SURROUNDINGS

Baeza: Located in the proximities of the Quijos river (named after the native group that inhabited the region before the Spanish conquest), Baeza is the first important town in the forest, despite its battered houses and the abandonment atmosphere.

Salto de San Rafael: Due to its 145 meters fall, this cascade of the Quijos river, is the highest in Ecuador. It is in the road among Baeza (county of Napo) and Lago Agrio (capital of the county of Nueva Loja). From here the summit of the Reventador active volcano is observable.

Reserve of Fauna Production of Cuyabeno: it is a flooded forest of 665.000 hectares that is characterized by its incredible biological diversity. Pink dolphins, the manati of the Amazon and four species of caymen, besides an important variety of birds (tangaras and cotingidos, mainly) inhabit its lakes.

Panacocha: it is a small protected area of 56.000 hectares that is among the Napo and Aguarico rivers. Ideal for trips on foot in which is nor strange neither difficult to observe birds, butterfly and -even- fresh terrifying prints of jaguars, the feline of bigger size of the forest.

Biological Reserve of Limoncocha: It was created to stop the ecological damages caused by oil exploration. Lemon Lake (Limoncocha) is a refuge for birds located in El Coca.

Island of the Monkeys: An important quantity of "howling monkeys" live in this place and their screams can be listened from more than a kilometer away. During the visit to the island, the visitor will have a very close encounter with these animals of reddish hide.

Hatun Sacha Biological Station: dedicated to the conservation and investigation of the animals that live in the forest. The visitors will get to know the work carried out in this center, located very near the town of Misahualli (county of Napo).

"Amazonico" Animal Rescue Center: Voluntaries from every corner of the world arrive to this place to work in the "re-adaptation" of animals belonging to endangered species that were extracted from their natural habitat by diverse reasons and have to prepared to live in freedom.

NATURE

Birds: Parrots and macaws of amazing colors, toucan and the green and gold tangaras are just some of the 550 species of birds registered in the Orient. For this reason, ornithologists from all over the world have made the Ecuadorian forest their outdoors laboratory, in which they can carry out their investigations and check their theories.

Mammals: The jaguar reigns in this forest, where he is an accomplished hunter of silent steps and spectacular jumps. Besides the jaguar, other mammals like the tapir (It weights more than 250 kilos and is without any doubt the biggest in the region) inhabit the Ecuadorian Orient. The tapir has short paws, thick neck and its body, in barrel form, is covered with a very thick skin.

The enormity of the forest, is also shared with other mammals like the armadillo, the pumas and even the bear of glasses (the only specie of bears in Latin America).