After lunch at the lodge we’ll take a walk or hike out into the rainforest where your guide will point out and explain about jungle plants and any animals that you may encounter. After dark, we’ll take a night jungle walk looking for nocturnal animals and insects. There’s a great little area close to the lodge where a variety of rainforest frogs can be seen. We often see poison dart frogs.

 

The next day you’ll get up early for a walk near the river to do some birdwatching. There is an area where about 20 Hoatzins (a cool looking prehistoric bird, which is not supposed to be in this area) have nested around a little lagoon. THEN after breakfast we’ll do something that our guests really enjoy and you'll find very interesting, a chocolate and chicha making demonstration. Martha, the mother of the owner of the lodge, lives on the island across the river from the lodge. We’ll go over to the island where she, or a member of her family, will show you how it’s done, right there under a shelter, on her little farm. You’ll get to see and participate in the chocolate making process, all the way from breaking open the cacao pod to tasting the final product, which she makes into what is most likely the most delicious fondue you've ever tasted. We'll bring along strawberries and bananas for a special treat!

 

After the demonstration we’ll take the motor canoe downriver to an amazing butterfly farm (there are so many butterflies, they literally land on you!), followed by a picnic lunch at a river beach. Then we'll pass by an island where we sometimes spot woolly monkeys, before heading farther downriver by motor canoe to an animal rehab center.

 

 

Itinerary: Drive to La Punta Ahuano (about 30-35 min.), visit with monkeys along the way, motor canoe to jungle lodge, lunch, afternoon jungle walk or hike, dinner, night jungle walk. 2nd day: dawn bird watching tour, breakfast, motor canoe to: chocolate and chicha making demo, butterfly farm, riverside picnic lunch, and animal rehab center, return to La Punta Ahuano, drive back to Tena.

 

What's Included: Transportation via private car or taxi to and from La Punta Ahuano, one night’s lodging, 3 meals at the lodge, the motor canoe rides, the chocolate making demonstration, entrance fees to the butterfly farm and rehab center, lunch on the river the 2nd day, grapes for the monkeys and strawberries and bananas for you on the chocolate demo. Also, of course, a guide that will be with you the whole time. It will be a local Ecuadorian guide, that speaks English at an advanced level and has a talent for making the tours they give both a lesson on the jungle and fun at the same time.

 

What to Bring: Bring a flashlight, lightweight long pants and shirt, a water bottle, rain jacket or poncho, camera, swimwear, mosquito repellent, sunscreen and whatever snacks or special foods you would like to eat between the 3 meals provided by the lodge (lunch the day we arrive, dinner, and breakfast). Rubber boots for walking/hiking in the jungle are provided by the lodge, but you will need to bring socks to wear with them and comfy inserts would be a bonus. The only cash you might want to bring would be for if you wanted to get something at the rehab center's gift shop or for alcohol at the lodge. (They sell bomber beers for $3 and also have cocktails available.) Check out our What to Bring! page for a more comprehensive list of suggestion for things you might want to bring when coming to this area and to Ecuador in general.

 

Kid Friendly: Yes

 

Activity Level: Moderate, Please note that if you have any condition that prevents you from walking up (quite a few) stairs to the lodge, this is not for you.

 

Starts:  9am, finishing around 4 or 5pm the next day.       

 

Cost: 4 or more at $199 per person, 3 for $205 pp, or 2 for $215 pp. We max out at 8 participants. (But call us if you have a group of more than 8!)