Travel Guide Reserva De Cuyabeno

Cuyabeno is one of the richest reserves in the country in terms of biodiversity (together with the Yasuní National Park), and a still wild territory.Within this ecosystem, there are 14 lagoons, including the Laguna Grande, connected by canals and river arms, and more than 500 species of birds, 450 species of fish, 12,000 plant species, 160 species of mammals, 54 species of reptiles and 84 species of amphibians. The animals live there in total serenity, and one can meet caimans, anacondas, boa, armadillos, tapirs, pink freshwater dolphins, monkeys (woolly, spider, etc.), toucans, parrots, insects (spider-scorpion, tarantula, conga, etc.), pumas, sloths, frogs...The reserve is also the cradle of eight indigenous communities of five different nationalities (Siona, Secoya, Cofán, Kichwa - or Quichua - and Shuar), which you may have the chance to meet. These populations live in harmony with nature and try to perpetuate their age-old traditions. For them, the forest is a sacred territory, the animals are considered as protective spirits and the plants have medicinal virtues. In the villages, the shamans are the custodians of ancestral know-how and practices (healing, clairvoyance, among others), which earns them the deepest respect of the population. They know all the secrets of the forest and are able to contact its spirits; they are the link between it and its inhabitants. During shamanic ceremonies, they useayahuasca (or yajé), a sacred plant with which they prepare a drink that allows them to "travel in the cosmos" and thus heal, advise and transmit their knowledge to those around them.