Yachana Lodge - 4 Days

Itinerary

Day 1 Quito/Yachana Lodge

Your journey into the Amazon Jungle starts in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Transfer to the airport where you will take a 30 minute flight over the Andes from Quito to the jungle city of Coca, and if weather conditions are optimum, you will have an amazing view of snow covered mountains of the Andes and the Amazon rainforest as you begin your descent into the rainforest.Upon arrival to the city of Coca airport, you will be greeted by your Yachana guide, transported by bus to the river port and then you'll board our 57 foot (18 meter) motorized canoe for the 2.5 to 3 hour trip up river. A box lunch will be served on the way as we navigate up the Napo River (please advise us of any dietary restriction in advance). For your safety, life vests will be provided for every passenger so you can fully relax and enjoy your ride along one of the largest tributaries to the legendary Amazon River. Once you arrive at Yachana Lodge, you will have a warm welcome by our native staff accompanied by a refreshing beverage and a brief introduction to the lodge facilities.After a rest from your journey your guide will take you to an overlook where you can see the splendor of the rainforest spread below you. On clear days you can see the Sumaco Volcano rising up in the distance. Watch the colors of the forest change as the sun sets into the distant clouds. One can also visit our interesting and beautiful butterfly house if they don't want to take the hike up the hill to the overlook.Welcome to Yachana Lodge, a place for experiencing the Ecuadorian Amazon. Our lodge sits beside the Napo River, uniquely situated in the Upper Amazon River Basin. We specialize in providing our visitors with English-speaking indigenous guides. To walk through the rainforest with a person who has grown up in that environment is an experience that few other lodges can provide. Learn about medicinal plants and how their distinctive cultures have utilized these for centuries. Search for unique Amazon wildlife, endemic birds, varied mammals and beautiful reptiles and amphibians. Marvel at the splendid varieties of butterflies in the wild, and in our butterfly house. We are putting an emphasis on rescuing Amazon culinary traditions so you can feast on cuisine unique to the region. Relax in the comfort of our cabins and on your private balcony overlooking the forest or river. The National Geographic Society has coined the term Geotourism: tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical charger of a place's environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents. Yachana Lodge is one of the best examples of this in Ecuador, and the world. Our Lodge is unique in that the entire business has been given to the Yachana Technical High School, which is part of the Yachana Foundation (formally FUNEDESIN). The students in this innovative educational program are involved in all aspects of the lodge operation and have close interaction with our guests. To truly know the Amazon, you need to know the people. Eighty-percent of our students are indigenous from four Amazon provinces. Our mission is to educate and disseminate information about the rainforest and its cultures to international and national visitors. Your visit to the Yachana Lodge is directly supporting the education of Amazon youth; helping them to create sustainable communities and protect their environment. We believe the only way to protect the rainforest is through education and improving the lives of the people who live in this amazing region. We are truly a business with a social mission.Accommodations & AmenitiesWe have become famous because of the quality of our food; simple, varied, delicious and prepared by our local indigenous chefs with ingredients from the region in our fully equipped modern kitchen. Our cabins all have private balconies, bathrooms and hot water. Our multi-lingual indigenous guides will introduce you to the marvels of the rainforest and its cultures and make your stay at Yachana Lodge a memorable experience.Rooms & CabinsThe Lodge offers 18 rooms with private bathrooms. Each cabin has a porch, perfect for appreciating the complex beauty of the Amazon as you relax in your hammock. Our garden view rooms nestle amid colorful flowering plants, and our river view rooms set above the Napo River with a dynamic view of the river. We also offer a dormitory that we call Casa Quest for students, groups and budget travellers. This building has its own set of adjacent bathrooms and showers, and a traditional house built of thatch a long side that is perfect for social gatherings.Services & AmenitiesMeals: Our chefs take fruits, vegetables, chicken and fish, many that we produce on our organic farm run by the students, and prepare them with a unique Yachana twist to deliver delicious meals three times a day. Soups, salads and main dishes are served in a family-style setting on long tables in our dining hall. We feature our pure Yachana Jungle Chocolate in many forms during your visit. The food tends to be mostly vegetarian with chicken or fish served occasionally. We can manage special dietary requirements if advised ahead of time. Gift Shop: Local and regional crafts and Yachana Lodge t-shirts are available in our gift shop for purchase. We also offer Yachana Jungle Chocolate, a unique snack made by Yachana Gourmet, one of the components of our organization. Learn more about Yachana Gourmet here www.yachanagourmet.com Bar: The Lodge offers beer, wine and sodas to our visitors. Enjoy your drinks on our patio, relaxing to the sounds of the jungle.Hikes in the Rainforest:We will take you under the towering canopy of ceibo trees and through the lush green of hundreds of species of tropical rainforest trees. We have 4,300 acres (1,700 hectares) of protected rainforest for you to experience the wonder of this ecosystem. This is something you must see to believe, and it will come alive under the guidance of our knowledgeable indigenous guides who have grown up in this environment. We provide rubber boots and ponchos.Go on early-morning birding excursions where our guides will point out some of the hundreds of species of birds that we have identified here at Yachana. Some of these species are endemic only to a small part of the Amazon, like the unusual Huatzin. You will be sure to add new species to your bird list. Explore at night to see a wholly different rainforest landscape. Many varieties of insects, reptiles and amphibians only emerge at night, and you also have the chance of seeing owls, several types of possum, night monkeys and lots more. Yachana High School and the Relationship with Yachana Lodge:Yachana Lodge is precedent setting in Social Corporate Responsibility. The Lodge Corporation has been given entirely to the high school and foundation for the benefit of education and self-sustainability for the School. The students are a part of all aspects of the operation and you will have a chance to get to know them. These students, from families in remote Amazon communities with an approximate average annual income of $300, appreciate this opportunity to get an education. They are learning hospitality management, plus much more in this unique, practical hands-on learning experience. The Reserve:More than 4,300 acres of protected rainforest are adjacent to the Lodge. This land is owned by the non-profit Yachana Foundation (formally FUNEDESIN), which uses it for conservation and education purposes. An on-going program of biological data collection and investigation is taking place on the reserve which is the home to hundreds of species of reptiles, amphibians, insects, birds and mammals such as monkeys, ocelots, otters, pacas and much more. In September 2006 a new species of glass-frog was discovered on the reserve. We are working in partnership with Global Vision International (GVI) to gather data on the biodiversity. Around the Lodge:Our extensive gardens feature over 90 varieties of tropical plants. Carefully maintained to showcase the diversity of flowering plants, your eye will marvel at our colorful treasures. Visit our butterfly house to view the stages of butterfly growth and learn about their unique ecology. Blue morphos and owls eyes are among some of the impressive Amazon butterflies we showcase.In a traditional house built of thatch and bamboo called a choza you can mold Amazon clay into traditional ceramic pots with the instruction of a local artisan. Participate, under the guidance of your guide, in weaving a basket made from local palm fronds.Take part in a Yachana Culinary class where our chefs show you indigenous methods of preparing local foods. The Yachana cuisine will not fail in delighting your taste buds! Other Activities Include:Visit a local Curandero (medicine man) for a traditional cleansing ceremony, an incredible cultural experience. Star Gaze or tube down the Napo River.We provide rain ponchos, rubber boots, life jackets and walking sticks.What is the weather like?The rainforest is warm, wet, and humid. The average temperature is 80 F or 27 C. We receive an average of 12 feet (144 inches or 3650 mm) of rain annually and the humidity is high. It rarely rains for a whole day without interruption but it often rains for a period of time every day. We have rain ponchos to use in the canoe and to take on hikes. Some people just follow the example of the locals and get wet when it rains. The choice is yours.Yachana Lodge HistoryIn 1995 the Yachana Lodge was built on the banks of the Napo River in Ecuadors Amazon rainforest. Yachana is a Quichua word meaning a place for learning, which is an important part of our philosophy. Yachana Lodge is a window into the world of the rainforest and its inhabitants; it acquaints its guests with the difficult environmental and humanitarian challenges facing the Ecuadorian Amazon. The Lodge has recently been given to the Yachana High School and Yachana Foundation. This will provide a meaningful education to the mostly indigenous students, and help to provide self-sufficiency for the school. Our RegionThe Napo River is one of the largest tributaries to the Amazon River. In the upper Napo River Basin, where Yachana Lodge is located, the river is wide but not deep. Our lodge is located three hours by boat upriver from Coca. There is an airport in Coca that is a 30 minute flight from Quito. Hundreds of small communities lie within close proximity to the river but most are very hard to see from the boat. These small villages are made up of families farming land that was given to them through the agrarian reform in the early 1970s.

Day 2 Yachana Lodge

After breakfast, take a journey into the rainforest. Your indigenous guide will explain to you the uses of the plants and will amaze you with the diversity of birds and animals that inhabit the rainforest. This will be your first introduction to the incredible rainforest. You will return to the Lodge for lunch. After lunch, we normally recommend taking a siesta to rest up from the morning activities, and to reflect on the activities. Later in the afternoon, you can visit a traditional healer for a cleansing ceremony. This is an interesting cultural experience where you will also have the opportunity to practice your skills at using a blowgun and spear. You will have time to rest and clean up before dinner. Dinner is served at 7:00. On one of your evenings, you will have the opportunity to take a night walk to discover a totally different side of the forest. On this walk, you will experience the small insects, amphibians, reptiles and other animals that only come out at night. A traditional Amazon lunch will be served at the Lodge. Following you will hike into primary forest and discover the immense biodiversity of the jungle. Although it takes time to tune into the jungle, many of the rainforest secrets are easy to discover with the aid of the guides keen eyes. Photo opportunities are endless.

Day 3 Yachana Lodge

The day can start with an optional birding excursion before breakfast. This day is when you will be able to try many of the Amazon culinary delights. You breakfast is your first experience. After breakfast, you can visit the endemic hoatzin, a prehistoric bird found only in select areas of the Amazon. You will then go to visit the Yachana Technical High School. This will take most of the morning and will give you an opportunity to see how a meaningful education is making a difference in the lives of many young people from the Amazon region. You will return to the Lodge before lunch and participate in a Amazon cooking class. Then lunch. After lunch, there is time for a siesta and then you can learn directly from a native how to make natural fiber baskets and create a traditional ceramic bowl from Amazon clay.After dinner there is free time for leisure activities or an optional activity.

Day 4 Yachana Lodge/Quito

You will have a hearty breakfast and then depart from Yachana Lodge by canoe to the city of Coca. You will navigate downstream along the Napo River and have one last opportunity to appreciate the Amazon Rainforest vastness and intensity before the flight back to Quito. Take this moment to reflect on your experience, the people you have met and to savor what you have experienced at Yachana Lodge – A Place for Learning!

Trip Details

Accommodation	Yachana Lodge (3nts)
Departure	Tuesdays
Group Size	No Minimum
Included Highlights	Various jungle activities and spectacular wildlife viewing by boat and rainforest hiking
Meals Included	All Meals While at Lodge
StartFinish	ex Quito
Transport	Bus, Local Flight, Motorized Canoe, Hiking,
Brochure Intro	A cultural excursion into the legendary Amazon River showcases culinary delights and indigenous artisans at Yachana Lodge.

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