Our intern Elizabeth spent three days at the Bamboo Lodge in the Cuyabeno Reserve in Ecuador’s rainforest. Read about her experiences in one of Ecuador’s most significant protected areas.
Day 1 – The Journey from Quito to Cuyabeno
From the “Quitumbe” terminal in Quito, we departed around midnight heading toward the Cuyabeno jungle. The journey took about eight hours. Our group consisted of 7 people, ranging in age from 21 to 66, traveling together to explore the rainforest located above the Amazon basin.
From the terminal, we continued by taxi to a hotel in Lago Agrio, where we waited for our guide and the onward journey to the Cuyabeno Bridge. While waiting, we helped ourselves to the breakfast buffet, which was included in our tour price.
We spent the remaining time at the hotel pool, then departed at 9:30 a.m. with our guide Guido toward the Cuyabeno Bridge, which we reached after approximately 2 hours.
There we had the opportunity to use the restroom and change clothes, because here in the jungle it was incredibly warm compared to Quito. All the clothing we still needed for warmth in Quito made us sweat here. At 12:20 p.m., we climbed into a motorboat with water, cameras, life jackets, and plenty of sunscreen, which transported us along the Cuyabeno River to our accommodation. During the ride, we stopped to observe monkeys, birds, and snakes. It was impressive to see so many different animals in the wild!
We reached our accommodation, the Bamboo Lodge, shortly after 2:00 p.m. Lunch was already waiting for us, consisting of three courses. After eating, we could relax briefly in our rooms. Then we took canoes to the large lagoon of Laguna Grande, where we saw pink dolphins. We were also allowed to swim in the lagoon and watch the beautiful sunset from there or from the boat.
Dinner was served at 8:00 p.m., which fortified us for the upcoming night walk. The night walk with our guide Guido began at 9:00 p.m. and lasted about an hour. It was fascinating to observe the small, nocturnal animals. We discovered spiders, frogs, small beetles, and even a baby snake, and Guido provided us with background information about all the animals and their habitat.
After the night walk, our day ended and we fell asleep in our rooms at the Bamboo Lodge, in the heart of Ecuador’s rainforest.
Day 2 – A Full Day in the Rainforest
The second day was the only day we spent entirely in the Amazon rainforest. After breakfast, we took canoes to a different area of the rainforest.
There we did an approximately 2.5-hour tour through the jungle, watching and listening to birds, seeing spiders, beetles, and fascinating plants! After our tour, we ate in the rainforest from our lunchboxes and then made our way back toward the Bamboo Lodge by canoe, which we reached around 3:30 p.m. Just in time for sunset, we set out by motorboat toward Laguna Grande.
After watching the sunset, we traveled by motorboat along the rainforest shore to see more nocturnal animals. We saw red glowing eyes belonging to caimans and snakes. In the evening we ate dinner and went to bed early, as our next and final day would begin at 5:30 a.m.
Day 3 – Departure Day
Our alarms rang at 5:30 a.m. At 5:45 a.m., we met with our guide Guido and traveled by motorboat to Laguna Grande to see the sunrise at 6:00 a.m. Despite the sunrise not being perfectly visible through the cloudy sky, the yellow-orange glowing colors shimmered through the clouds and created a beautiful sight. Afterward, we searched for the birds that were already singing in the rainforest in the early morning hours. We saw many species, including parrots and river birds.
We returned to the Bamboo Lodge at 7:30 a.m., had breakfast at 8:00 a.m., packed our things, and departed around 10:00 a.m. toward the Cuyabeno Bridge, which we reached at 11:30 a.m. After a short time, we were taken by bus back to the town of Lago Agrio. Around 2:00 p.m., we had lunch at a restaurant, which was also included in our trip. At the hotel we had already visited on our first day, we relaxed at and in the pool.
At 8:00 p.m., we then traveled again from the terminal in Lago Agrio to Quito. Around 4:00 a.m., we all arrived at Terminal Quitumbe — tired and exhausted, but nevertheless happy and impressed by the past few days.
Has Elizabeth’s experience inspired you, and would you like to explore the Cuyabeno Reserve or other parts of Ecuador’s rainforest yourself? We are happy to arrange the right accommodation for you and, of course, the transfers to and from the lodge. Please feel free to contact us.
Would you like to discover Ecuador? We offer custom itineraries and group tours to Ecuador and the Galápagos.
