Ecuador's Amazon Rain Forest (El Oriente)

The Oriente was definitely the best place I visited with my parents. It had everything. A really good guide, beautiful scenery, perfect weather, cool animals (we saw 6 different types of monkeys), and complete relaxation. We were at the Napo Wildlife Reserve. While not cheap, definitely worth your money and a great place to visit.



Our group for the four days we were in El Oriente. The guy in the front with the blue shirt was our guide. A very bright guy with perfect English. The two on the right were our native guide and extra paddler. We didn't have to paddle. What luxury.


Our lodge at sunrise (not sunset).


My parents enjoying the canoe ride up the river to the lodge.


This is a video of a parrot lick. Every day the parrots come to a place like this where they can eat the exposed chalk. The chalk is necessary for their digestive system.



This plant is very cool. When an insect eats the seeds, the plant takes over the nervous system. It then forces the insect to climb up a tree on to a branch where it can receive sunlight. Once there, the plant sprouts through the animals body and sets its roots down. Isn't that incredible?



A local shaman doing a healing ritual to eliminate bad energies. He used the branch to brush the lady off while making whooshing sounds and would periodically empty the leaves of the bad energy by shaking them at the wall. At the end, he did something where it looked like he was blowing something into the top of her head while making a gutteral sound. Pretty cool to watch. Apparently, in the past, if a shaman could not heal a patient, he would blame it on another shaman in a different tribe casting a curse, at which war would break out. Being a shaman is dangerous business.


Two Macaws that we saw at one of the Parrot Licks.


Toucans!!!!!


Look out for the Anaconda! Actually, we didn't see any. Too bad. But it is still a good picture of the jungle.


Paddling down the river. Did I mention that it was a relaxing trip?