HOME > AMAZON TRAVEL > ABOUT THE AMAZON JUNGLE

About the Amazon Jungle

The Amazonia is the world’s largest and densest rainforest with more diverse plants and animals than any other jungle in the world.

The Ecuadorian part is particularly beautiful. The Amazon's river, lakes, streams and marshlands support over 600 species of fish and more than 250 species of amphibians and reptiles. Over 100 species of trees have been discovered per acre and if you are lucky you may see typical South American mammals including armadillos, honey bears, sloths, tapirs and many different types of monkeys, boars, and ocelots (jaguars). In the lagoons you may even see manatees and caimans.

Thanks to the location of our lodge deep into the jungle, the chance of seeing these animals is greater than the chance of seeing such animals in most other lodges throughout the Amazon. Please read guide books for more detailed information about Ecuador’s Amazon Jungle and its plant and animal species.

The Yasuni

The Yasuni Biosphere Reserve and National Park is located in Ecuador with an area of 9,820 km2 between the Napo and Curaray in Orellana and Pastaza provinces in Amazonian Ecuador. With the exception of Rio Napo, which originates in the foothills of the Andean Cordillera, rivers crossing the National Park originate at altitudes from 300 meters to 600 meters above sea level. Three main types of vegetation are found: 'Terra Firme,' found on the high reliefs areas and not subject to flooding; 'Varzea', a forest type subject to periodic flooding, and 'Irapo' in the permanent or near permanent flooded forest. The Park was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1989. The Park is home to several communities of Kichwa people and it is within the claimed ancestral territory of the Huaorani indigenous people and several secluded indigenous tribes, including the Tagaeri and the Taromenane.

Several studies show that Yasuni Park shatters world records for a wide array of plant and animal groups, from amphibians to trees to insects, and demonstrates that it is the most diverse area in South America, possibly even the world. The Park is at the center of a small zone where amphibian, bird, mammal, and vascular plant diversity all reach their maximum levels within the Western Hemisphere. Moreover, the park breaks world records for local scale (less than 100 km2) tree, amphibian, and bat species richness, and is one of the richest spots in the world for birds and mammals at local scales as well.

However, Yasuni National Park is threatened by oil extraction. The Ecuadorian government is promoting a revolutionary plan, known as the Yasuni-ITT Initiative, which would leave the Park's largest oil reserves in the ITT block permanently under the ground.