Do you know that magical moment when everything seems to stop? It’s just you and the moment, nothing disturbing it. I want to share with you one of those moment that happened to me.
On a paddling tour in Cuyabeno
This magical moment took place last fall in Cuyabeno Reserve, Ecuador, Amazon. Cuyabeno Reserve in Ecuador is one of the most bio-diverse areas in the planet. I´m lucky enough to live near to this beautiful area. I have many happy memories from there.
Once I went there with my husband and he was guiding a tour, so there was a bunch of tourists too. It was a paddling trip, really hot day and I was four months pregnant. We decided that it´s better that I skipped the paddling and traveled to our campsite on a canoe, with the other staff and all the equipment. On paddling tours the first night is always on a campsite, because the lodges are too far to paddle in one day.
Swimming in Cuyabeno
I arrived to the campsite early and decided to go swimming into the river. I was standing on the edge of a parked canoe, ready to jump to the water when I saw something that stopped me from what I was doing. It was a huge fish called Arapaima. It came out of the river to breathe. I saw it few times jump to the surface before it dived into the deep Cuyabeno river. That moment to was really magical experience to me. Standing alone on a canoe in a middle of a rain forest and seeing this beautiful huge fish.
Arapaima Gigas, also called in spanish Paiche, is native fish to the Amazon basins and it´s the biggest freshwater fish in South America. Arapaimas come to the surface of the river to breathe every 15 minutes. They can reach two meters length or sometimes even more.
If you want to travel to the Ecuadorian Amazon, you can contact me by e-mail: reservations@cuyabenoadventures.com or visit our webpage for more information on the trips. Tour prices starting from four days $240 pp and a paddling tour for five days $330. Tours include transportation Lago Agrio – Cuyabeno – Lago Agrio, activities with an English speaking naturalist guide, food, accommodation in a jungle lodge with private rooms and private bathrooms, purified water, use of wellington boots, rain-poncho and life west during the stay. It´s not possible to visit this area without a licensed guide.
Arapaima photo credit: a_marga via photopin cc
