The Napo Amazon
Napo Sumaco UNESCO Global Geopark, designated in 2025 and still almost unvisited
Three and a half hours from Quito via Papallacta and Baeza, and the road drops from the capital at 2,850 metres to Tena at 510. Napo holds two UNESCO designations: the Sumaco Biosphere Reserve, 931,930 hectares, and the Napo Sumaco Global Geopark, with over 170 million years of geological history.
What you will see
Puerto Misahuallí
A river beach on the Napo, with free-roaming capuchin monkeys keeping watch over the bags in the square.
Guayusa Before Dawn
Kichwa communities share the infusion before first light, beside their plots of cacao nacional.
Sumaco and the Jatunyacu
Karst caves in Sumaco Napo-Galeras National Park and rafting on the Jatunyacu, out of the country’s kayaking capital.
Wildlife & flora
Upper Napo terra firme forest, with hoatzin, saddleback tamarin, toucans and black caiman among kapok trees, guayusa and cacao nacional. Rainfall exceeds 3,800 millimetres a year and the mean temperature is 22.7 degrees.
What you should know
There is no dry season here: it rains year-round, so bring waterproofs and quick-drying footwear, not boots that take days. Yellow fever vaccination is recommended for the Ecuadorian Amazon: consult your doctor well in advance. You drop from Quito at 2,850 metres to Tena at 510, so here the body is relieved by altitude rather than punished by it.
