Puyo, like the Amazonian city of Tena, is considered a “gateway to the Amazon”. It’s a good jumping off point for those of you that want to experience the Amazon rainforest without committing an entire week of your trip to Ecuador. In the following blog, I’ll provide a few eco-friendly Ecuador Amazon lodges around Puyo.
Where is Puyo?
Puyo is a city of approximately 25,000 inhabitants, located between Baños, Macas and Tena. It is the capital of the Pastaza province and situated alongside the Puyo River, which leads deeper into the Amazon.
If you’re planning to stay at a lodge around Puyo, keep in mind that this area isn’t considered the deep Amazon rainforest. Nonetheless, it’s still an area rich in flora and fauna, and is much more accessible than most places in the deeper Amazon.
An interesting fact about Puyo: In Kichwa, puyo means fog or clouds and you’ll find that, at dawn, the area is often enveloped in fog, making it significantly cooler than regions farther into the Amazon.
Why stay at Ecuador Amazon lodges?
The word lodge connotes luxury and dollar signs, but many Ecuador Amazon lodges are very reasonably priced and offer excellent options to explore the rainforest environment and learn about the indigenous communities that continue to live here.
In fact, many lodges, including some of the options below, are run by indigenous communities themselves.
There are a couple of advantages to staying at an Amazon lodge that you should consider:
- Lodges are usually located in more remote areas, giving you direct access to the rainforest, while providing the comforts of a hotel.
- Given their geographic isolation, most lodges provide day tours and activities, as well as additional facilities. This is convenient for the guests, as well as the lodge, which profits directly.
- The lodges that are based at or run by an indigenous community provide a unique glimpse into their traditional and daily lives.
Though not technically a lodge, at Alma Healing Center, many of our guests emphasize that staying at the community and experiencing their day-to-day was one of the highlights of their experience in the rainforest.
Why stay in Puyo vs Tena vs deeper Amazon?
Many travelers that arrive in Quito opt for Tena because it’s much closer to Quito (3.5 hr drive) and provides numerous options, including all-inclusive Ecuador amazon lodges in the rainforest nearby. Tena is a beautiful city, and one of my favorite destinations for visiting the jungle, but it has also gotten quite touristy over the past few years.
In comparison, Puyo feels like a much more authentic Ecuadorian-Amazonian city. It’s a bit more chaotic and a lot less touristy; you won’t find as many good hostel options in town, but that’s okay because you’re planning to visit the jungle, right?
One advantage about the area around Puyo, as well as Tena, and in comparison to the deeper Amazon (areas like Cuyabeno, Tiputini, Yasuni or the Lower Napo), is that, because Puyo and Tena are at the foothills of the Andes, the geography offers more topographic diversity. The deeper Amazon flattens out completely, the rivers grow wide, the temperature is warmer and more humid, which also makes biting insects more of an issue.
The areas around Puyo and Tena offer visitors access to innumerable waterfalls and swimming holes, and rivers are better for adventure activities, like canoeing. In both places you can observe wildlife, but many of the creatures in the deeper Amazon are larger and more mysterious.
If you have the time in your itinerary to go deeper into the jungle, go for it. But, speaking from experience, it’s a long haul and, while you can wing it and just find a guide once you arrive at your destination, that might be a risky move for a traveler, and you might feel compelled to invest in a packaged deal at a lodge.
Top Ecuador Amazon lodges around Puyo
Parque Etnobotánico Omaere – On the northeast edge of town, the Parque Etnobotánico Omaere (9am-5pm Tues.-Sun., $3 pp, minimum group price $5) is a small botanical reserve that was founded in 1993 by a Shuar woman and two French women, who bought the 15-hectare plot and filled it with the plants most important to Amazonian peoples. There are also traditional Shuar and Waorani houses. A guided tour (included) takes 1-2 hours. To get there, cross the footbridge over the river from the Malecón, pass the Hostal El Jardin and continue for another 200m.
YanaCocha Rescue Centre – A couple of kilometers further north is the YanaCocha Rescue Centre (Via Tena Km 3), a center for wild animals that have been confiscated from traffickers or were illegally kept as pets. At the time of writing, there were 200 animals of 43 species. Wherever possible, the animals are released back into the wild; others will be life-long residents at the center.
Los Yapas Holistic Center – Another 4km north, Los Yapas Holistic Center (Via Tena Km) is a shining example of eco-tourism; a project that works to heal both the natural environment and humans. Formerly a degraded pasture, the 25 hectare site has been lovingly restored using permaculture and now houses a botanical garden, an eco-lodge and a healing center. Tours ($4-$6) of the botanical garden include an orchidarium, bromelarium, medicinal plants garden and reforestation area. Essential oils such as lemongrass, wild garlic and cinnamon are for sale. Accommodation is available in beautiful wooden rooms. The healing center offers 1-5 day holistic packages of physical and spiritual practices such as yoga, tai chi, meditation, mindfulness and massage. The restaurant serves vegan and vegetarian food, mostly organic. The center accepts volunteers. If you’re arriving by bus, ask to be let out at Fatima, from where the center is signposted. It’s $5 by taxi from Puyo.
El Jardín Botánico Las Orquideas – Around 3km south of Puyo is another botanical garden, El Jardín Botánico Las Orquideas ($5), the life’s work of Omar Tello, who bought a degraded 7 hectare plot in 1980 and has restored it with 300 orchid species and endangered rainforest plants. A guided tour (included) takes 2-3 hours. Look for the bus to Los Angeles, and ask to be dropped off at Las Orquideas, about a 10-minute ride. A taxi costs $2-3.
Fundación Hola Vida – Another popular day trip is to Fundación Hola Vida (8am-5pm daily, $1.50), with trails through 225 hectares of secondary rainforest and a beautiful waterfall, 27 kilometers south of Puyo just off the Via Macas. The waterfall is a 20-minute walk from the entrance to the reserve and can be visited independently or with a guide ($5 per group of up to 3 people). Guides wait by the entrance to accompany visitors to the waterfall and no reservation is required. A full-day tour (9am-6pm) is also available, for which it’s necessary to book by telephone at least one day ahead. The tour includes the waterfall ($1.50pp); a visit to a Kichwa community ($1pp); lunch ($5pp); a visit to a truly spectacular Mirador Indichuris, with an extreme swing over the jungle ($3); a paddle canoe ride ($15 per group of up to 4); a tour of a cacao farm ($2, including a piece of chocolate and some yucca bread). The guide for the full-day tour charges $20-$25 per group of up to 4 people ($40 for an English speaking guide). To get there, take any bus going to Macas from Puyo and ask to be let off at Hola Vida ($1.50), or take a taxi ($10). If you do the full-day tour, you may miss the last bus back to Puyo and have to go back by taxi. Tour agencies in Baños and Puyo offer the full-day tour with private transport for around $40pp.
Alma Healing Center
Led by Taita Alejandro Ayuryü, a certified practitioner of ancestral medicine, Alma Healing Center offers individuals and groups exclusive, safe and authentic Ayahuasca retreats and ceremonies to experience the healing power of ancestral master plants.
Our retreats take place in a small Kichwa indigenous community about an hour’s drive from Puyo where guests stay in simple, locally-constructed huts and participate in numerous rituals with medicinal plants, as well as daily hikes, ensuring a close connection with nature.
If you’ve arrived to the Alma Healing Center page, perhaps it isn’t due to mere coincidence. It’s time to begin your journey greater to happiness and fulfillment.
We look forward to holding space for you.
