Amazon River Cruises In Ecuador

Traversing the Andes to El Oriente – the Amazon basin in the eastern half of Ecuador – you’ll find Puerto Francisco de Orellana (more commonly known as Coca), capital of the Orellana province and gateway to the Ecuadorian Amazon. Follow in the wake of the eponymous Spanish conquistador and explore the Napo River system – the largest river in Ecuador and major tributary of the Amazon – from the very same point Orellana himself set sail downriver in 1541 to become the first to navigate the length of the Amazon. Despite being one of the smaller South American countries, Ecuador is one of the world’s 17 mega-diverse countries, home to a huge variety of species, making it an ideal destination for an Amazon River cruise.

Choose from two luxurious Ecuadorian Amazon cruises, the state-of-the-art sister ships Anakonda and Manatee Amazon Explorer, and visit the neighboring protected areas of the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve and Yasuní National Park. Cuyabeno is famed for its system of 14 beautiful, tropical draining lagoons, including Lagartococha and Delfincocha, and its rich ethnography, notably the Siona, Secoya, and Cofan tribes whose shamanic healers are respected across Amazonia for their botanical knowledge. Yasuní is part of the claimed ancestral territory of the Huaorani indigenous people, home to several communities of uncontacted indigenous tribes including the Tagaeri and the Taromenane, and arguably the most biologically diverse spot on Earth. It contains at least 173 mammal species, 567 bird species, 83 reptile species, 97 amphibian species, and 249 fish species, with more being discovered on a regular basis. What will you discover?