Jamu Lodge
Ecuador Amazon Lodges
Starting at $310
Per person
3 - 5 Days
Itineraries
38 Guests
19 Rooms
Jamu Lodge sits directly on the Cuyabeno River, and your stay starts with a two-hour canoe ride in — a prehistoric-looking Hoatzin watching from the branches, monkeys crashing through the canopy overhead. From here you'll swim in a black-water lagoon with pink river dolphins, paddle a hand-carved "quilla" canoe through a flooded forest at first light, scan the riverbanks for caiman eyes glowing in the dark, and sit down with a Tarapuy family to learn how they make cassava bread. This is the Amazon without the postcard filter.
Lodge Rooms
Jamu sits directly on the Cuyabeno River, built the way lodges have always been built in this stretch of the reserve —local materials, thatched roofs, and just enough furniture to make a jungle stay comfortable without ever feeling like you left it behind. There's no WiFi and no air conditioning in the rooms; guests tend to mention that as a feature, not a complaint.
Superior Suite
GUESTS
2 - 4
SIZE
60 m² / 645 ft²
Three suites give you the same riverside setting with more room to spread out: a private balcony, a sitting area, a bathroom with both shower and soaking tub, robes, a stocked bar, a bottle of water delivered daily, and the option to have breakfast or dinner brought straight to your room. Charging points are built in for cameras and phones — you'll want them after the first lagoon swim.
Standard Suite
GUESTS
2 - 4
SIZE
30 m² / 320 ft²
Five cabins, each with a private bathroom, hot water, and mosquito netting over every bed. Pick a matrimonial (one queen bed), a double twin (two singles), a triple, or a family layout that sleeps up to four across a queen bed and a bunk. Simple, solid, and exactly what you need after a day in the humidity.
Activities
• Two-hour canoe entry along the Cuyabeno River, spotting caciques, oropendolas, and the prehistoric-looking Hoatzin
• Sunset over Laguna Grande, the reserve's largest black-water lagoon
• Primary forest hikes (3–4 hours) covering rainforest ecology and traditional medicinal plants
• Swimming in the lagoon, with a chance of spotting pink river dolphins
• Night canoe excursions to search the riverbanks for caiman
• Optional early-morning bird watching, weather permitting
• A visit to a family from the Tarapuy community to learn traditional casabe (cassava bread) making
• Night walk through the primary forest tracking nocturnal insects — spiders, geckos, and scorpions
• Bird watching by native paddle canoe (“quilla”) through the flooded forest Which of these you experience depends on how many days you stay — the longer itineraries work through the full list
Itineraries
Option 1
4-Days Standard
380
USD per person
Operation days:
Departures Mon - Tue - Thu - Fri
Option 2
5-Days Standard
500
USD per person
Operation days:
Departures Mon - Tue - Thu - Fri
Option 3
4-Days Superior
650
USD per person
Operation days:
Departures Mon - Tue - Thu - Fri
Option 4
5-Days Superior
860
USD per person
Operation days:
Departures Mon - Tue - Thu - Fri
Sample Itinerary
DAY
1
ENTRY TO JAMU LODGE: CUYABENO RIVER BRIDGE TO THE LODGE
The tour meets at 11:30 a.m. at the entrance bridge to the Cuyabeno Reserve, where a box lunch is waiting before you even step into a canoe. Your guide runs through what to expect from the Reserve, then it's a two-hour ride downriver toward Jamu Lodge — prime time to spot caciques and oropendolas working the treetops, the occasional troop of monkeys, and the Hoatzin, the reserve's odd-looking signature bird. You'll reach the lodge around 2:30 p.m. and get settled into your cabin. Once you've caught your breath, it's back out for sunset over Laguna Grande before dinner and your first night at Jamu — hammock optional, bar open.
DAY
2
PRIMARY FOREST AND THE LAGOON
Breakfast first, then a 3–4 hour walk through primary forest, where your guide points out everything from towering ceiba trees to the ant colonies working the forest floor, along with which plants the local communities rely on as medicine. Back at the lodge for lunch and a break, then in the afternoon it's time to look for butterflies and cool off with a swim in the lagoon — keep an eye out for pink river dolphins surfacing nearby. After dinner, the night activity is a canoe search along the riverbanks for caiman, eyes glowing red in the flashlight beam
DAY
3
THE TARAPUY COMMUNITY
After breakfast, a roughly one-hour canoe ride downstream brings you to a family from the Tarapuy community, where you'll spend the better part of the day learning to make casabe — traditional cassava bread — using tools and techniques passed down through generations in the jungle. You're back at the lodge by early afternoon for lunch, with time to rest before a short evening walk through the primary forest tuned to the sounds of the night: spiders, geckos, and scorpions doing their thing after dark.
DAY
4
BIRD WATCHING AND DEPARTURE
An optional early bird-watching outing before breakfast, weather permitting, then breakfast and the transfer back to the Cuyabeno Reserve Bridge, where your tour wraps up.
What’s included
✓ Accommodation in the room category booked
✓ Bilingual native guide (Es, En)
✓ WiFi communal areas
✓ Excursions and activities per the itinerary, based on the nights booked
✓ Full board, from lunch on Day 1 through lunch at the Bridge on your last day
✓ Rubber boots, raincoats, and life jackets
✓ Hot drinks for breakfast, water all day (non-alcoholic)
✓ Shared canoe transportation: Cuyabeno Reserve Bridge – Jamu Lodge – Cuyabeno Reserve Bridge (standard transfer in at 12:00 p.m., out at 9:30 a.m. with the regular group)
Not included
✘ Transportation Quito – Cuyabeno Reserve Bridge – Quito
✘ Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve community entrance fee ($10 per person, paid locally in cash)
✘ Alcoholic beverages or hot drinks outside breakfast hours
✘ Personal expenses
✘ Tips
