Yasuni National Park, which is located in the eastern part of Ecuador, also known as Oriente, is very easy to find on the map. But not because the territory it occupies in the provinces of Pastaza and Orellana (approximately 10,000 km 2 ) is comparable to, for example, Jamaica - it is clearly delineated from three sides.
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| Yasuni National Park |
The northern border of the country's largest continental park runs along the Napo River, the eastern border coincides with the Peruvian state border, from the south Yasuni does not "cross" the Kuraray River. On the fourth - the western side - are the Andes, the foothills of which begin already 40 km from the reserve, which is the only site of truly virgin equatorial nature.
Most of the territory of the Yasuni National Park is covered with tropical forests; there are lakes, rivers, the space between which is occupied by floodplain thickets of igapo, which are in a flooded state all year round and form unique ecosystems.
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| Yasuni National Park |
According to biologists and connoisseurs of wildlife, the main feature of this protected area is that the ice age in no way affected the region in which it is located. This circumstance led to such biological diversity in the selva, which is not found anywhere else on the planet: occupying less than 0.2% of the Amazon, Yasuni gave shelter to about a third of all birds, amphibians and reptiles that live in the basin of the largest river in the world. Here alone there are more than 650 birds, more than 110 amphibians, more than 120 reptiles, 117 species of bats; here is the birthplace of more than 23 mammals of Ecuador. The fauna of the latter in various publications, guidebooks, thematic programs, etc. is represented by the "big five" harpy, jumping monkey, tapir, otter and jaguar. The flora of Yasuni is no less diverse than the animal world; it has more than seven hundred species of plants. The number of insects inhabiting the park is amazing; they are registered more than in all of North America - about 100 thousand species.
The unique ethnic groups living in the selva - Huaorani, Quechua, Tagaeri and Taromenanes - still lead a primitive communal way of life; the former attack settlers and prospecting geologists who have found oil here, and the latter two nationalities generally avoid contact with anyone, so traveling through the park without a guide is fraught with a risk to health and life.
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| Yasuni National Park |
The conservation area of Yasun owes its safety to its remoteness from civilization; getting here is difficult, but the difficult path to the park is more than offset by the impressions received and the low cost of excursions, due to the general poverty of the population living in Ecuador.
Should know
- Plants growing in Yasun have set a world record for density per 1 hectare of jungle. Up to 473 species of vines, bushes and trees can be found here.
- The rich oil deposits found on the territory of the reserve are a source of escalation of conflicts between conservationists and aborigines on the one hand and oil companies on the other.
When to visit?
Heavy showers go almost all year round, summer in these parts does not differ from winter. From May to July, the most precipitation falls.
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| Yasuni National Park |
How to get there?
The best is by bus. From Quito to Kok - the tourist center of Yasuni, where excursion groups are formed - the bus travels an average of 9 hours. It takes about 1.5 hours to get from Kok to the park by car and 2 hours to raft down the river.
Do not miss!
Harpies are a species of eagles, one of the largest birds of prey in the world.