Amazon is spread across multiple countries across South America, but Ecuador is uniquely positioned to also have what they call ‘The Cloud Forest’ – Jungle high enough to be with the clouds.
Ecuador can easily become a last minute trip from US as you primarily have to only focus on flight and hotel reservations. Everything else is taken care of by the lodges. Ecuador is also one of the few places that allows citizens from various countries without requiring a visa to enter. As long as you have valid visa for US/UK/Canada and a few others, get your sunscreen ready!
When to travel?
We went in mid December. Ecuador being at the equator always has beaming sunlight or rain with pleasant climate (20s to 30s Celsius). Nov to March tend to be on the sunnier side whereas June to Nov might be cooler but overcast and rainy.
What to carry?
Pack a lot of sunscreen and wear full sleeves/tracks to cover as much skin as possible to avoid mosquitoes and sun. They take US dollars and major credit cards but do download the offline version of google translate if you plan on interacting with the locals. We had a great 30 minute conversation with our taxi driver entirely through the google translate app.
We divided our trip across 2 different types of jungle - Rainforest and the cloud forest. Quito (the capital of Ecuador) was only used to travel to and from US and get to the individual lodges.
Yasuni Rainforest (4 days, 3 nights) - Sani Lodge
There are several lodges to choose from. Most of the lodges are in the interiors and are completely managed by tribes of that area. It’s a shared responsibility within the tribes with 100% of profit going to the community – no excuse not to spend the extra penny 😉 We chose to stay at the Sani lodge.
Getting there: To get to Sani lodge, we took a 45 flight from Quito to Coca, 30 min drive to the Napo river front, 3 hour journey by speed boat, 15 min walk through the jungle and a 45 mins canoe to finally reach the paradise! Self explains the remoteness of this location. And yes – you are accompanied by guides throughout where you don’t even have to lift a finger for your suitcase! The journey might sound tiring, but it was beautiful, a perfect way to explore different aspects of the jungle. You only have to book your flight to Coca, everything else is taken care by the Lodge.
The stay: The lodge itself is pretty modest with basic amenities, but the packages are all inclusive. They run electricity on generator and there is very limited wifi coverage. Once you are in the lodge, you are assigned a guide and a chauffeur/sherpa who will be with you throughout your stay. This ensured we don’t get lost in the jungle or consumed by jungle’s wilderness. They always carried a machete with them – go figure 😉
Different excursions are planned based on your interests – bird watching, night trails, cultural exploration, etc. We chose to spend 3 days by going on several trails/canoe rides to explore various aspects of the forests.
We went for breathtaking sunrises, amazing trails and just recharging in the middle of this wilderness. We learnt about various species of bids, insects, monkeys, crocodiles and reptiles – all in their natural habitat, while their sounds always keeping you company. They kept us well fed, always surprising us with unique fruits and vegetables hardly known to the western civilization. The food was delicious (even for vegetarians) with excellent welcome drinks. You have a local guide to keep you as informed you would like.
Two main highlights of the excursions were the tree top observation tower and clay lick mountains.
Tree Top Observation Tower: The guide and a sherpa, guided us through a beautifully built tower(118 feet high) giving you a panoramic view of the Amazons) and treating us with mouthwatering breakfast – yes the Sherpa carried all the food (it was a lot) on his shoulder through the entire journey and up the 10 story treehouse.
Clay lick mountain: We were taken to a mountain where you can experience 1000s of parrots and parakeets who come to lick (yes you read it right) the mountain clay. We were lucky to see 5 different species of parrots and parakeets.
Mashpi Cloud Forest (3 days, 2 nights)
For the ultimate luxury experience we chose to stay at the Mashpi lodge – listed on the National Geographic’s unique lodges of the world. A 3 hour car ride away from Quito , we arrived at a beautifully architected lodge that so easily blended with the nature- we were truly mesmerized. The food just got better and better! With floor to ceiling windows, you were literally in the cloud forest, in a luxurious way. I could see my wife situated comfortably by the window, moving her head like you would at a tennis match, appreciating the colorful insects, butterflies and birds (while having amazing cocktails).
Again, the excursions are customized based on your interests. We chose several day and evening hikes, bathed in waterfalls, saw 25+ colored butterflies, hundreds of hummingbirds and did sky bike (biking in the sky over the treelines).
Our favorite excursion was an open air cable car ride above the treeline. Imagine you are Harry Potter and have a broom to fly over and through the cloud forest to experience the nature, birds and more butterflies. It was a truly the highlight of the trip!
Quito
To be able to spend more time in the jungle, we had very little time to explore Quito. The Ciudad Mitad del Mundo (the middle of the earth) where the imaginary Equator line passes through is a must do and is 30 mins from the city. We also visited a few churches and explored the traditional Quito markets to get a feel of the local culture.
Galapagos
Almost everyone we met there had either been or were going to Galapagos island to witness 100 year old tortoises and the other endemic animal species. We were short on time to be able to cover Galapagos but definitely worth the research if you like animals.
~ Vaibhav Shah, USA
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