Georgie’s Wanderlust

Cuyabeno – Amazon adventure in Ecuador

The Amazon, mysterious and massive, curious and captivating, surreal and sweaty. This is my amazon adventure in the Cuyabeno reserve in Ecuador.

I spent four days and three nights in the Amazon in north east Ecuador in October 2022, and I loved it! My guide was enthusiastic and knowledgeable, he knew just about every bird in this corner of the Amazon.

One of the many toucans we saw on our tour

I traveled to Cuyabeno with three friends, and stayed with the Siona Lodge. In October 2022 I paid $300USD (they use the US dollar in Ecuador) for the three night, four day tour. There are many options to choose from in the park, you can contact lodges online before arriving, or ask your accommodation or a tour desk in Quito to arrange this for you.

We departed on a night bus shortly after midnight from our hostel in Quito, and arrived for day one at around midday at Cuyabeno bridge (This is in north eastern Ecuador, and best to arrange a tour beforehand, usually from Quito, it’s not the place you can just show up as the boat needs to be arranged to get you down the river and to your lodge.) Here we sat down and had lunch of chicken and rice with a Coca Cola to quench our thirst from the humid heat.

Once lunch was finished, we boarded our long boat and away we went. Ooh-ing and aah-ing at every corner. We saw many different species of monkeys and birds as we streamed our way around the infinite river bends, stopping frequently to take photos.

Cruising down the river
Sunset swims

We arrived at the lodge shortly after 3pm and were greeted by the staff who would take care of our meals during our stay. After some personal time to relax, we got back in the boat and went for a sunset swim in the centre of the lake that our lodge was stationed near. We then returned for our dinner and tucked ourselves into our mosquito nets in our cabins.

Day two, we take off in the boat after breakfast to arrive at our walking trail – and head into the Amazon by foot. Ants cover the ground in impressive numbers in places, we see tarantulas, monkeys, lizards, so many different birds, and some really beautiful orchids. Back to the lodge for lunch we go and to enjoy fresh pressed palm tree juice – similar to coconut but creamier and oh so delicious.

In the afternoon, we go for a slow boat ride with paddles, navigating our way through the vegetation, viewing birds and admiring the ecosystem, and then right there in a tree coiled up was a 6 metre ANACONDA!!! We could hardly believe our eyes or our luck, people travel to the Amazon multiple times hoping to sight this elusive and majestic giant of a snake, and we were on day two and there she was. A really magical moment on a really special trip!

Anaconda – she rests in the fork of a tree

In the evening we took our headlamps and headed into the forest for a night walk. The jungle absolutely buzzes with life at night, we saw huge spiders and insects, not somewhere you want to be lost on your own. I actually read a book by Yossi Ghinsberg – Lost In The Jungle, during my travels in South America, and I can highly recommend this Amazon survival true story.

Day three, we visit a local village to hear from a shaman and learn how to make yuca bread. Our guide translates everything for us, as we listen intently about their native traditions and ayahuasca and San Pedro. While they offer these here, I never experienced them during my travels. A lot of people will travel to the Amazon for ayahuasca or San Pedro ceremonies, become popular among the retreat world. If you do partake in one of these, do your research and check the authenticity of the centre. It is an intense experience and one that should be experienced in a safe environment.

Making yuca bread!

We also learnt how to make yuca bread with one of the local women. We collected yuca roots from the garden, peeled them, washed them, grated them, and then the woman twisted them into a woven rope like material and squeezed all of the moisture out of them. The end result were very fine shavings that we thin tossed through a sieve and she spread the shavings over a hot plate and made tortilla shaped yuca bread – delicious and fun to be a part of the garden to plate process!

That evening we enjoyed the waters around the lodge, we watched two caiman right from the deck!

The final morning we went for an early bird watching boat ride, and we saw many! The Amazon is alive with creatures and we got to see so many of them. We then had breakfast and made our way back to Cuyabeno bridge for another 12 hour bus ride back to Quito.

An incredibly memorable experience, and one I won’t soon forget. If you have been thinking about an Amazon adventure I highly recommend making it happen on your trip to Ecuador.

Woolly monkey mother and her baby (hiding behind the tree)

A lizard our guide spotted from a couple hundred metres away
So many toucans!
Bats huddle on a tree
One of many parrots, our guide, Neiser, was excellent at pointing out birds
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One response to “Cuyabeno – Amazon adventure in Ecuador”

  1. lysane leblanc Avatar
    lysane leblanc

    Well that seems like quite an amazing trip! Well done, this looks really professional Georgia.

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