Kapawi Ecolodge 5 Days/4 Nights

The idea of this day is to observe Ecuador's regions, feel the altitude of the highlands and the change in climate as we descend to the Amazon Basin. The drive starts in Quito at 2,500 meters above sea level, and will end at 1,000 in Puyo, next to the town of Shell where the adventure to Kapawi begins.

Upon arrival to Shell, we will get you ready for the 50-minute flight to the Achuar community of Kusutkau. The flight covers roughly 160 kilometers, flying deep into the southeastern region of the Ecuadorian Amazon. From Kusutkau, it is a 20-minute boat ride to the ecolodge.

Upon arrival to Kapawi, the resident Manager will take you to the main social and dining area, where he will give an introductory talk about the ecolodge, provide some recommendations, and take us to our bungalows. After the introductory briefing, you will be taken to your cabins. Lunch will be served in our dining area at 1 pm.

The activity at Kapawi for the afternoon will include a short introductory hike in the forest. This hike is roughly 1-kilometer long, and it includes several stops, where the naturalist and local guides explain the ecology of the Amazon Tropical Rainforest. It is an easy hike that can take 1-2 hours.

After the introductory hike and before dinner, you will have several options to choose from. Swimming or paddling in the river right from our dock is always available, as well as relaxing in our social areas by the river or in the main area where our dining area and bar are located.

Dinner at the lodge is served at 7.30 pm, and after dinner you will go over the next day's plan and activities together with our guide.

The first night at Kapawi is also an excellent opportunity share with the Achuar hosts. You can use this moment to listen and comment about the travel options you will have for the next few days. This will help us customize and plan the travel experiences for the next few days.

Every day, the Achuar host a Wayus tea ceremony, held at the hearth hut next to our main dock (350 meters from the bungalows). Wayus time is a traditional activity in an Achuar household, taking place before dawn, usually starting at 4 am. This moment is special for the Achuar since it is a family moment to share dreams, plan the day's activities, or just to have a conversation about family issues. The staff at the lodge practice this tradition every morning, and we offer the optional activity to join them and have Wayus time with the local hosts, talk about dreams, listen to Achuar stories, and experience an aspect of the Achuar culture and community life.

Wayus time ends around dawn, and after that we always offer an early activity, including an early bird- and wildlife watching boat ride, or the possibility to hike in our self-guided trail, or look for wildlife in the lodge's grounds. Breakfast is served at 8 am.

After breakfast, you will go on a forest hike to learn about the forest from the Achuar's perspective of useful and medicinal plants. Forest species play a key role in Achuar construction, food, medicine, and tools, and our Achuar guide will interpret the Achuar knowledge of the forest and the importance of natural resources in the Achuar everyday life. You will return to the lodge for lunch at 1 pm.

After a short break after lunch, we will offer a second outing in the Capahuari river. This means leaving from the dock at 3.30 pm for a boat ride upstream the Capahuari river, and then switching to single and double kayaks for a return paddle to the lodge following the current. This is a great opportunity for spotting wildlife in the trees, as well as for looking for pink river dolphins in the river.

7.30 pm dinner

After dinner, we will have the option of a night hike in the forest surrounding the lodge. This hike takes about 1 hour, and it is designed to look for nocturnal insects, reptiles, amphibians, and other forest species that become active at night.

4 am optional Wayus time. New dreams, new stories, and new conversations always help in getting to know the Achuar culture and understanding of the world.

After Wayus time, we will take a boat ride to the parrot clay lick on the Pastaza river. There are usually 4-6 different species of parrots feeding early in the morning on the minerals and nutrients in the soil: chestnut fronted macaws, dusky headed parakeets, and Amazon parrots are usually observed from the boat. Return to the lodge for breakfast at 8 am.

After breakfast, we will leave for a community visit at 9.30 am. There are several communities around Kapawi to choose from, and we take turns visiting families in different communities as part of Kapawi's participative and equitable model.

The community visit involves different moments, including a community walking tour, a visit to a family's Ajá (Ah-Ha), or family garden, a traditional lunch and an optional market to buy handicrafts and weavings.

The Achuar always look forward learning about the outside world and people, so we suggest bringing to the community something from home to share with the Achuar. This can be from a story, photos, or a gift from home that helps the Achuar understand the traveler's life.

Return to the lodge late in the afternoon. Sometimes depending on weather, watching the sunset from the Pastaza river is a great way to end the day. We usually light a fire every afternoon in the hearth hut by the dock and river. It is a relaxing activity at the end of the day. We can relax in a hammock by the river, or g for a swim in the Capahuari river. This is a safe activity, and your guides will always be up for a swim every afternoon, especially after a hot and sunny day.

7.30 Dinner

After dinner, we will have the option of a night boat ride . This ride takes about 1 hour. We leave the dock to go upstream the Capahuari river, and then we drift without the sound of the engine, with the boat top open for better visibility of the sky, and listen to the forest sounds as we look for nocturnal species, including cayman (related to alligators), capybaras, tapir, or nocturnal species of birds and bats.

So far, you have spent two days exploring the forest, river, and community life. Depending on the time of the year, there are always special nature and culture options to explore. Maybe the fig trees are fruiting and this makes for an opportunity to observe wildlife in specific places in the forest, or maybe one of the communities has a special event where we can participate, or maybe, there is an specific activity that you want to do.

There is really no need to plan ahead for active adventures at Kapawi. The Amazon Rainforest is a magical place that changes all the time, so we leave this day open to customize the best experience available at the time. Also, after a couple of full days at Kapawi, most people appreciate some relaxing time at the lodge.

On this day, we still offer Wayus time in the morning, as well as early activities before breakfast. We can plan more forest, river, or community experiences, and sometime during the day, usually in the evening or after dinner, we will meet to talk and exchange observations about the experience.

Kapawi Ecolodge is a community-owned enterprise that is a crucial part of the local life, and that hopes to portray an honest representation of the challenges and opportunities that the Achuar nation face today. Has Kapawi's experience achieved this? Are there areas where Kapawi can improve? Are there areas or ideas that you as a traveler can contribute to Kapawi? These are always questions that the Achuar hosts have. This moment is also ideal for sharing about the travel purpose. Has Kapawi's experience helped in achieving this purpose? What are the main lessons from this experience that are useful in your life?

We usually plan a sharing circle at some point during the day, where the people can share their experience, ask questions to the community or to the visitors, to spark conversation and sharing between the community and the travelers.

We will offer the usual early activity options at Kapawi, followed by breakfast at the lodge. We will get ready and will leave the lodge after breakfast and around 10 am, taking a boat ride upstream to the community of Kusutkau. We will take the flight to Shell around 10.30 am, landing in Shell around 11.30 am.