Day 1
Starting in Quito, early morning transfer to the Ecuadorian Amazon (4.5 hours). Heading south, we will pass by the Andes following a stretch of the Pan American Highway. We will have the opportunity to see beautiful haciendas and towns protected areas before we descend towards the rainforest. If weather permits we will be able to see all high and steep-sided volcanoes like the famous Cotopaxi, the Tungurahua and the Antisana. You will feel the change climate when entering the jungle. We will make a brief stop near a waterfall to eat our lunch box.
Arriving at a town called Shell (named after the oil company), transfer to the airport to take a light aircraft heading northeast to the green vastness where the Huaorani community lives. Upon arrival, our staff we will take care of your luggage while you board a shallow dugout canoe and sail along the Shiripuno River. Enjoy of the scenery and the wildlife before arriving to the intimate setting of the Huaorani Ecolodge. Check-in, briefing and dinner.
Day 2
After breakfast, we will hike (2 hours) to a pictures waterfall and a “Mirador” from where it is possible to get an exceptional view across miles of lush rainforest to the volcanic peaks of snow-capped Altar and green, multi-peaked Sangay, potential because since these volcanoes are at the edge of a tropical rainforest, they are often obscured by clouds as the rising, warm air condenses on the slopes. Your Huaorani guide helps you learn how to weave, make a blowgun, hollow out a canoe and carve a spear. You can experience firsthand how challenging it is to work without tools such as sandpaper, saws, hammers, or nails.
After lunch, we go back downstream to an oxbow lake and walk inland and keeping it quite, we will be able to watch Hoatzins, Anacondas, Capybaras and Caimans living in their habitat. We will return to the lodge and some members of Quehueri’ono will visit us to talk about all sorts of things such as the ecotourism project, the Huaorani struggle against oil companies, or perhaps about their day in the forest or that a new baby was born. Extroverted and cheerful, the Huaorani may end up asking you more about your culture than you about theirs.
Day 3
The Huaorani are hunters and gatherers, and their main sources of protein are mammals, fish and birds. In order to not stop their traditional practices, today we will follow them on a hunting journey after a long morning hike. Also we will learn surviving skills in the middle of the jungle: you will set traps, make fire without matches, build a shelter in minutes, use a blowgun, practice the perfect swing of the machete, and catch fish in small creeks. Your guide may also show you edible insects, medicinal plants, the right clay to make pottery, and honey produced by stingless bees.
Day 4
After breakfast, we will star our 3 hour hike walking along majestic trees and quiet streams. We will visit a Heliconia swamp and the small hill in which it grows a giant ceibre tree (131 ft high). We will then follow a path parallel to the Shiripuno River crossing several small tributaries. Up and down several hillocks and some open forest, we will reach a leaf-cutter ant metropolis on the edge of a small oxbow lake. After lunch at the Lodge, the next few hours are all yours! You may want to visit the Discovery Trail, try some fishing, or just relax in a hammock reading a book.
Later, we will climb to the peak of a hill to see a heavily used salt clay lick. We will return to the lodge when it is already dark to see the nocturnal rainforest animals – especially mammals and amphibians – this is your best opportunity to see some of these elusive creatures, or at least hear them climbing through the trees or digging for food. The stars of the night are the insects and the bats, both attracted by your lights, and other animals reveal their presence by the reflection of their eyes.
Note: The Discovery Trail is a self-guided return trail that allows you to experience the rainforest on your own. Following numbered points, the Discovery Trail Guide reiterates some of the information that your guides may have covered, and encourages you to engage all of your senses in order to get a more complete “picture” of your surroundings. This is the same trail used if guests want to do bird watching on their own.
Day 5
After breakfast, we will set off poling down the Shiripuno River in traditional Huaorani style (7 hours) in order to appreciate the sounds and sights of the rainforest. This is time to see unaware animals in their habitat, to have a nice conversation with your trip fellows or just take a nap. After lunch, a replenishing swim will make your day. Upon arrival to Nenquepare, visit to an impressive waterfall and a 3 hour hike. Later, we will return to the campsite for dinner and perhaps a bonfire before we go to sleep.
Day 6
After breakfast, we will head to the “civilization” crossing the border between tradition Huaorani territory and the oil companies’ zone. Modernization and everything that comes with it have displaced the Huaorani from their original habitat. Government’s positive attitude towards oil exploitation and deforestation can be seen in this part of our journey as we pass by miles of pipelines, roads and soils that cannot be used for agriculture: a cruel threat to the Huorani community and other indigenous cultures. After this 2.5 hour transfer, we reach the bank of the Rio Napo and the town of Coca where we catch our flight back to Quito.
Ecuador
The Huaoranis
River by the Huaorani Community
Huaorani Ecolodge
