Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
This chapter focuses on the Eastern slopes of the northern Ecuador-
ian Andes, as well as two gateway towns into the upper Amazon and
their respective regional highlights. One such attraction is
Lago
Agrio
on the Río Aguarico, which offers access to the Cuyabeno re-
gion. The other is
Coca
on the Lower Río Napo, providing access to
Limoncocha Biological Reserve, Yasuní National Park and indige-
nous lands along the Ríos Napo, Tiputini, Shiripuno and Yasuní.
Tena
and the Upper Río Napo is the third gateway jungle town and
an extension of what is available via Coca, but it is treated in the next
chapter with the central and southern Oriente.
History
T
hough there are a couple of archeological sites that
have survived the tropical environment, little is
known about the pre-Columbian settlement of the Amazo-
nian region. With the arrival of the Incas and Spanish
shortly after, Quichua Amerindians migrated east into the jungle
and mixed with previous inhabitants. The earliest recorded travelers
to Ecuador's upper Amazon were the Spanish conquistadors andmis-
sionaries in the mid-1500s. The first expedition was led by Francisco
de Orellana and included a couple of hundred conquistadors, thou-
sands of Indian slaves, dogs, horses and pigs, traveling through a land
that became referred to as “Green Hell.” Though all but a few conquis-
tadors perished, it was the first recorded expedition to traverse the en-
tire length of the Amazon to the Atlantic. From then on, the Spanish
left a lasting legacy in the Oriente, primarily through their mission-
ary influence.
Until
oil
was discovered here in the second half of the 20th century,
the region remained relatively undeveloped. Nueva Loja, the official
name for Lago Agrio, was first developed as a base of operations for
US oil giant, Texaco. This was also the beginning of mass migration
from the highlands (from towns such as Loja) and coastal regions of
Ecuador, into the Oriente. Once the roads were built, pipelines laid,
Indians sedated (or dead) and oil flowing, people streamed in.
In 1979 the
Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve
was created to protect the
rainforest and native communities who were trying to maintain tra-
ditional lifestyles. The original 635,000 acres lay southeast of Lago
Agrio and incorporated the territories of the Secoya, Cofan, and Siona
communities. Oil expansion in the 1980s, however, blazed a trail from
Search WWH ::
Custom Search