A decent sized group of volunteers and I booked a 4 day, 3 night trip to the Cuyabeno River Lodge in the Cuyabeno reserve. This area, endangered by the oil pipelines running close by, has been designated a national reserve by the government, and is only accessible by booking a tour and/or staying at one of the lodges along the river. The Cuyabeno River Lodge is shallowly located in the reserve, only 10 minutes from the entrance bridge by motorized canoe. It is rustic, with minimal electricity and obviously, no hot water. They do provide the jungle necessities, however, including mosquito net, mostly comfortable beds, rubber boots, and rain ponchos.
Tired group after a rough hike
(lots of spiders and even a jaguar growling in the darkness), and motorized canoe trips down the river to watch spider monkeys play in the trees and pink river dolphins rise for air in the black lagoons. Unfortunately, to really experience the wildlife of Cuyabeno and the Amazon, you need to trek farther than we were able to, being based at the lodge.
Anaconda basking in the sun
It’s a fun experience for those willing to embrace the numerous insects and not have too high of expectations on what wildlife they will see. I got the opportunity to swim with pink dolphins (although I hear that you shouldn’t swim in rivers in the jungle, but I think I’m ok!), kiss a tarantula, see baby anacondas, and take a million pictures of weird looking spiders. I also got attacked by fire ants, hardly slept, and was incredibly dirty for four days. I think the good experiences outweigh the bad.
