The Amazon Jungle is the stuff of legends. Making up roughly 50% of the world’s rainforests and featuring an incredible diversity of flora and fauna – including such rare and exotic creatures as jaguars, puma, sloths, anacondas, and capybaras, not to mention an abundance of avian species – it is currently recognized as one of the New7Wonders of Nature. The Amazon extends across no less than eight South American nations, but highlights specific to the Ecuadorian Amazon include the Cuyabeno Reserve and Yasuni National Park, where visitors can experience a combination of jungle trails rich with bird and animal life, indigenous settlements where shamanism is still an integral part of the tribal culture, and jungle eco-lodges that give guests the opportunity to get up close and personal with the natural environment and its inhabitants.