Kichwa Amazon Indigenous Communities
11. Oktober 2018
Weather & Climate at Sacha Lodge
11. Dezember 2018The small city of Coca (formally known as Puerto Francisco de Orellana) is located at the confluence of the mighty Rio Napo and the Coca River, earning it the distinction of being the “gateway to Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest.”
While there are a number of Amazon hotels and lodges that can be accessed by bus or car around town, many of the higher end Amazon lodges that are isolated on their own reserves deep in the jungle can only be accessed by motorized canoes that depart from Coca.
If you’re planning a trip to one of these remote lodges, you should plan for a full day in Coca before you depart to the lodge to explore the city and learn more about the history and context of the Amazon.
Originally a small, little known town on the border of the rainforest and the ascent into the Andes, Coca was only accessible via plane or boat. Then, in the late 1990s, Coca experienced an economic boom thanks to the extraction of oil in the Amazon. This led to a short transitional time during which Coca was developing and becoming a bigger, unruly city.
Closer to the turn of the century, authorities imposed stricter laws to help regulate growth and beautify the city. Today, though the oil industry still brings in fair revenue for Coca, tourism is quickly becoming the city’s main source of income. This has allowed the city to justify projects to make it cleaner and build out the traveler-friendly businesses like restaurants, bars, and hotels.
Unlike other cities in Ecuador that have developed robust tourism centers, like Quito, Cuenca, Guayaquil, and Salinas, you’ll find that Coca doesn’t feel crowded and does a good job in maintaining an atmosphere of isolation as the gateway to the Amazon.
Gateway to the Amazon
After you’ve explored Coca, it’s time to set off on your Amazon adventure – embarking in a motor canoe, you will travel several hours on a guided excursion to the dock of your lodge. Along the way, you will likely spot piranhas, giant otters, caiman crocodiles, and other riverlife monitoring the murky waters around you, while monkeys and birds make their way to the lower branches along the banks to grab some fruit.
If you head into the depths of the Coca region, you will either end up in the Yasuni National Park or the Huaorani Reserve, which abound with plants and birds in every layer of the jungle. Here, the lodges have kayaks and canoes to navigate the waterbound parts of the forest and clear trails that access even deeper parts of the forest. You’ll also be able to climb into the canopy via towers and cable canopy walks.
Further south is the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, where you will encounter some of the greatest opportunities to see wildlife in all of Ecuador, featuring both endemic and native species.
