The Amazon River and its many tributaries, like the Napo River and Pastaza River, flow through one of the globe’s last wilderness areas. In the canopy, a sky garden of exotic bromeliads and plants thrive. A myriad of species lives in the rainforest – a veritable greenhouse for the globe’s exotic flora and fauna, as well as people from millennia-old indigenous cultures. Ecuador is one of the best countries to see the Amazon.



Yuchana Lodge, nestled on the banks of the Napo River, near the tiny rainforest community of Mondana, sits amid 3,600 acres of primary and secondary rainforest. Home to thousands of exotic species, this land is part of Yuchana’s protected rainforest. The word Yuchana means “a place of learning” from the Quichua indigenous language. There are about 10,000 Quichua native Indians living on the upper Napo River.

“The Foundation for Integrated Education and Development” (FUNEDESIN) built Yuchana Lodge in 1995 to help its fight against poverty, disease, and the destruction of Ecuador’s tropical forests. The lodge invests its profits into the foundation’s high school education program, sustainable development, and conservation projects.

Where Yuchana really shines is in introducing guests to and getting them involved in the local culture. One afternoon we visited a Quichua traditional healer man, who performed a spiritual cleansing ceremony on each of us. I felt truly refreshed after the cleansing ceremony, which involved blowing smoke over our bodies and being dusted with bunches of leaves.

As we walked a village path, Juan, our nature guide, told us intimate stories of his training as a young shaman in his home village of Cambandsa, near the Peruvian border. We tried the healer man’s blowgun and spear on a fresh palm stump, but our shots paled in comparison to the old master.

Juan led us on some of Yuchana’s 20 kilometers of jungle trails. His ability to spot creatures was exceptional. We saw poison arrow frogs, birds, fungi, sleeping bats, and forest dragon lizards. He even whistled in for us – using a special monkey call – a troupe of capuchin monkeys.

Juan and fellow nature guide, Delfin, are local naturalists employed by Yuchana. Both come from remote communities, speaking fluent Spanish and English. Juan’s knowledge of flora and fauna was remarkable.

We found poison arrow frogs, the most common of which was red/maroon in color on top, and bright blue on the sides and legs. Indians use the toxin of poison arrow frogs to coat their blowpipe darts. Even a small amount in the human bloodstream is lethal. Only three species of the family Dendrobatidae, genus Phyllobates, are in fact poisonous.

Late one afternoon, Juan took us birding for hoatzin, on a tiny owbox lake in the jungle. We walked along the river bank, spotting exquisite butterflies and birds along the way. We arrived in time to see several hoatzins dancing and calling to each other.

The facilities at Yuchana Lodge are quite advanced in that you can flush toilet paper and drink water from the tap. The lodge uses solar power and is switching to canoes powered by low-grade palm oil.

The dining room is very homely and some students come over from the agricultural school to work in the kitchen and dining room. The meals feature local foods like stinging nettles, which tastes like spinach. Almost all of the food is grown by the agricultural school nearby.

At Yuchana, we sampled the natural produce of Yachana Gourmet, which buys cacao from local farmers to make exotic chocolate for the lodge. An exotic “Yachana twist” is served with every meal, as well as homemade chocolate spread and jams made from cacao and fruit harvested in the area.

Since 1991, FUNEDESIN and its projects have invested approximately $4 million into the Ecuadorian Amazon, and saved 4,300 acres of tropical and secondary rainforest. They established the Yuchana Technical High School and Mondana Medical Clinic, which provides full-time health care to 8,000 Quichua indigenous and colonists living on the upper Napo River.

All the profits from Yuchana Lodge go to support FUNEDESIN and its programs, like the pilot project to replace destructive cattle herds with endemic capybara – a kind of giant rodent that’s good to eat.

The lodge is a two-hour canoe ride from Coca. A three or four night stay will allow you to spend some quality time in the jungle.

At sunset, the views up river are stunning. If there was a classic image of the upper Amazon, it is from Yuchana Lodge – a golden, winding river snaking its way into the unknown.