CUYABENO LODGE

In its relatively small area of 270,000 km, Ecuador has about a dozen of large protected areas, covering about a tenth of the entire national territory.

The Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve is the second largest one, and the only area with substantial lakes and marshes, being the Cuyabeno Lakes and Lagarto Cocha lakes systems. The Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve is a protected area in the Province of Sucumbios, northeastern Ecuador. The reserve of 655,781 ha is located on the equator. It extends from the origins of the Río Cuyabeno through its hydrographic system, until it empties into the Río Aguarico; then 60 km east to the lakes Zancudo Cocha and Lagarto Cocha (76deg.30' W - 75deg.30' W). With an altitude between 300-400 m above sea level, it is part of the Tropical Humid Forest life zone (Cañadas Cruz, 1983; Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganaderia, Republica del Ecuador, Acuerdo Ministerial No. 0328, 1991).