A bumpy landing along the dusty runway...
A glimpse of an unidentifiable bird of prey or macaw will have given you a flavour of what is to come, and yellow blossoming trees offer relief from the checker board of green that continues to the horizon. The coffee brown waters of the Rio Curarary, laden with Andean sediment, meanders in obscene angles, and temporarily defies its ultimate destination far to the east. Finally a bumpy landing along the dusty runway rudely interrupts both the most serene flight of your life and an endless expanse of rainforest, and marks your entry into Pavacachi. While one does not realise it at the time, the hour panoramic view of the most western edges of the Amazon should be savoured. Once you are in, such open views are restricted by the dense jungle, home to few people, ample wildlife, legends of giant anacondas, mystery and surprise.

The Amazon lures visitors for numerous reasons; jungle adventure, the chance to spot some of the better known animals, to satisfy an obscure wildlife passion, or learn about indigenous culture. Pavacachi satisfies these attractions in the most uncompromising fashion due to some key features. It is remote and there has been no logging or fragmentation to the habitat. The small Kichwa community are self sufficient, and their agriculture and sustainable fishing and hunting does not deplete the wildlife. They have a desire to share the wonder of their forest with others. So while there is no doubt that Pavacachi is brimming with diversity, this is not a zoo, or an island of forest reserve stuck in a sea of deforested land. The animals are not penned in, they are not habituated to humans, they have complete freedom with the only threat being Nature herself.

Birds
Rush hour commences a few moments before dawn. The early birders more than compensate for a slight lack of sleep, by sharing ‘the best time of day’ with hundreds of birds taking advantage of the cool of the morning and activity of their insect prey. The medley of sounds alone is enough to give a sense of the avian diversity which is over 500 species. A full description of the birds to be found at Pavacachi would require a small book and a few hours. The quintessential Amazon birds that appeal to all include; the funky dancing Manakins (immortalised by David Attenborough’s Life of Birds) that combine colour, wing-snapping and moon-walking all in a lek display to impress the females; the most prominent sounding Screaming Piha, also a lekking species that truly screams its heart out to vie for female attention, hummingbirds so quick that one blink and they are gone, and Trogons whose docile behaviour and bright colours make them some of the easier forest birds to spot with the help of a local guide imitating their call. A sunny afternoon could not be more suitably completed than by watching a variety of Toucans, Parrots, Macaws and Woodpeckers as the sun goes down.

Amphibians and Reptiles
The ‘herpers’ would argue that nightfall is the best time of the day, as they battle with head-torch attracted insects for amphibian and reptile sightings. It’s a tough job but highly rewarding. Anyone with a camera will be delighted by the striking pictures that can be taken of tree-frogs and lizards, which employ their immobility as an unsuccessful camouflage. After heavy rain, when they descend from the protection of the canopy in order to mate in temporary pools of water, is the best chance of coming eye to huge eye with many of the tree-frog species.

Stomping through the forest at night invites an encounter with a herper's delight - one of the 45+ species of snakes slithering silently through the darkness. Boas, vipers, the Bushmaster! The name alone commands respect, granted by the locals through myth, legend and claims of a haunting forest cry.   

Mammals
It is testament to the condition of the forest and foresight of Pavacachi community that healthy populations of 12 species of monkey can be found here. Habitat loss and fragmentation, combined with hunting has been the major cause for the depletion of primates in the Ecuadorian Amazon. In many areas several species have become locally extinct, where a switch from traditional hunting practises to the use of shot-guns has made bush-meat, particularly monkeys, but also peccaries, anteaters, and tapirs more accessible. Fortunately this is not the case in Pavacachi, and regular sightings are made of White Lipped and Collared Peccary, Tapir, Spider Monkeys, Howlers, Capuchins, Wooleys, the tiny Pygmy Marmosets and Saki monkeys to name a few. Tracks, sightings by community members and the loss of chickens also indicate the presence of big cats such as Jaguar, Puma and Ocelots.

Insects
For those after guaranteed thrills, the insects will keep you occupied day and night. Minutes to hours can be spent pondering the mechanical behaviour of trails of leaf-cutter ants which diligently carry fragments of the forest’s foliage to deep subterranean nests. This adaptation makes accessible the toxin-laced vegetation there to prevent such foraging, as the leaf cuttings are placed on a fungus bed unaffected by its toxic content in the ant nest, allowing the ant colony to happily “munch on the mushrooms”. Insects are abundant and very varied, especially in tropical rainforests, so on the one hand the vicious sting of 1 inch Bullet ants instils absolute fear, the large blue Morpho butterflies delights. It is impossible to get bored by the variety of shapes, behaviours and adaptations found in the world of insects and arthropods. Let’s not forget the tarantulas!

Ultimate Sightings..
Not to be expected but possible with a healthy measure of both local skill and good fortune:
Top predator Harpey Eagle that feast on monkeys and sloths
Jaguar, puma, ocelot – their presence enough for a second glance in the shadows
Adult bushmaster - giant pit-viper snake
Currasows – very, very rare bird
Caecilians – Rarely encountered subterranean amphibians that can be mistaken for a worm or a snake
Grey and Pink River Dolphin - possible with many hours spent at the river
Sloth – with moss growing on their fur, good luck to make them out
Piping and Spix’s Guan, the patron of Pavacachi
Anaconda, rainbow boa, vine snakes
Tapir – elusive rainforest ‘cow’
Peccary –wild boar, often in packs of hundreds in a cloud of flies, the stench enough to cause a gag reflex. Fearsome, a sight seen to be believed, but with the closest tree to climb in mind!