Wildlife – Amazon Mammal Week – 8 DAYS
Overview:
Our Amazon Mammal Week is a true adventure into the heart of the Amazon Rainforest of Ecuador.
We are going to be exploring a unique place which holds about 30% of the mammalian diversity of the entire Amazon Basin.
Our destination is the world known Yasuni Biosphere Reserve (Yasuni National Park & Waorani Ethnic Reserve), located between the mighty Napo River and the Curaray River.
Yasuní Biosphere Reserve location nurtures this abundance, it sits at the intersection of the Andes, the Equator, and the western amazonian forests.
It is an ecological bull’s-eye where extremely rich communities of plants, amphibians, birds, and mammals in South America converge.
Finding mammals in the amazon rainforest is a challenging game, which requires us to use all of our instincts.
In the wilderness, it’s about watching, waiting and trying to surprise the creatures.
We have a set of different activities during this trip that we will organize once at the lodge in order to maximise our chances of finding as many species as possible.
Factors that determine the order of activities include the weather, water levels and the presence of fruiting plants in the forest.
8 Days Itinerary:
DAY 01: Quito-Coca by airplane. From Coca we will travel 90 km south into the Yasuni Biosphere Reserve along the Auca Road, by “Chiva” (small local bus) to the Shiripuno Bridge (approx. 2:30 hrs). A Box Lunch will be served at this point.
We will then navigate 65 km (approx 4 hrs depending on water level) downstream by motorized canoe to reach Shiripuno Lodge. This will become your first experience of the wide diversity of wildlife of the Amazonian Rainforest. Dinner and lodging at Shiripuno Lodge.
DAY 02 – 07:
Activities would include:
- Setting Trap Cameras
- Visiting Clay Licks
- Visiting Fruiting Trees
- Sitting at known preferred sites
- Night Walks
- Canoe Drift
DAY 08: After breakfast, we will navigate upstream to the Waorani Community. Early canoe rides are great to surprise animals crossing the river such as Capybara, Tapir or resting Caimans. Birds such as Macaws and Toucans can also be seen from the canoe.
At the Waorani Community you will see the effects of the modern world while seeing how the Waorani still retain most of their traditions such as hunting with blowguns and poisoned darts, the knowledge of the Rainforest and their language Wao Terero.
Responsible tourism brings revenue to all of the families within the community, by selling handcrafts, employing canoe drivers, native guides, housekeeping and kitchen assistants and others activities.
We will continue the navigation upstream to the bridge, having lunch on the way, before then taking the bus back to Coca (arrival at 16:30 approx.).