fun to do kids amazon ecuador oriente   Travel for Kids
Ecuador
   
     
   

Ecuador Amazon

cuyabeno amazon
In eastern Ecuador (the Oriente), tropical rain forests are home to indigenous people and hundreds of species of plants and animals. Rivers, such as the Rio Napo and Rio Aguarico, begin in Ecuador, and eventually join with the Amazon much further east. In the jungle, kids can see wide variety of birds and animals – caiman (also called cayaman, a relative of the alligator), macaws, toucans, monkeys, jaguar, pink river dolphins, manatees and piranhas. Imagine paddling your dugout canoe through the jungle …
    To get to the jungle, travel overland from Quito, or take a quick flight to Coca or Lago Agrio. From there, take a boat down the river to a jungle lodge. The lodges, often staffed with indigenous peoples, will organize hikes, canoeing, and other activities in the rain forest.
Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve – Fly to Lago Agrio, then take a boat down the Aguarico river (one option is the floating hotel, Flotel Orellana). Cuyabeno is a partially flooded rainforest (igapo), that is a maze of lagoons, rivers and watery forests. This region is famous for its pink river dolphins, and kids can spot manatees and piranhas, paiches (a fish that can grow to 6 feet long), squirrel monkeys, red howler monkeys, spider monkeys, hundreds of species of tropical birds.
      Paddle dugout canoes, in the Caiman Cocha, a lagoon populated with caymans.
      Swim with pink river dolphins and piranhas – major bragging rights for swimming with piranhas!
      Hike with a Cofan, Siona or Secoya guide through jungle to learn about medicinal herbs and poisonous plants, local folklore and how to use a blow gun (bring back one as a souvenir).
      Nighttime excursions to see tree frogs, fruit bats and kinkajous and cayman.
    Yachana Lodge – Take a boat down the Rio Napo from Misahualli to the Yachana Lodge (between Ahuana and Coca). Life jackets are provided for the two hour boat ride and you'll see incredible jungle along the Rio Napo.
      See how to roast coca beans, grind them, then make your own hot chocolate to drink.
      Visit a local healer who uses indigenous plants for healing. Learn how to blow darts from a big blow guns, aimed at a papaya, or throw spears. Try your hand with a fishing net or gold panning.
      Take hikes in the jungle. Your guides will provide boots in kid's sizes for the hikes through the dripping wet rainforest. Kids will love the amazing bug life in the jungle, grasshoppers the size of a desk stapler and huge leaf cutter ants.
La Selva Jungle Lodge – Fly to Coca, then it's a 2-3 hour boat ride down the Rio Napo.
      Paddle dugout canoes and take motorized canoe rides to explore the Rio Napo and Lake Garzacocha. Fish for piranhas (if you catch some, try eating them for dinner).
      Hike through primary rainforest where you can see leafcutter and lemon ants (they taste like lemons if you eat them), howler monkeys, butterflies and, if you're lucky, jaguars. Picnic with parrots, parakeets and macaws. Go up the observation tower to watch birds in the jungle.
      Take a night time excursion to see caiman, monkeys, bats and owls.
  Tip: It does rain in the rainforest. Bring ponchos or lightweight anoraks, and consider bringing boots in kids sizes.
kids books ecuador amazon
     
The Great Kapok Tree kids books ecuador amazon  
The Great Kapok Tree
Lynne Cherry

In the Amazon rain forest, a tree-cutter falls asleep under a spreading Kapok tree. In his dreams, a boa constrictor, monkeys, toucan and macaw, tree frog, anteater, jaguar,and sloth, all speak to the man of the wonder, beauty and importance of a single tree in the rain forest. Marvelously illustrated! (Picture book)

 

     
Afternoon on the Amazon
(Magic Tree House)
Mary Pope Osborne

The magic tree house drops Jack and Annie into a tropical rain forest. On the run from army ants, floating down the river in a dugout canoe, Jack and Annie are saved by a monkey, but will they escape an angry mother jaguar? (Easy reader)

 

 
     
We're Roaming in the Rainforest toddlers books brazil  
We're Roaming the Rainforest
Laurie Krebs, Anne Wilson

Sunrise to sunset in the Amazon rainforest – monkeys hang by their tails, sloths snooze in the trees, pink dolphins swin in the river, poison dart frogs hide under logs, otters cuddle together till they fall asleep. Two page, colorful collage illustrations, fun for little kids. (Picture book)

 

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