The Awesome Amazon

Last of a three-part Site Inspection Report for the
WOW! Travel Club journey to Ecuador:

After visiting Quito and the Galapagos, I thought I had already experienced the most fascinating parts of my journey to Ecuador. Boy, was I wrong! I was about to have one of the most amazing experiences of my life!!

Into the Amazon!

From Quito, we took a commercial flight to a city called Coca – a shabby little town built by and for the oil companies. From there, a private plane flew over miles and miles of an uninhabited carpet of rainforest. Nothing but green – interrupted only by brown serpentines of rivers originating in the Andes.

The southeastern corner of Ecuador, near the Peruvian border, is home to approximately 6,000 members of the Achuar tribe. They were “discovered” by missionaries in 1972. That’s not very long ago! Unlike other indigenous groups, the Achuar have steadfastly refused to cede control of their land to outsiders such as oil or mining companies. They made a forward-thinking decision to rely on ecotourism as their source of sustainable income. Thus, the Kapawi Ecolodge was conceived…

There are other highly-regarded jungle lodges in Ecuador, but only Kapawi made the list as one of National Geographic’s Top 50 Ecolodges in the world. To experience the Achuar culture is unforgettable …. a definite “wow” – worthy of the WOW Travel Club!

For generations the Achuar have lived in intimate (i.e., primitive) harmony with nature. We, however, will live in comfortableharmony with nature during our three-night stay! Eighteen fully-screened, thatched-roof huts are built on stilts over a lagoon. There are flush toilets and running water. Meals are healthy and delicious. Daily excursions are led by two guides – an Achuar and a naturalist.

Watch my video on YouTube:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC0-zWNzHBU

The Achuar are historically a nation of warriors who were “tamed” by the missionaries only in the 1970s, when the practice of beheading and shrinking the heads of their enemies ended.