Eventually, I decided to post about our adventure in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest, one of the most unusual trips I’ve ever had!
First, we went from London to Amsterdam. We had a direct 12-hour KLM flight from there to Quito, the glorious capital of Ecuador, and combined it with a visit to Galàpagos Islands.
We had to take a bus to get to the Amazon rainforest from there. Unfortunately, there was the heaviest rain that day, and our journey stretched quite dramatically. However, by the end of the day and having changed our bus to a canoe to cross Napo River at some point, we reached La Casa del Suizo, our final destination.
La Casa del Suizo
Our lounge La Casa del Suizo consisted of several small houses overlooking the Napo River, an Amazon River affluent, the rainforest, a pool, an eating area, and a few other buildings.
The food, as always in Ecuador, was mouthwatering: think fresh fruits, meat, avocados – and, of course, chocolate, a specialty of the country!
What to do in Amazon rainforest?
We had lots of activities available around the lounge. The one we came there for was obviously animal and bird watching while exploring the magnificent Amazon forest: imagine the jungles you’ve seen in the documentaries with narrow paths you can find only with a guidance!
We had a chance to see some animals in the wild, like birds, monkeys, and insects such as giant bullet ants.
Some river activities were also pretty fun to participate in, such as rafting down in tires. A canoe awaited for us to pick up at the end of the route.
AmaZoonico
Besides that, we visited a sanctuary called AmaZoonico, where wild animals (often saved from illegal trade) were treated with care and love.
Caimans, snakes such as anacondas, tapirs, sloths, otters, birds, iguanas, pygmy marmosets, capuchin monkeys, squirrel monkeys, howler monkeys, and jaguars are just a few animals to name that live in Amazon rainforest, and you have a chance to encounter some of them!
The scientific studies take place there, too.
Local village visit
Moreover, we were granted a visit to a local village that spoke Kichwa, a Quechuan language and the most spoken indigenous language in the area.
The natives showed us some traditional arts and crafts such as pottery, the ways they produce food (for instance, making drinks and starchy food from yucca roots), and build their houses.
Finally, you can observe how the indigenous population hunts blowing poisonous darts via s special blowgun on the prey and even try this technique yourself (not with the live animals, of course).
Butterfly house
Another activity we participated in was studying the local tropical butterflies – around 20 species – in the Butterfly house.
They were kept in a special enclosure, and we were able to admire the rainforest butterflies in their natural habitat and learn about their life cycle.
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Galapagos Islands
Quito, the capital of Ecuador
Hope you liked my blog!
Yours,
Anna xxx
