Cofán Ecotours

Day 1: Arrive in Quito (9,300 ft), the highland capital of Ecuador…Meals and hotel on your own

Day 2: Papallacta Hot Springs
After breakfast, we set out for an hour’s drive to the high paramo habitat of Parque Nacional Cayambe-Coca. The paramo is a high elevation ecosystem that extends throughout the Andes and provides habitats for multiple bird and mammal species. We stop at the continental divide (12,500 ft), where, on a clear day, the peaks of Antisana and Cayambe will be visible, with a splendid view of this rugged world where the Amazon’s waters begin.

Weather permitting, we hike from here down to the Papallacta hot springs complex (approximately 4 hours). If the day is foggy or rainy, we’ll spend a short time at the pass and then travel along small side roads to look at the ecology as we continue down to Papallacta, where we can relax and soak in the hot spring pools for the rest of the afternoon. Overnight in comfortable cabins at the Termas de Papallacta…BLD

Day 3: Cloud Forest Walk / Baeza
We leave Papallacta early and drive to Cuyuja, a small town only 30 minutes away but over 1,000 ft lower in elevation. From here we hike into the cloud forest via a corduroy trail (path laid with logs) that takes us through temperate zone woods and small pasture lands. This trail offers incredible birding, with numerous bright and bold tanagers, jays, toucans, quetzals, guans, caciques, and parrots, huge Spanish cedar forests (exclusive to this region), abundant orchids, and archaeological sites.

We stop for lunch at Randy Borman’s cabin on a farm he bought a few years ago. We return to the road in the afternoon and continue about 45 minutes farther to spend the night in the ancient colonial town of Baeza, founded in the 1550s and one of the oldest registered “cities” in the new world. In spite of its age, Baeza has not grown, and still retains its flavor as a small and quiet resting point on the trip into the Amazon. Overnight at Gina’s, a simple but clean and comfortable inn with a restaurant offering good food…BLD

Day 4: Cascadas de San Rafael / Montane Forest / Pizarras Guard Station
Our morning 3-hour hike is to the Cascadas de San Rafael (Coca Falls), one of the most impressive waterfalls in South America. A symbol of the precipitous descent of the waters from the Andes to the Amazon. The area is part of the Parque Nacional Cayambe-Coca and includes montane forests that are refuge for spider monkeys, cock-of-the-rocks, the rare wattled guan, and many other endangered animals.

On a clear day, Reventador, sacred volcano of the Cofans, is visible from the trail. During the hike, we will learn about the issues facing this area, including the danger facing the falls from a hydroelectric plant that is under construction.

After a typical Ecuadorian lunch (soup, rice, vegetables, and beef or chicken) at a restaurant in Reventador, a small town with a splendid view of the active volcano of the same name, we continue down to the Rio Aguarico, the river system that is home to the traditional Cofan people, and then upriver to the Pizarras Guard Station on the upper Aguarico.

This simple station provides lodging not only for the Cofan rangers who guard the lower region of the Parque Nacional Cayambe-Coca against mining and lumber interests. Please keep in mind this is definitely a rustic location where comforts are minimum. Bathing is in the river or in the small stream that provides water for the site. A simple but clean and functional toilet system is in operation. Our Cofan bush cook will prepare our meals over an open fire and we will share them with the station guards…BLD

Day 5: Pizarras / Lago Agrio
We enjoy spectacular scenery including cock-of-the-rock and military macaws as we hike along the Aguarico headwaters to the confluence of the Rios Chingual and Cofanes. Meanwhile, beach rocks tell the story of the region, mixing fossil-bearing metamorphic formations with more recent volcanic elements, and with the added spice of gold, ranging from dust to nuggets (if you’re lucky!).

We return to Pizarras in the mid-afternoon (and if conditions allow, by boat—an exciting whitewater experience) and continue by vehicle to Lago Agrio. Overnight at Hotel Gran Lago in comfortable, air-conditioned cabins with private bathrooms…BLD

Day 6: Zabalo
Traveling through oil production and agricultural areas in what used to be the heartland of the Cofan, we reach Santa Mercedes, a small port of entry on the Rio Aguarico (approx. 2 hours drive). Here we leave the road and board our ecocanoes-large fiberglass canoes powered by outboard motors made by the Cofán-for a 3-hour trip downriver to Zabalo, arriving in the mid-afternoon. One of twelve Ecuadorian Cofan communities, Zabalo is the center of Cofan conservation efforts, with the largest amount of intact pristine rainforest under its control—almost half a million acres. Among its noteworthy biodiversity-related projects is the award-winning Amazon Turtle Rescue Program. While based in Zabalo, we learn what life is like for Cofans in the 21st century.

Our accommodations in Zabalo are comfortable but rustic. The village operates four thatch-roofed hardwood cabins, each with two rooms with two beds apiece (4 persons per cabin). The community provides mattresses, bedding, and mosquito nets. Bathrooms are located in a cement building behind the cabins and provide showers and flush toilets. From the cabins you can see the community soccer field, the school, teacher’s house, water tower, covered sports court, and thatch-roofed community house, and in the mornings you can see the men walking to work at the ecocanoe workshop.

An accomplished bush cook will accompany us during our entire stay at Zabalo. Our meals are prepared and served in a local village home, giving us an extraordinary opportunity to be part of a Cofán household, if only for a little while. Meals include food like pancakes, pasta, fresh fish caught from the river, chicken, rice and fresh veggies and fruit…BLD

Day 7: Zabalo
From the village, we hike into the rainforest of the “Terra Firma” ecosystem to the north of Zabalo—part of the largest remaining contiguous forest in the world. (There are no roads or large human populations until you eventually reach the Rio Negro region to the east). During our hike we learn about the Cofans’ traditional interaction with the rainforest, including the use of medicinal plants, basket weaving, etc.

Return to Zabalo for dinner and overnight…BLD

Days 8-9: Zabalo River Camp
Loading our gear, we move to our camp on the banks of the Rio Zabalo. Here we enjoy boating by small dugout canoes, take short hikes in igapo (flooded) forests, fish—with the opportunity to catch (and eat) pirañas, and see a variety of wildlife. Our camp is an open-sided, thatch-roofed hut with a raised floor, with a latrine right behind the cabins. This is definitely a rustic site, but any discomforts are offset by the fact that we are surrounded by beautiful, pristine Amazon rain forest and faaar from the hustle of everyday life.

Day 10: Zabalo
Returning to Zabalo, we visit its small, impromptu village market where handicrafts are displayed made by community women and children. In the evening we enjoy a farewell dinner of all local, traditional foods…BLD

Day 11: Return to Quito
We journey back to Quito via Santa Mercedes and Lago Agrio, then fly from Lago Agrio to Quito. Dinner and hotel on your own in Quito…BL

Day 12: Quito

Trip Costs
The basic program described above includes all land and water based transportation, all accommodations, guides, lodging, food, cooks, crews, and village and community fees from the time we pick people up at their hotel in Quito until we have everyone back in the Lago Agrio airport.

Not included are Quito hotels, meals, and transfers, local air transport (Lago Agrio-Quito), park and reserve fees, alcoholic beverages, and any extra services such as special side trips, laundry services, etc. Tips are optional but always appreciated.

Cost: 4-6 = US $2,150; 7-12 = US $1,950