Cuyabeno Wildlife Center — Hotel in Aguas Negras

We contacted Cuyabeno Wildlife Center to book the 5 day Tage / Ayahuasca Tour. During the purchase process, Michael was very nice and helpful, he replied quickly on all our questions and made the reservation easy for us. Our stay was operated by the staff of Dolphin Lodge. Amazing guys with a huge knowledge about the rain forest sharing it during canoe and walking tours. The tour was mainly the same as the Cuyabena Enchanted Tour: 4 of those 5 days were completely identical while one day was different due to the Ayahuasca ceremony. Therefore the price of our package was 550 US$ instead of 330 US$. We booked this tour knowing that 220 US$ is a high price for such a ceremony (compared to other options for only 70 US$), but got a good feeling due to their homepage and Mike's nice support when making the reservation. Furthermore, we wanted to make the best choice for this most likely unique experience. All in one our days were amazing at Dolphin Lodge. The Ayahuasca ceremony was a joke, not at all displaying the extremely high pricing. Although the shaman said he'd take care of us, it would be a nice ceremony, ... he did not really care of what we were doing. In fact he barely stood up from his hammock were he spent the whole night after the so called ceremony of maybe one minute. Even if two of the three of us had two glasses (double of the usual dose), there was no effect at all. When he told us to go to bed at midnight, we just asked for 10 minutes to get ready. Then the shaman left without a word instead of bringing us to his house where we should sleep (what he considered super important some hours ago). This means we spent in the end 220 US$ per person for lying in this hut for 4 hours nothing happening. The next day the shaman woke us up at 5:57 am and told us we had to leave at 6:00 am. Asking if we really had to leave within 3 minutes (nothing of that was communicated the day before) and if the canoe was waiting for us, he replied simply yes. He then wanted us to pay him, and a small discussion started when we replied we paid already the agency. Anyway, booking with the shaman directly would have had a cost of 80 US$ instead of 220 $, what the agency charges us. Arriving at the river, there was no canoe at all. We waited for one hour alone in the jungle, standing in the muddy shore of the river. We then had no option to 'hitchhike' back to the lodge, asking a passing canoe to bring us back (what we paid in addition in form of a tip). After this horrible overpriced experience, we approached the team of the lodge and Michel. Having chosen the most expensive option and getting the worst possible experience didn't sound fair to us. Michael was very nice, but flooded us with excuses why he can't do anything. Of course this did never happen before (difficult to believe because one day after there were already the next people with issues). In the end we got a reimbursement of 150 US$, but have still paid 70$ for a ceremony that we did not get.

Summary: All except the Ayahuasca ceremony was great and is absolutely recommendable. We still paid 70 US$ per person in the end for nothing at all but a lot of discussions. In my point of view, if a company offers the same service as other companies but for more than double of the price, there should be something special about it. In our case we sadly didn't get anything for our money. It is very disappointing that Mike tried to blame someone else and had many excuses. If a company resells a subcontractor's service, this company is still responsible for the sale of the service or product.

Due to our experience I would not book this tour again. Anyway, since we had a good time apart of this one day, a 5 day tour without the ceremony is a very...

I can't say enough wonderful things about Cuyabeno Wildlife Center, Dolphin Lodge, my guide Alexa, and all the staff that looked after us for 4 nights, 5 days.

I was coming from the Galapogos, and to be completely honest I didnt know if the Amazon would be able to compete. I am please to share that Cuyabeno exceeded anything I could had imagined.

Right from the start, when I was inquiring about the packages offered in the planning stages of my trip , Mike was more thar helpful in answering any questions I had, following up, arranging transportation, and just generally checking in to see how I was doing.

Upon arriving to the meeting point our guide Alexa met us and the journey to the jungle had begun! There was a bit of a language gap between Alexa and us non-spanish speaking guest, but definitely not by lack of effort by Alexa. It was adorable how passionate she was to continue learning English so she could provide the best possible experience for us guests. Always asking if she was saying things correctly and asking new English words, phrases, or slang. She even took the time to try and teach me as much Spanish as she could in 5 days. God bless her patience! Lol

The wildlife in the amazon didn't disappoint either. I saw just about everything I was hoping to see. Sloths, multiple species of monkeys, pink dolphins, anacondas, poisonous frogs, cayman all kinds of insects and tropical species of birds...and the list just goes on. It's funny because I'm still convinced I wouldn't have seen a single thing unless the eagle vision eyes of Alexa pointed them out for us. I still don't know how she does it. 🧐🤷🏽‍♂️ The only thing I didn't see was a Jaguar, but I knew that was always going to be a long shot ar best.The jungle is just so damn dence. And I'm sure the jaguars don't make it a point to show up for photo opps.

The lodge was a very cozy and intimate. A perfect environment for strangers to quickly become friends. The food was yummy too!

Loved the structure of the activitiies provided. Which included night boat rides, forest hikes, a visit to a traditional community (the kid and the capybara aka rodent dog where so cute), and sunset dips in the lagoon.

I think my favorite part though was that the natural raw beauty of what the rainforest has to offer, provided the perfect environment for me to slow myself down just enough to see how connected we all are within Creation and the beauty of what this earth provides us.

I was guest to the lodge, yes...but I was also a guest to this natural peace and serenity of Creation. I was a visitor to their home, and not vice-versa. What a privilege and honor!

Gracias Cuyabeno...

The Cuyabeno Wildlife Center is the PLACE to go if you want to visit Cuyabeno and experience the Amazon Rainforest from the Ecuadorian side. I visited with one of my friends who came from Japan and the experience exceeded all expectations. We were under the guidance of three knowledgeable tour guides: Esmeralda brought us on the two-hour trip by boat to the lodge. She was our first guide and so we were amazed by everything that we were able to see with her- so many different birds, monkeys, and even an anaconda. Then once we arrived, Victor Hugo was our main tour guide for the next three days. He's full of information about the area and all the wildlife that lives there. I don't think there was a single question we had that he could not answer. What's what bird sound from afar? Victor knows. He filled us with fun facts while showing us the most amazing things. We were able to spot a whole family of otters. Otters!! He's also got an eagle's eye for spotting things- like a small cayman from 20 meters away. Whatever you are interested, Victor will try to find it for you. Fun fact, he also took a lot of the professional looking photos that are hanging up in the cafeteria/lounge area. Our last guide was Alexandra who led us back from the lodge to the pick-up spot. We had some great conversations and for someone who only just started learning English 6-months ago, she's has made huge progress and is now a wonderful guide. Most of all, she's always willing to learn new words and is such a smiley person. We also saw an anaconda on the way back which really made it a full-circle experience. The food was sooooo delicious, every single day. There were so many fresh vegetables and fruits and the staff work with any food restrictions, diets, or allergies you might have. The rooms were also really comfortable and they even had hot water, which was a huge plus. At night, the jungle comes to life with sound. My friend and I really appreciated all three of our guides and were really pleased to see such great representation of genders and local indigenous people on the staff. I felt the trip to the local community was also done quite respectfully, which was important to me.

I will of course recommend them...