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Nature & Culture

Coca - Iquitos



Since the border conflict between Ecuador and Peru was settled in 1998, it is now possible to navigate into the neighboring country without any problems. We offer here a 3-week roundtrip starting in the small Shiripuno river, moving then to the bigger Cononaco. At the border with Peru, we turn into the Curaray and later on to the Napo and finally we reach the mighty Amazon at Iquitos. On the return we go upriver on the Napo to Coca, the route of the first Spanish explorers to the Amazon region in 1540 under the leadership of Francisco de Orellana. On this expedition we explore the surrounding primary tropical rainforest with its rich fauna and flora and get to know important natural features like  terra firme and flooded forests, elbow lakes, small lagoons, parrot salt licks and others.




Day 1:    We arrive in Coca from Quito and prepare ourselves for the start of our trip. We spend the night in town in a hotel.


Day 2 - 4:   In the morning we drive down by car to the Shiripuno river, where the motorized canoe awaits us. Loading our gear and personal belongings into the boat we are on our way. The first 3 days on this river are spent observing animals along the shore, visiting a Huaroani settlement, hiking in the rainforest to get to know the trees and other plants, fishing, etc... The nights are spent in tents on sandy river banks or in forest clearings along the the shore.


Day 5 - 6:   We reach the Lower Cononaco at the junction where a small river joins the Shiripuno. There we stop for one night and visit early next morning a parrot salt lick. We continue then on till we reach the proper Cononaco river with the influx of the Tiguino river. On this larger river there are chances of seeing river dolphins, anacondas and other larger wildlife. Occasionally we venture into primary rainforests to get to know more of the amazing flora and fauna. At one more Huaroani village we have to stop and pay our respect and dues till we finally reach the Curaray and enter into Peru.


Day 7 - 9:   This next 3 days we navigate on the Curaray, which is already a much wider river winding its way snake-like towards the Napo. Its meandering nature left many elbow lakes, some of which we explore on the way downriver. Not many people live along its shores and we only occasionally encounter some fishing folks along the way. Larger animals can be seen along and in the river with daily sightings of river dolphins. Other larger mammals like tapir, capybara, pecarries are also occasionally encountered.


Day 10 - 12:   We reach the Napo and turn east and navigate downriver till we reach Mazan, a small village situated on the south shore of Napo. There we stop, leaving our boat and take alternative transport to Iquitos. In this larger jungle city which bloomed a century ago in the height of the rubber boom we can relax and enjoy almost forgotten luxuries like showers and water toilets in a hotel room. Sightseeing attractions in town are the Malecon with the rubber baron houses and Belem, the poorer district with floating houses made famous by Werner Herzog's classic film Fitzcarraldo.


Day 13 - 14:   We leave Iquitos and turn upstream on the Napo and navigate back east towards Ecuador. Halfway from Mazan to the Ecuadorian border we enter Lorayacu, a small river entering from the north and move 3 hours upstream to reach a larger lagoon. On the way upriver many interesting birds may be observed.


Day 15 - 16:   On those 2 days we explore the varied wildlife of this lake region by boat and on foot. Fishing to replenish our food supply is also on our daily schedule. But the main attraction is a salt lick where hundreds of different parrots gather to eat this mineral rich clay.


Day 17 - 18:   We leave this beautiful region and move farther upriver on the Napo till we reach Pantoja, the last Peruvian settlement before entering Ecuador again. Nearby is the confluence of the Aguarico river, where we turn into it and navigate 3 hours upriver till we reach Lagartococha, another lagoon area rich with teeming wildlife.


Day 19 - 20:  We leave early in the morning and move downriver again and entering the Napo move west towards Coca. The last night on our long excursion is spent on a sandy island in the Napo till we reach Coca  in the afternoon of the next day. A short hike into the forest to see an enormous ceibo tree is our last excursion on our long trip.


Day 21:   We drive back to Quito by way of Loreto. We will pass the Sumaco volcano and stop in Baeza for lunch. Before reaching Quito, we stop in Papallacta at the Hot Springs to relax after the long journey through the tropical wilderness.


 

 JUNGLE LODGES


Casa Suizo


Yarina


Sacha


La Selva


Yuturi


Kapawi


PICTURES









ISLAZUL TRIPS


Pañacocha


Tiputini


Yasuni


Cocha Lakes


Iquitos


PICTURES