PUYO ECUADOR

The Heart of the Amazon

Puyo, is a city of Ecuador capital of

the Province of Pastaza.The city of
Puyo, capital of the province of
Pastaza, is characterized by having
hundreds of landscapes, charms and
natural beauty. They offer
different options to visitors. Its
tourist offer is wide and it is
enjoyed within the impressive
vegetation, fauna, rivers, waterfalls
and many more fascinating places,
characteristic of the locality.

The travelers, in this destiny can make long walks, and activities of
distraction, suspension bridges or tarabitas; and enjoy the typical aroma of
the thick vegetation.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS OF PUYO

The Malecón Río Puyo impresses the tourists with spaces for walks through
the secondary forest, this very close, a few minutes from the center of Puyo.
In this natural space you will observe birds and admire: macaws, monkeys and
otters. The jungles of this vast canton are cradle of 7 indigenous nationalities:
the Kichwas of the Amazon, Andoas, Záparas, Huoranis, Achuar, Shiwiar and
Shuar. These communities have inhabited the Amazon jungle for hundreds of
years, their customs, ways of life, their gastronomy, music, worldview and
their varied languages; they turn them into true anthropological attractions
for both researchers and national and foreign tourists.

Puyo is the second city in the world with more water resources for that reason
it is a fortress for life, strategically located in the center of the Amazon
represents a showcase for scientific and community tourism. For these and
many more reasons, Pastaza has become an important tourist power.

ZOO BREEDING FARM OF FATIMA

The Fátima Center is a place of

scientific study and research, and also
receives animals that have been
confiscated from the hands of
traffickers of Amazonian species and
provides protection.

Although the Fátima breeding zoo is

not a tourist center or a zoo if it
receives all the visitors and tourists who wish to know their activities and
support the center in the development of
their projects.

You will observe animals such as boas,

anacondas, water and land turtles,
alligators, parrots and macaws, as well as
capybaras and the tapir or tapir, the
interesting thing is that most animals are
free and adapt very good to coexistence
with man
THE WALK OF THE MONKEYS

Established as a rescue center for

wild animals, 2 years ago by the Los
Monos Selva y Vida Foundation. This
center is dedicated to the
conservation and reinsertion of
primates that have been rescued
from the hands of animal traffickers
or families that have kept these
animals in captivity and severe mistreatment for very long periods and then
abandoned to their fate. The center has a species management license granted
by the Ministry of the Environment. In addition to the support of a
veterinarian who cures and rehabilitates some animals in poor health.

The Paseo de los Monos has in its two

hectares of humid tropical forest,
several Amazonian species of primates.
Among these we count, the capuchin
monkeys, black and white or machin,
spider monkeys, tamarisk monkey,
chorongo, and chichico, etc. All these
coexist in total freedom in the forest
of the place.

OMAERE ETHNO-BOTANICAL PARK

Omaere means "nature of the jungle" in the Waorani native language. This park
is located in the working neighborhood of Puyo, following the footpath of the
Puyo River Tourist Walk for about 200 meters. Next to the second suspension
bridge of the path, you will find the main entrance to the Omaere Park.
 The park presents a very respectable
collection of plants, shrubs and trees
traditional in the cultures of the
jungle. The park is eminently ethnic
and botanical, for this reason there
are many native plants that have been
used by the natives of the Amazon
jungle, to cure their ailments for
millennia. This interest arose because a large percentage of the traditional
medicines of the indigenous Amazonian nationalities have proven effective
even in the cure of complicated
diseases such as malaria, abdominal
pain, muscle pain, etc.

You can visit the center and be guided

generally by native guides who will
explain their customs and traditions.
In this way you will be able to know
clearly and precisely the life forms of
the Shuar and Waorani nationalities.

THE ETHNIC AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

Puyo's museum was opened to the

public in 1998 and since then its staff
has worked hard to create and
preserve a large collection of objects
and archaeological items found and
collected throughout the province of
Pastaza.

Among its most notable pieces are the

funerary vessels made of Amazonian clay, the pieces of stone and hand tools
used by the aborigines of Pastaza. Some of these pieces date back more than
2,000 years A.C.
This place of study has contributed to the discovery and recognition of
various indigenous cultures and nationalities of the Amazonian jungle.

When you visit the place you can find

replicas of different types of huts or
typical houses made in their own style
and functionality in each main culture
of the province, these are: Waorani,
Zapara, Shuar, Achuar, and Kichwa. It
is worth mentioning the variety of
articles and utensils in wood, stone and
clay that they collect, as well as the varied collection of insects and other
objects of interest.

THE TOUR OF THE PUYO RIVER

Bordering the city is located in the

working class neighborhood, an
ecological trail of 2 kilometers and a
half, known as the tourist walk, this was
the first tourist resort that was
created in the province of Pastaza with
ecological and natural vision built by the
municipality of city, the sector is public
property.

At the entrance to the promenade, in the working class neighborhood, there is

a park with sports fields and playgrounds as well as a small boardwalk along
the river. There is a viewpoint about 30 meters high where you can have an
aerial view of the humid tropical forest of the place.
There are several shops where you
can taste the traditional typical dish
known as the volquetero also if you
go to the suspension bridge your
adventure through this beautiful
ecological trail will have started.

Once you start the tour, you will find

spaces from time to time adapted
for family enjoyment, with sports courts and playgrounds, thus satisfying the
needs and demands of young and old. Observe ornamental plants, jungle trees,
Amazonian birds, as well as harmless insects native to the place.

ACHUAR ETHNIC GROUP

The Achuar, like the Shuar, form a

common origin, marked by sedentary
lifestyles scattered in the
Amazonian region as links to defend
the jungle. The Achuar were not as
marked warriors as the "Jivaro"
Jivaro and perhaps the historians,
for that reason, have generalized
the Shuar word to refer to both
ethnic groups. Originally the Achuar and Shuar have been considered as a
single ethnic group, due to their historical origin (both groups practiced
polygamy and many continue to do so, in the case of the Achuar the wives were
generally sisters) that little by little have been detached to make know their
language and culture influenced by the missionaries, which allowed them to
adopt western customs combined with their ancestor at the beginning of the
twentieth century and by then they left their pattern of dispersed settlement
to become community.
ZÁPARA ETHNIC GROUP

The dominant language spoken in its entirety of the Zápara people is the
Kichwa. In total there are no more than 5 people (the elderly) who speak or
understand the zápara, the latter must disappear in the following decade. This
is not spoken except when the old
Zaparo meet again, now a project for
the revitalization of the Zápara
language is being implemented,
especially where the elderly are
teaching children and young people.
Today 15 children already speak and
sing in the Zapara language.

POPULATION: There are currently

225 zaparos of which only a score (3% of the population) speak or understand
the Zápara language. The cultural manifestations and oral traditions of the
Zápara people were included by UNESCO in the inaugural list of Masterpieces
of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

HOLA VIDA WATERFALL

Hola Vida is a private ecological

reserve of 225 hectares that
emphasizes the protection and
conservation of the environment
while allowing domestic and foreign
tourists to visit its famous
waterfall 21 meters high, the fall of
water is nailed in half of the
protected forest of this place. Hola
Vida is a natural reserve of tropical
forest.
The environment of the place is unique, it has a secondary forest in very good
condition, as well as a wide tribal history. A great place to take pictures and
make family films. It is important to note that you can see a good variety of
plants and insects of the place, as well as multicolored butterflies in good
variety.

GASTRONOMY

There is a great offer of different typical dishes of the Amazon, since the
cuisine is the pride of the Ecuadorians, you have the opportunity to enjoy the
pleasant hospitality of its people and savor the best typical dishes of the food
of Ecuador, the same which is recognized as one of the best in the world,
since the cuisine is very varied by the various natural ingredients, so for each
of the indigenous nationalities there are different dishes or presentations,
you can find them in different restaurants, whereabouts , Indigenous
Communities, or hotel sites

PUYO LOCAL AND TRADITIONAL PRODUCTS

Among the main products we have the following:

Cinnamon, cassava, green plantain, sweet potatoes, Chinese potatoes,

naranjilla, coffee, sugarcane, guava, guavas, guayusa, coffee, tea, sweet
potato, papaya, mountain grape, badea, corn, fine cocoa of known aroma like
the gold pepa, quoted by the big chocolate corporations,

Typical drinks

The city of Puyo is known for the cultivation of sugar cane and be the center
of the production of panela, aguardiente and guarapo. Thus, the derivatives of
sugar cane are the typical beverages recognized for their aroma, properties
and aphrodisiac powers, such as fresh guarapo, fermented guarapo,
chugchuguaso, macerated in different presentations and with all fruits the hot
drink