Navigating the Heights of Nangaritza River

The Nangaritza River. Wonderful "hot spot" in the province of Zamora Chinchipe, Ecuador. It is considered one of the most mega-diverse places on Earth. Generator of life in the virgin forest. In its surroundings is the Lost City, the Cave of the Tayos and the Labyrinth of a Thousand Illusions.

One of the alternatives for the motor boat tour on the Nangaritza begins in the Guaysimi canton. It is the only navigable river in the southern part of the Ecuadorian Amazon. From Guaysimi you can go up the waters of this tributary of the Zamora River, to find a different surprise in every bend and bend. Waterfalls, tepuyes or mountain plateaus, canyons over 100 meters high, the song of 535 species of birds, Laguna Negra. The Nangaritza basin is home to 10 communities of the Shuar ethnic group, which successfully resisted Spanish colonization. They are known as the "People of the Waterfalls" or "Indomitable Shuaras of the East".

An obligatory stop is the Cascada de Los Dioses (Waterfall of the Gods) which can be reached by the vine path. Continuing upstream, one passes El Bautizo Canyon, because tourists are soaked by a jet that falls from the plateau. Millions of years ago, the Nangaritza River was part of the sea bed, so it is very easy to find seashells in the water and fossils among the rocks.

Taking advantage of the development of tourism, the Shuaras of the community of Shaime organize artisan, gastronomic and agricultural fairs, to offer ayampaco or wrapped in fish, Creole chicken or corroncho broth, papaya, bananas and yucca. They perform traditional and "clean" dances. Further down, in Héroes del Cóndor there are communities of the Saraguro ethnic group. After passing the canyoned Salto del Tigre, the journey ends in Nuevo Paraíso. Here, we will visit the "Grandfather of the Century" and the Labyrinth of a Thousand Illusions.

The Nangaritza River extends its influence over 200,000 hectares. It has 11 types of ecosystems. It runs perfectly parallel to the Ecuador-Peru border, between the Condor and the Eastern Cordillera. It is the last unaltered man-made connection between the Andes and the Amazon.

It is part of the Podocarpus-El Condor Biosphere Reserve. And as a protection measure of the Ecuadorian state, the Alto Nangaritza Protective Forest and the Cerro Plateado Biological Reserve were created.