Into the primary rainforest of eastern Ecuador with friends to support operations of Kapawi Ecolodge and Reserve and be with the indigenous people who own it. Commitment to cultural survival coupled with a good strategy of cooperation among indigenous peoples is helping them avoid the unhappy fate of so many peoples who have prime timber on their lands and oil underneath....

Military plane took us from Coca to Shell.....

Whoo-eee!! Ever ride in one of these?

Our excellent plane crew, and Señor Bill

This small plane takes us the rest of the way, deep into primary rainforest near the Peruvian border.

That's the Kapahuari River down there...

Watch video below of our landing at the Kapawi airfield.

And then watch video of the plane leaving us behind!

At the Kapawi airfield

Then upriver by boat... Achuar (the indigenous people whose territory we are in) along the shore.

...to Kapawi Ecolodge and Reserve in the heart of Achuar territory. Amazingly marvelous, comfortable and quite luxurious place. And we are way, way, way out here!

Go to Google Maps and copy and paste these coordinates- S2 32.464 W76 51.515 -into the "search" box, and you're here! On the map (or satellite image), the big river you see is the Pastaza River. The smaller tributory snaking away to the north and west is the Kapahuari. Kapawi Ecolodge is located on the Kapahuari.

Here are two of the guest cabanas.

My cabana. Really comfortable, and the food is excellent. For me, this is the way the adventure/cultural experience should be!

Leonardo keeping the books

Inspecting the "wet swamp sewage system". May not look like much, but it's totally eco-sound and (thank God!) works like a charm.

Staff housing - photovoltaic panels on roof supply electric power. Alas, the regular guests never really get to see these parts of the lodge...

Excellent Achuar guide!

Green insect

Blowgun arrows. When curare-tipped, they're very effective at bringing down game.

Dugout canoes, carved from single tree trunks

Morning ride

Primary rainforest. The "lung of the earth". Got to protect it.

Fisherman

Me

Not me

The Pastaza River meanders through the rainforest. We are ten or fifteen days' walk from the nearest road, about as far from "civilization as we know it" as a person can get.

It's another world here. It's like a dream. The place has got SOUL. Wish you were here!

Love, Nick

Map of Achuar Territory | Map of Kapawi Trails