The131 m tall San Rafael Water fall is the
highest waterfall in Ecuador and the third highest in the Andes. It’s also the
biggest waterfall by volume in the country and 25th biggest by volume worldwide
with an everage water flow of about 400 cubic meters per second according to the
Waterfall Database. One gets to the San Rafael Water Falls, Ecuador, on
the Coca River, following the road from Quito to Lagoagrio.
Ecuador's tallest waterfall, San Rafael Falls.
Upper falls of the San Rafael Waterfall.
CUYABENO, GETTING THERE AND BACK
There are 3 options to travel to the Amazon Lowlands:
Take the night bus from Quito to
Lagoagrio (usually leaves at 11 at night) from the "Terminal Norte"
in Quito and arrive in Lagoagrio at dawn, which takes about 7 hours. It
costs about $ 25 for the round trip and you have to leave from your hotel in
Quito to the terminal an hour before departure (by taxi). Alternatively, you can
take a day bus, but then you will have to spend the night in Lagoagrio. We
will pick you up in Lagoagrio in combination with arriving passengers by
plane, departing generally at 10:30 (depending on the arrival of the plane),
to Nuevo Unión (2 hours), where we embark in our canoe at about 12:30.
Between your departure from your hotel at night at 10 at night until
boarding the our motorized canoe, will be more or less 15 hours. The same
applies for the Lake Cuyabeno accommodations which pass through the main
park entrance on the Cuyabeno River.
Fly with Tame Quito - Lagoagrio.
You can book your ticket at
https://www.tame.com.ec, which costs about $ 150 round trip, but
additionally you have to consider the cost of a taxi that costs 2X25; Then
it actually costs $ 200. Your flight usually leaves at 9 in the morning, and
takes 30 minutes to arrive. As many times the flight is delayed, count on
arriving around 10, and after getting your luggage, it will be 10:30. We'll
pick you up at the airport. From there it takes two hours to arrive in Nuevo
Union, where we leave in our canoe at 12:30. Thus flying takes a total of
5 - 6 hours from your hotel until you can embark on the Rio Aguarico. The
same applies for the Lake Cuyabeno accommodations which pass through the
main park entrance on the Cuyabeno River.
Take our Private Trans-Andean Transportation to the
Aguarico or Cuyabeno River, of which you can read the details below. We will pick
you up at your hotel early in the morning and take to the Aguarico River in
about 8 - 9 hours depending how much time we spend on the way at the
overlooks into the Cayambe - Coca Ecological Reserve, the San Rafael Falls,
the Reventador Volcano and the Papallacta spas.
The same applies for the Lake Cuyabeno accommodations which pass through the
main park entrance on the Cuyabeno River.
Routes from the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve programss of Parks and
Tribes / Cofan Lodge:
Cuyabeno Lake Area including our new 1 daytrip;
Cuyabeno Loop;
Lagarto Coche Expedition with the Cuyabeno Lake area as an
additional option.
Near the mountain pass you pass by
beautiful paramos and some of the highest rainforests in
the world along Lake Papallacta.
The San Rafael waterfall surrounded by virgin cloud
forest is the most beautiful waterfall of the country.
Bordering Lake Papallacta is the Jamanco Spa with
great mineral water without prior filtration as done in
the Papallacta resorts. As a result, the mineral quality
is supposed to be better, while resort prices are a
fraction of the spas in Papallacta.
The Reventador is Ecuador's most
active volcano and frequently runs of down-pouring can be
seen glowing in the night.
It is possible to
arrange for spending the night at either a Papallacta (costly) or Jamanco
(friendly and much more economical) Spa, but then another day is needed.
Many passengers
who take the private transportation, chose to fly back or visa versa.
Arrival at the airport of oil-boom town Lagoagrio.
On a clear day you can see the
Cayambe exactly on the equator, as you fly around it. It is
the only major volcano as well as the only glacier in the
world precisely on the equator. On the way in, chose a
window on the right and on the way back on the left of the
plane.
WHAT IS INCLUDED?
National Parks Tours
All hotels
and lodges;
Transportation:
All ground transportation on the National Parks tours;
In-country
flights where included in the national parks tour program, but NOT to/fro Galapagos
or Lagoagrio;
An English speaking naturalist guide. A German or
French speaking guide may also be available, but can't be guaranteed.
All entry fees.
NOT INCLUDED:
Meals and beverages.
Amazon Tours
Lodging;
Excursions with professional nature guides;
All Amazon
programs
include all meals, and fruit juices served with the meals. Our restaurants serve
a mix of international cuisine and occasionally, the Cofan Lodge offers a
sample meal of traditional Cofan dishes.
Meals include coffee, tea and bottled
water;
Transportation between Lagoagrio and the access
rivers.
NOT
INCLUDED:
Bottled and alcoholic beverages need to be paid.
COMBI-DISCOUNTS
Depending on the program you selected, we always try to give you
a discount on combined modules. Groups above 4 passengers will receive discounts, depending on group size.
HOW TO BOOK A TOUR?
Our programs are rather customized and we try to
accommodate the travel needs of our customers. To avoid misunderstandings, we
don't offer a prepaid travel option.
Just send an email to
or contact us through our contact data below.
From Abroad:
Sending money from abroad is rather costly and we try to minimize money going to
bank transfers.
Once your schedule has been worked out, we kindly request you to make a reservation guarantee
transfer of only $100 by
Western Union or
Moneygram. The balance you pay in CASH in
Quito upon arrival (we don't take credit cards!) This way you don't lose a lot
of money sending money. The $100 is NOT recoverable upon cancelation.
Why we don't accept credit cards in Ecuador either? The credit card services
charge 7%! We would have to charge you for that, making your trip more
expensive. We do everything to make your trip as cost effective as possible.
Already in Ecuador?
You can pay in our office mentioned below. We apply a cancelation fee of $100.