Napo Basin, Ecuador

Much of the Napo Basin, a sub-basin of the Amazon headwaters, is a pristine rainforest interlaced with swampy channels and boasting a plethora of birds, primates and flora. Access is difficult, since there are no roads in much of the watershed, so that ingress is typically by small boats and hiking jungle trails, often steeped in mud. The rewards are plentiful; in spite of high humidity, the prevailing blackwater swamps are inimical to mosquitoes. There are very few accommodations in the basin, my choice being the excellent Sacha Lodge, which has good guides, appropriate unpowered watercraft and adequate food. There are also opportunities to visit a few of the indigenous villages, accessible only by water; the village i chose was accessible only by water, and i was able to converse at length via my translator. The small tribe was one of the most self sufficient peoples i have ever known, producing all of their food, fiber and shelter from the land; the concept of government help was not only foreign , but repugnant to them....refreshing!

Primates i saw included the Colombian Red Howler Monkey and Black Mantled Tamarin. Attached are some of those photos as well as the Proboscis Bat seen near a large lagoon. Parrots were abundant including the Mealy Parrot and other Amazonian Parrots, which were especially abundant along the Napo River cliffs seen by small boat. The Spectacled Caiman was watched at length in the blackwater seamps. The soft silty sand banks of the Napo River gave rise to continoual creation of islands and bars along vast stretches of the river; most interesting were the thousands of micro-islands made of fragments of silt and organic material which looked like gray snow tufts on one portion of the river. These new islands were rapidly colonized by Cecropia trees.

Posted on March 23, 2018 03:14 PM by c_michael_hogan