Kapawi Ecolodge, a heartwarming stay (1)
For me, the Amazon rainforest has always held a certain mythical allure. An impenetrable wilderness, where new plant and animal species are still being discovered. Where indigenous communities still live much as they did thousands of years ago. For me, this vast jungle is not just a nature reserve, but also home to cultures that live here in harmony with their beautiful yet fragile environment and who know the secrets of the rainforest. I am pleased that there are tourism initiatives which protect not only the Amazon rainforest with its flora and fauna, but also the cultures found here.
Achuar community
One such initiative is the Kapawi Ecolodge in Ecuador. This lodge is 100 per cent owned by the Achuar community, who live in the south-east of the country, close to the border with Peru. The place can only be reached by air or by water. So, I set off early in the morning for the town of Shell to catch a small four-seater propeller plane to Kapawi. When I arrive in the town that morning, it’s pouring with rain. This means we have to wait and see. The runway on which we are due to land in the rainforest isn’t tarmac-surfaced, and it’s impossible to land in heavy rain. We therefore have to wait, and in my case this means I have to spend an extra night in a hotel in Puyo. Puyo is a nearby town, where I’m staying at the Hotel El Jardin, a simple but perfectly adequate place to stay, surrounded by tropical nature.
All of this is perfectly organised by the team at Kapawi. It’s becoming clear to me that it’s important to have some flexibility with the itinerary – so, for example, international flights shouldn’t be booked to coincide exactly with your stay at this lodge. This is because there’s a chance you might have to stay in the jungle for an extra day if flights are cancelled due to heavy rainfall.
Flying to the lodge
The next day, the sun is shining and we’re off to the airport once again. Everything is being prepared for the flight. The pilot flying me to Kapawi is also the owner of the small airline I’m travelling with. Not only do they provide transport for guests to and from the lodge, but they also fulfil a vital logistical role for the communities in this remote and hard-to-reach region of Ecuador.
After a flight of just over an hour, we arrive at Kapawi. The airstrip is also the centre of the village, and the locals come out to welcome us, collect the items we’ve brought with us and hand over goods that need to be taken back to the outside world.
Here I meet Chikuish, my guide, with whom I’ll be setting off over the next few days.
We walk through the village to the jetty, from where I’ll travel to the lodge in a small motorised canoe. The community lies on the Pestaza River, a river that flows from the Andes into the Amazon basin. From here, the river continues into Peru, eventually joining the Amazon via the Marañon River. We take the small boat into a tributary, the Rio Capahuari, on which the lodge is situated. After about fifteen minutes, we reach the lodge. It turns out I am the only guest at that moment. I am welcomed with great enthusiasm by Pascual, the lodge manager. The accommodation consists of a number of main buildings with 20 guest rooms, situated on the edge of a small lagoon. The lagoon is almost completely overgrown with aquatic plants, which in turn attract a huge variety of bird species that live in this area. In the early morning, I love watching the hustle and bustle of these birds from my hammock.
Kapok tree
After leaving my things in my bungalow, we set off. We travel by boat to a spot where there is a ceiba or kapok tree that is over 400 years old. For the Achuar, this is a sacred tree and, according to custom, I must thank the tree and ask permission to visit this area. Chiquish leads the way, armed with a machete. There are no marked paths in this jungle area. We make our way through the jungle. After a 10-minute walk, we reach the gigantic tree. The tree is a full 40 metres tall and has a circumference of up to 30 metres at its base. The roots protruding from the ground are twice as tall as we are. We look like ants next to this colossal forest giant. In the Achuar language, this tree is called Mente. Suddenly, Chiquish points his machete at a tiny frog in the colours of the Ecuadorian flag. It is a poison dart frog found only in the rainforests of Colombia and Ecuador.
We saw the pink river dolphin!
At the end of the afternoon, we go kayaking on the river. As we’re propelling ourselves without a motor, we’re left with nothing but the sounds of the rainforest. In the treetops we spot many birds, and on tree trunks that have fallen into the river I see a few turtles. Suddenly we hear a powerful, short spurting sound. It turns out to be a rare pink river dolphin. A moment later, I also catch a glimpse of its pink back as it shoots through the water. We continue kayaking towards the junction with the Pestaza River as the sun sinks below the horizon. From the sounds around us, we can tell that wildlife becomes more active at sunset.
In the evening, after I’ve had my dinner, I go straight to bed. Before entering my bungalow, I take off my rubber boots and place them upside down on a boot rack. This is important to prevent creatures such as scorpions from crawling into my boots during the night.
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