Imagine yourself trekking through the great, never ending Amazon Jungle. You came here to see wildlife. But all that you see is a lot of tree trunks instead of even one mammal in sight! Did you spend all that money to end up in the wrong location?
But many the mammals and most birds actually live high up in the crowns of the trees. Therefore, you can hardly see them as the trees in the rainforest will often be up to 30 m high. While, you look up from the darkness of the forest floor, the leaves seem very dark as the light of the sky blinds you, making the leaves seem almost black. Under such light conditions, it really is extremely hard to see and identify birds and mammals, if you aren't an experienced observer.
It is much easier to look at wildlife and flowers from the water while they move about, respectively are in the shrubs and lower branches of the trees along the shores. But such advantage primarily works for creeks.
From the wider waters of the Amazon, birdwatching and observing wildlife is often much less successful, since they are often so wide they almost seem seas. On the Amazon head waters, though, one seems like being inside the rainforest nevertheless, there is sufficient light passing the opening of the stream, to spot flowers, birds and mammals on the branches and shrubs along the shores.
As creeks are most abundant in the headwaters, the narrow rivers are typically located along the Andes foothills. But due to the hilly terrain, few Amazon headwaters are navigable and only one network of interconnected lakes is known any place in the Andes countries, the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve. The latter has a bowl-shaped plain which has a shallow outlet, so that water accumulates, thus creating a large forested swamp. one of the few reserves on earth extending on both sides of the equator.
No other Amazon reserve in Venezuela, Colombia, Peru or Bolivia is really so conveniently accessible as Cuyabeno and worldwide, not one other Amazon park can be reached so comfortably and at such affordable prices. Just a half hour's flight from capital Quito to oil town LagoAgrio in the Amazon headwaters, and another hour and a half ride in a bus over a fresh paved road gets you to the park. No wonder that many consider Cuyabeno the world's best humid tropical forest of the Amazon reserve!
Now that you know that the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve is the rainforest park to go, Where do you stay? There are about ten lodges in the park, but only two are located on the Cuyabeno Lake, and only one is certified by the Rainforest Alliance: the Cuyabeno Rainforest Lodge. It is owned by wildlife managers who built the lodge to generate income for local communities when the park was being taken over illegally for agriculture in the more than 2 decades ago.
Nowadays, the reserve is no longer threatened and with 14,000 visitors a year, the government has become aware of the value of the wildlife reserve. To the owners of the Cuyabeno Lodge, it is important that each tourist leaves with a lasting impression, not just of Cuyabeno but of the beauty and significance of the entire Amazon forest. They always work at improving the quality of both the lodge along with the excursions. A tree crown tower overlooks the lake. With the combined elevation of its observation tower on the top of the hill where the lodge has been built, the mobile phone system of the lodge has the best reception in the area. The ranger station of Ecuador's Protected Areas Agency resides on the premises of the lodge and the tower functions as the alarm center for the whole area. The lodge also has a solar system that provides power day and night, facilitating battery charging for cameras and light in every building. The lodge also offers hot water because of its guests.
But many the mammals and most birds actually live high up in the crowns of the trees. Therefore, you can hardly see them as the trees in the rainforest will often be up to 30 m high. While, you look up from the darkness of the forest floor, the leaves seem very dark as the light of the sky blinds you, making the leaves seem almost black. Under such light conditions, it really is extremely hard to see and identify birds and mammals, if you aren't an experienced observer.
It is much easier to look at wildlife and flowers from the water while they move about, respectively are in the shrubs and lower branches of the trees along the shores. But such advantage primarily works for creeks.
From the wider waters of the Amazon, birdwatching and observing wildlife is often much less successful, since they are often so wide they almost seem seas. On the Amazon head waters, though, one seems like being inside the rainforest nevertheless, there is sufficient light passing the opening of the stream, to spot flowers, birds and mammals on the branches and shrubs along the shores.
As creeks are most abundant in the headwaters, the narrow rivers are typically located along the Andes foothills. But due to the hilly terrain, few Amazon headwaters are navigable and only one network of interconnected lakes is known any place in the Andes countries, the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve. The latter has a bowl-shaped plain which has a shallow outlet, so that water accumulates, thus creating a large forested swamp. one of the few reserves on earth extending on both sides of the equator.
No other Amazon reserve in Venezuela, Colombia, Peru or Bolivia is really so conveniently accessible as Cuyabeno and worldwide, not one other Amazon park can be reached so comfortably and at such affordable prices. Just a half hour's flight from capital Quito to oil town LagoAgrio in the Amazon headwaters, and another hour and a half ride in a bus over a fresh paved road gets you to the park. No wonder that many consider Cuyabeno the world's best humid tropical forest of the Amazon reserve!
Now that you know that the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve is the rainforest park to go, Where do you stay? There are about ten lodges in the park, but only two are located on the Cuyabeno Lake, and only one is certified by the Rainforest Alliance: the Cuyabeno Rainforest Lodge. It is owned by wildlife managers who built the lodge to generate income for local communities when the park was being taken over illegally for agriculture in the more than 2 decades ago.
Nowadays, the reserve is no longer threatened and with 14,000 visitors a year, the government has become aware of the value of the wildlife reserve. To the owners of the Cuyabeno Lodge, it is important that each tourist leaves with a lasting impression, not just of Cuyabeno but of the beauty and significance of the entire Amazon forest. They always work at improving the quality of both the lodge along with the excursions. A tree crown tower overlooks the lake. With the combined elevation of its observation tower on the top of the hill where the lodge has been built, the mobile phone system of the lodge has the best reception in the area. The ranger station of Ecuador's Protected Areas Agency resides on the premises of the lodge and the tower functions as the alarm center for the whole area. The lodge also has a solar system that provides power day and night, facilitating battery charging for cameras and light in every building. The lodge also offers hot water because of its guests.
About the Author:
Internationally renowned conservation ecologist Dr. Vreugdenhil tells you what to look out for when you select your destination to explore the Amazon Jungle. To fully enjoy the Rainforest, your Rainforest Lodge should neither be primitive nor excessively luxurious.
