This is a personal review from Happy Gringo Sales Manager, Viola about her Adventure in the Yasuni National Park ( Napo Wildlife Center) located here in Ecuador. She is from Germany and has lived in Ecuador for almost 2 years.
This September one of my dreams became true. I went to the Amazon in Ecuador – to the Yasuní National Park. I booked the trip through Happy Gringo Travel and as I wanted to have something deep in the Amazon, see animals and also have some nice comfort, they recommended me the Napo Wildlife Center.
I took the plane to Coca where the guide already waited for me and together with the other passengers we took after a short briefing the motorboat where we got already some box lunch. The trip took about 2 hours and then we changed to a canoe and after 1,5 hours more we were arriving at the lodge.
How impressive the lodge looks, in the middle of nowhere. You hear birds and monkeys creaming far away and the water noise from the paddle. I was happy – the jungle, here I come!
The Lodge was incredibly nice plus the food really good and I enjoyed every single minute. The staff was very welcoming and helpful. The Lodge has an own tower, where you have amazing views and also can watch birds and if you are lucky monkeys on your own.
The next days we had all day programs that vary from going to one of their towers for wildlife watching, visiting parrot lay click, wildlife watching from the canoe or hiking through the forest and getting great explanations about the use of the different plants and trees. We saw different types of parrots, toucans, monkeys, caimans and giant otters (and of course a million other birds where I do not remember the names).
We also visited a community and the women there gave us nice insights into how life was used to be in former times. They also do some amazing handicrafts themselves, so I did some shopping as well!
What I did not expect, that I had to get up each day incredibly early, but of course, if you like to see wildlife and especially the parrot lay click you must be early! Therefore at night I went to bed quite early every day and fell asleep by listening to all the noises in the jungle.
It was incredibly great but time passed too quickly. I would have loved to stay a little longer and would have wished I stayed 5 days instead of 4.
The last morning mainly just checked out and back by boat to Coca in order to catch the flight.
I will probably never forget this amazing adventure to the Ecuadorian Amazon!
Happy Gringo Travel can help you arrange your Yasuni adventure in Napo Cultural Center. For more information contact a member of our staff through this site or by using our toll-free number.
