Understand

The Ecuadorian Amazon is mainly tropical rainforest elevated 400 m above sea level.

The Amazon region of Ecuador is one of the few places in the world where its probably best to travel with a group, with a guide or through a jungle lodge. Unless you are studying, teaching English or consulting on a project in the Amazon, you are unlikely to have enough knowledge about the area to stay safe and, most importantly, to learn about the plants and animals that make the area so special.

If you have more than a few days and you're not on a super tight budget, staying and traveling with a jungle lodge can be very rewarding. You're based right in the midst of the jungle, and, at the better lodges, you're in an area that's protected from farming, logging and drilling. You usually have 2-3 activities per day including birding hikes, canoe trips and fishing for piranhas. Again, at some of the better lodges, you usually have an indigenous guide that speaks English, French, etc. This ensures that you really get to see some amazing things like five different species of monkeys, caimans, tarantulas and lots and lots of birds.

For hard-core birders, most of the lodges offer special sight-seeing activities with much earlier wake-up calls.

Typically, you pay one daily fee that includes transportation to/from the airport, accommodations, meals and guides, and then snacks, alcohol and tips are over and above the fee.

Fees range from under $100 to well over $250/night depending on how you booked your stay. If you book directly with a lodge or if you book through an Ecuadorean travel agency, you generally get a better deal than one if your home country is USA.

Visiting indigenous communities is usually really expensive and very hard to reach. They are usually really deep in the jungle and access to them is only available by small Cessna planes. There are also some luxury lodges which were foreign investments but now are owned by the community.

Get in

By bus

• Lago Agrio is an entrance by road and plain to the Ecuadorian Amazon about 7 hour by bus from Quito.
• Tena is an entrance point by road to Ecuadorian Amazon about 6 hours by bus from Quito.
• From Tena it is another 5 hours to get to Coca, the province capital of Orellana.

By plane

• There are three daily flights between Lago Agrio (LGQ ^IATA) and Quito, except on Sundays. Flights take about 30 minutes.
• There are two daily flights between Coca (Francisco de Orellana Airport OCC  ^IATA) and Quito, except on Sundays. Flights take about 25 minutes.

Get around

This depends mostly on how much money you have to spend. If you're staying at one of the jungle lodges, you'll be picked up at the airport (either Quito or Coca). Depending on how deep you're going, your boat ride will be anywhere from 3–6 hours long.

If you're not staying at a jungle lodge, you can usually hitch a ride on one of the boats plying the rivers. Just be sure to bring a rain poncho to protect against frequent afternoon storms. If boating's not your thing, there is a system of buses to get into the interior, but the trips are very long.

Do

• Birdwatching
• Jungle trek
• Canoeing
• Visit the communities

You can travel alone or get some of the tours that the tourist agencies offer for this region of Ecuador.

Sleep

Jungle lodges

• El Jardín Alemán, Misahualli - Pununo - Tena, Napo Province (on Misahualli River, 2 km from Misahualli village and 17 km from Tena), ☏ +593 6 306-2900 (on-site), +593 9 99812139 (contact in Quito), info@eljardinaleman.com. The Jungle Lodge El Jardin Aleman at Misahualli River, 2 km from Misahualli village and 17 km from Tena offers packages with accommodation, meals and daily guided jungle tours into its 225 ha of protected rainforest and to Indian villages. (updated Aug 2015)
• Sacha Lodge (a 3-hour ride down the Napo – from Coca?), ☏ +593 2 250-9504, reservas@sachalodge.com. Boasts its own lake, two birding towners and very friendly staff. 
• Tapir Lodge, ☏ +593 2 380-1566, +593 2 380-1567, info@tapirlodge.com. Eco-lodge deep inside the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (Sucumbios), accommodation with all included tours in canoe of 4, 5 and 7 days (optional with camping).