Yasuni National Park

Travelers' Takes

Rates and Deals

Napo Wildlife Center

More Photos
diverk
diverk
First Reviewer
5 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
3
Reviews
9
Photos
Sort by: Most Recent|Positive|Negative|Most Useful
1-3 of 3

Napo Wildlife Center

  • March 5, 2007
  • Rated 5 of 5 by adf from Prescott, Arizona
Napo Wildlife Center

Located inside Yasuni National Park (as opposed to north of the river like the other Napo river resorts), the new Napo Wildlife Center is a cooperative venture with the local Anangu Indians. Surrounded by untouched rainforest, the lodge is situated on the south side of a small lake, which makes for great views morning and evening. My bungalow boasted a huge king-size bed, a shower with hot water, and 24-hr. power... true rainforest luxury. The open-air dining room has wonderful views and locally-made hardwood furniture. There is a small library and viewing tower. Across the lake and a modest level walk through the rainforest is the lodge's 110' high steel staircase (enclosed) that terminates at a treetop viewing platform perfect for scanning the top of the canopy for monkeys and birds. Guides are professional and English-speaking and the food is fine, served with linen and real tableware.

From journal Elemental Ecuador

Editor Pick

Napo Wildlife Center

  • June 8, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by tellurian from Bar Harbor, Maine
Napo Wildlife Center

Following an incredible week of in-your-face wildlife in the Galapagos Islands, my party of four adults extended our stay in Ecuador with a 3-night stay at the Napo Wildlife Center in the Amazon Basin of Ecuador. Would we be disappointed with less dramatic scenery and wildlife that was afraid of humans? Even before we arrived at the lodge, following a 35-minute flight from Quito over the Andes to Coca, a short ride to the Napo River, a 2-hour motorboat ride followed by a 1.5-hour ride in a paddled dugout canoe, the answer was an emphatic NO! We were met at the Quito airport by two guides from the Napo Wildlife Center.

They saw to our tickets and luggage and gave us an orientation to our destination. Along the waterways en route to the lodge, we were introduced to the harsh realities of oil company-dependent life--a life that will end in 25 years and too the hopes for development of sustainable ecotourism. Once past the oil towns and into the dugout canoe, we turned our rapt attention to the wildlife. We were blown away by sightings of cream-colored woodpeckers, snail kites, various parrots, oropendula, and the totally unique hoatzin--a sort of punk pheasant, if you will. Monkeys jumped overhead, and as we drew near the lodge we heard giant otters.

These wonders were but a hint of what was to come. Once at the lodge, 10 spacious, attractive, thatched roof cabanas around a dining pavilion overlooking Lake Anangu, we had time to settle in and get a cold beer at the bar before orientation and dinner. Each cabana is arranged like a mini-suite. There is a king-size bed and a single bed, separated by a partial wall--plus a bathroom with toilet, sink and shower and a deck with a comfy hammock. The beds have high-end mosquito netting that forms a box over the bed rather than just draping all over you. These and the ceiling fans and good ventilation made sleeping temperatures comfortable, even though it is warm and humid. Just walking from the cabana up to the dining pavilion was thrilling.

Leaf cutter ants marched relentlessly with their green prizes held high, occasionally interrupted by a few more romantic ants bearing red flower petals. Birds and butterflies were abundant on the grounds as well. At the dining pavilion we met with our guides to set a schedule to suit our interests. Our first planned activity was an night paddle in the lake to look for...and find...the resident caiman.

Then it was off to bed to await our 5am wake-up call, and so it went. Everyday, according to weather and wildlife activity, we would rise early, then position ourselves at some great observation site--the clay parrot licks or the 125-foot tower in the Kapok tree. Exploring by foot or canoe, we encountered diverse wildlife and were introduced to indigenous ingenuity, like bush medicine and jungle building techniques, to tent-making bats to Amazon Forest Dragons--WOW!

From journal Amazonian Adventure

Editor Pick

Napo Wildlife Center

  • March 21, 2005
  • Rated 5 of 5 by diverk from New York, New York
Napo Wildlife Center

The Napo Wildlife Center is a high-end jungle lodge (high-end means less mosquitoes and clean sheets) found in the Napo River Valley. In order to get there, you need to fly to Coca City, take a motorized canoe for several hours down the Napo River, transfer to a dugout canoe (when the tribe sees an appropriate tree, a group of families cut down the tree together and build several canoes at one time directly in the jungle), and paddle for several hours down another side river.

Our lodge is on the Anagucocha Lake, which is a large lake filled with caimans (we went on a nighttime caiman watch one night) and a family of giant 8-foot otters. In order to get to any of the trails, we had to take the dugout canoe.

One day we visited the Quichua community of Anangu, where I was the fortunate person to receive a cleansing done by the local shaman (this fully energized me, but the shaman hit me for a while with some leaves and then blew into my hair for several minutes).

The special things about our jungle lodge (versus Sacha Lodge) included our lodge being smaller (10 huts), and therefore you don't have the crowds, and the fact that our lodge is half owned by the Quichua community, therefore half of all profits go to the tribe. This is wonderful for two reasons: first, it helps the tribe, but also, it helps prevent the oil companies from taking over the community. (There is a real problem in the rain forest with the oil companies, and you can see evidence of drilling throughout. Because this is upsetting so many locals and there are reports of violence, the workers in the oil companies get continuous security protection.) The other half of the profits goes to the NGO that approached the tribe and built the lodge.

The main attraction of the Napo Wildlife Center is the two parrot licks in the area. A parrot lick is a large natural mound of clay. The seeds that the parrots eat are poisonous, so the parrots seek these parrot licks to neutralize the poison. Therefore, on nice mornings, hundreds of parrots and parakeets flock to these licks. The Oriente is truly a rain forest. The trails were muddy, and we were always being rained on, but I loved it.

From journal The Galapagos Islands

Sort by: Most Recent|Positive|Negative|Most Useful
1-3 of 3

Compare Yasuni National Park Rates

1. Enter travel information

City

2. Select websites to compare rates

Each selected website will open a new window.

Yasuni National Park Travel Deals