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Amazon Tropical Rain Forest of EcuadorEcuador Amazon rainforest is located in the heart of the Amazon Basin, a unique ecosystem. The Amazon Rain Forest Jungle ecosystem is considered to be the richest and most complex environment of plant and animal life in the world. The vast region is characterized by a huge diversity of flora and fauna with extraordinary variations and contrasts in its habitats and micro habitats.
Ecuador Amazon Rainforest covers more than 50% of its territory.
Amazon Jungle Tour The Amazon tropical rain forest is a bird watchers paradise which contains one third of Ecuador bird species offering:
These areas coincide with regions where tropical rain forests persisted like islands located in a sea of grass and seasonal forest during the glacial maxima. These diversity hotspots are also known as Pleistocene refugia and there are more than a dozen found in the Amazon region. There is actually an immense refugia situated in western Amazonia near the Andes. A large part of that area is, in fact, located in the Ecuadorian Amazon Basin. More specifically, at the Napo Pastaza and Morona regions which include protected areas such as the Gran Sumaco Biosphere Reserve. And the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve which encompasses Limoncocha Biological Reserve, Cuyabeno Faunistic Reserve, Pañacocha Protected Forest and Yasuní National Park. This hyper-rich plot comprises 10 percent of the entire tree flora of Amazonian Ecuador! To truly take advantage of the Amazon tropical rain forest you must awake all five senses to discover how exotic life forms have evolved to live together in a minimal extent of land.
The many other animal and plant species need of careful observation to be found because their amazing colors and textures adaptations get confused with the scenery. The many smells tell you of the chemicals that the plants have developed as a defense for herbivores and many are of medicinal use for humans. The soil of the Amazon rain forest is not fertile; the nutrients that supply this exuberant ecosystem are the product of a constant interaction between the living and dying organisms on the surface. Many hypotheses have been raised to explain the impressive high diversity in the tropical rain forest and each provides an insight to understand this complex ecosystem better. The incredible complexity of the Amazon tropical rain forest makes you wonder about the ancestral knowledge of the millenarian Amazon rainforest indigenous people that have passed their knowledge generation after generation as to keep the secrets hidden in this wonderful place on Earth. A short flight from
Quito
or a descent by road on the flanks of the Andes leads modern explorers and adventurers along the same routes that the first Spanish conquerors ventured through in their search of the land of Gold and Cinnamon.
Amazon Tropical Rain Forest WeatherThe average daytime temperature is 30-32º C (85-90º F), while nights can cool down to 23º C (68º F). The rainy period is during April to August (still considered a prime time to visit the Amazon because of increased animal activity). Amazon Tropical Rain Forest History in EcuadorIn 1541, the very first Europeans (Spaniards) set out from Quito to explore these dense jungles east of this ancient Incan capital in search of gold and cinnamon. Not knowing that at the end they will discover the Great Amazon River, and of course the incredible Amazon rain forest. Almost 500 years have passed since the discovery of this magnificent river system that flows through the Amazon tropical rain forest. It contains 10% of all existing tress, 70% of all pharmaceutical compounds, and native Amazon Indians that live symbiotically with their unique ecosystem. Amazon Tropical Rain Forest Check ListIf you are planning on visiting the Amazon rain forest, the following check list will be very helpful:
VACCINATIONS : No vaccinations are required to Ecuador. There has not been any case of tropical diseases (malaria, yellow fever, cholera) reported in or near the area. Click here for recommended Ecuador books For questions and comments about the Amazon tropical rain forest or Jungle tours available, please use the form below:
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