Yasuni Jungle Explorer

Upon arrival in Coca (bus terminal or airport), you’ll be met by your local guide. Depending on your time of arrival, you’ll have a chance for breakfast (not included) at “Maitos del Yasuní” a typical restaurant created by the association Challuwa Mikuna to benefit indigenous women.

We’ll then begin a journey of about an hour and 45 minutes in land transport and another hour and a half in a motorized canoe along the Tiputini river. When we arrive at the lodge, you will have time to get to know the facilities and settle into your accommodations. Enjoy a welcome drink; then a delicious lunch will be served in the main house.

In the afternoon, we’ll cross to the other side of the Yitsu Yacu River for a walk of approximately 2 hours. We’ll finish the afternoon enjoying the sunset onboard our motorized canoe, and when we return to lodge, a delicious dinner served by candlelight will be ready for you.

After an early breakfast (6:30), we will cross to the other side of the Tiputini river in a traditional canoe. We start a walk of approximately 4 hours along a loop trail passing through spectacular virgin jungle. We’ll arrive at the lagoon of the anacondas where, with luck, you will be able to see this reptile so characteristic of the area.

We’ll return to the lodge for lunch. After, you’ll have time to relax in your hammock or tent. Walk around the lodge and even cool down with a swim in a tranquil tributary of the Tiputini river.

In the afternoon, we’ll enjoy a pleasant traditional canoe trip in the Pishña lagoon (giant otter oxbow lagoon) for about 2 hours. This black water lagoon is a fascinating ecosystem, a blackwater lake where unique species live. We’ll enjoy the sunset and then return to the lodge for dinner.

Note: * On day 2, a full day hike of 7 hours is available. We will take a box-lunch and hammocks for a long stop during mid-day hours.

Early in the morning, we’ll begin a trip along the Tiputini River in a traditional wooden canoe. We will have breakfast during the trip while we enjoy the sunrise.

During our trip we should be able to observe a wide variety of wildlife from our canoe, from diverse bird species to monkeys, river otters, river dolphins and much more. You’ll be back at the lodge around 11H30.

After our visit we’ll have a delicious lunch, and have the chance to share with the staff of Wild Mandari who will offer you some of their handmade crafts. Time for a short rest or a swim, then around 15:30 we’ll depart in our motorized canoe for the Casa de la Abuela (Grandmother’s House).

This is a traditional home where the matriarch of the community still lives. We’ll learn about how traditional chocolate is made, which we’ll serve with our dinner this evening. Time to enjoy amazing views of the sunset from this hilltop home, then we’ll return to the lodge for a delicious dinner.

After dinner, we can take an optional night walk along a short trail called the Toucan Trail near the lodge, about an hour in duration.

After breakfast, we’ll travel by canoe to a small river named Rumiyacu and guided to a parrot clay lick. Normally many birds can be seen during the trip, and at the clay lick there are typically various colorful species of parrots we can observe.

We’ll return to the lodge around noon to have lunch, and then have some time to rest and relax. Around 3 pm, we’ll kayak down the Tiputini river for a couple hours. We will stop on a river beach to make camp, while the canoe driver and cook put together the camp, you and your guides will do some fishing, looking for typical freshwater species such as pirañas and catfish. This will be prepared for your dinner.

After an early breakfast, we’ll take our kayaks along the Tiputini until we arrive at the entrance for Amarun Cocha, Lake of the Anaconda, in the local kichwa language. Our journey will be about 3 hours, passing through pristine jungle along the waorani territory . This is a small blackwater lagoon in the heart of the pristine rainforest of Yasuni and is home to one of the largest snakes on the planet, the anaconda. With luck, we might see this fantastic creature while enjoying the stunning scenery of this region of flooded forest, where we might also see the legendary piranhas, caymans, boas, and more. We’ll have a packed lunch on a river beach.

In the afternoon, we will explore more of the area and hike for a couple hours until reaching our next camping site. Around 4 pm we will camp and enjoy a quiet evening with the sounds of the jungle. 

After an early jungle breakfast, we’ll have a chance to kayak further down the Tiputini river for about 2.5-3 hours. Around noon we will jump on the motorized to start our return to the lodge . We will make a stop to have lunch in the canoe. After a quick rest on a river beach, we will hike back to the lodge.

We’ll arrive at the lodge at 6 pm, with the chance to experience the fantastic Amazon diversity, and we may spot other wildlife active at sunset, such as capybaras, pacas, and frogs. Once we arrive, you can take a nice shower to help you to relax, at about 7 pm a delicious Amazonian dinner will be ready for you.

Breakfast will be served early in the morning (depending on the time of the group’s flight departure). We’ll begin our trip in our motorized canoe for about an hour and a half; during the relaxing trip, you can say goodbye to the beauty of the Amazon rainforest.

We’ll then be met at the shores of the river and travel overland for about an hour and a half back to Coca, where you’ll be dropped off at the airport or bus terminal for your return to Quito or travel to your next destination.