Kapawi Ecolodge and Reserve

Upon arrival to Shell at 9 am, our flight coordinator will welcome you and assist you as we get ready for the 50-minute flight to the Achuar community of Kusutkau. You will be handed your rubber boots which are needed for hiking at Kapawi.

Upon landing in the community of Kusutkau, you will be greeted by your guide, you will take a 20-30 minute boat ride down the Capahuari River to the ecolodge. You will arrive at Kapawi’s main dock, and our resident Manager will take you to the main social and dining area, where he will give an introductory talk about the ecolodge, provide some recommendations, and take you to your bungalow. Lunch will be served in our dining area at 1 pm.

The activity at Kapawi for the afternoon will include a short introductory hike in the forest. This hike is roughly 2-kilometers long, and it includes several stops, where the naturalist and local guides explain the ecology of the Amazon Tropical Rainforest. It is an easy hike that can take up to 2 hours.

After the introductory hike and before dinner, you will have several options to choose from. Swimming or paddling in the river right from our dock is always available, as well as relaxing in our social areas by the river or in the main area where our dining area and bar are located.

Dinner at the lodge is served at 7.15 pm, and after dinner you will go over the next day’s plan and activities together with our guide.

Every day, the Achuar host a Wayus tea ceremony, held at the hearth hut next to our main dock (350 meters from the bungalows). Wayus time is a traditional activity in an Achuar household, taking place before dawn, usually starting at 4.30 am. This moment is special for the Achuar since it is a family moment to share dreams, plan the day’s activities, or just to have a conversation about important issues. We offer this optional activity to join you Achuar hosts and have Wayus time with them, talk about dreams, listen to Achuar stories, and experience an aspect of the Achuar culture and life.

Wayus time ends at dawn, and after that we always offer an early wildlife watching boat ride to look for wildlife along the Capahuari River.

After the 1-hour boat ride, you will return to the lodge for breakfast. After breakfast, you will go on a forest hike to learn about the Rainforest from the Achuar’s perspective of useful and medicinal plants. Forest species play a key role in Achuar construction, food, medicine, and tools, and our Achuar guide will interpret the Achuar knowledge of the forest and the importance of natural resources in the Achuar everyday life. You will return to the lodge for lunch at 1 pm.

After a short break after lunch, you will enjoy a kayaking activity in the Capahuari river. This involves leaving from the dock at 3.30 pm for a boat ride upstream the Capahuari river, and then switching to single and double kayaks for a return paddle to the lodge following the current. This is a great opportunity for spotting wildlife in the trees, as well as for looking for pink river dolphins in the river.

7.15 pm dinner

After dinner, you will have the option of a night hike in the forest surrounding the lodge. This hike takes about 1 hour, and it is designed to look for nocturnal insects, reptiles, amphibians, and other forest species that become active at night. This activity usually takes place between 8.30-10 pm.

The day starts with an optional activity at 6h30 am to take a boat ride to the parrot clay lick on the Pastaza river. There are usually 4-6 different species of parrots feeding early in the morning on the minerals and nutrients in the soil: chestnut fronted macaws, dusky headed parakeets, and Amazon parrots are usually observed from the boat. Return to the lodge for breakfast at 8 am.

After breakfast, you will leave for a community visit at 9.30 am. There are several communities around Kapawi to choose from, and we take turns visiting families in different communities. This is a full-day activity, including enjoying a local meal prepared by the host family.

The community visit involves different moments, including a community walking tour, a visit to a family’s Ajá (Ah-Ha), or family garden, a traditional lunch and a the option to buy local handicrafts and weavings.

Tsekunts is one of the villages we visit. It is the smallest community with roughly 25 inhabitants, located 1.5 hours by boat from the lodge.

Local food tasting is another great experience of the Achuar culture. Yunkurak, also called maito, is a meal wrapped with native leaves used for cooking fish, heart of palm, native wild cocoa beans, chicken, wild meat, and even grubs and plants collected in the forest. It is usually served on top of banana leaves with boiled manioc (yuca), plantain, papaya, pineapple, squash, sweet potatoes, and other products from the local gardens. This is always combined with local Nijiamanch (or chicha), which is a drink made of fermented manioc.

The Achuar always look forward learning about the outside world and people, so we suggest bringing to the community something from home to share with the Achuar. This can be from a story, photos, or a gift from home that helps the Achuar understand the traveler’s life.

You will return to the lodge late in the afternoon. Sometimes depending on weather, watching the sunset from the Pastaza river is a great way to end the day. We usually light a fire every afternoon in the hearth hut by the dock and river. It is a relaxing activity at the end of the day. We can relax in a hammock by the river, or go for a swim in the Capahuari river. This is a safe activity, and your guides will always be up for a swim every afternoon, especially after a hot and sunny day.

7.15 Dinner

After dinner, we will have the option of a night boat ride . This ride takes about 1 hour. We leave the dock to go upstream the Capahuari river, and then we drift without the sound of the engine, with the boat top open for better visibility of the sky, and listen to the forest sounds as we look for nocturnal species, including cayman (related to alligators), capybaras, tapir, or nocturnal species of birds and bats.

We will offer the usual early activity options at Kapawi, followed by breakfast at the lodge. We will get ready and will leave the lodge after breakfast and around 10 am, taking a boat ride upstream to the community of Kusutkau. We will take the flight to Shell around 10.30 am, landing in Shell around 11.30 am.