Pañacocha is a magical place, a flooded forest deep in the Yasuni National Park. During a hike, it is not uncommon to find the cinnamon tree. Francisco de Orellana, the Spanish explorer and the first European to explore the Amazon river, once went deep into the amazon maze after the mystical “land of cinnamon.” From September to November, you can witness a Sci-Fi scene when cotton trees drop their seeds as tiny balls of fluff floating through the air.

The flooded forest offers a fantastic chance for kayaking, or for those who are more adventurers, maybe swim in its dark waters and share and splash with the resident piranhas. Water looks very dark due to an enormous amount of sediments and plant tannins, responsible for that tea-like appearance.

While kayaking, the best way to discover the lake, you will find that every centimeter of the shores of Pañacocha and its floating islands are filled with infinite vegetation and wildlife. The lake is home to the very elusive pink river dolphin. Residents of Pañacocha are jaguars, ocelots, over twelve species of monkeys and more than 550 species of birds. Pañacocha is part of a biological corridor that connects different areas of the Amazon jungle, and serves to rare or endangered species.