Napo, with its waterfalls and legendary caves

For the indigenous peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon, waterfalls are magical manifestations of the ancestral deities of nature. That is why in San Rafael, at the hot springs, and at the lagoons of Papallacta and Puerto Misahualli, there is always a group of people gazing in awe at the flow of water and the rainbow arching over the cascades. This is particularly true in the municipality of El Chaco, where the Malo River plunges from the dense canopy of trees, forming a waterfall of great scenic impact. Even the Jumandy caves, also in the province of Napo, near the town of Archidona, seem to harbour secrets that have remained hidden. They are of volcanic origin; the smoothing effect of the water has carved them into the rock, forming underground chambers and tunnels dating back millions of years, whilst the name Jumandy derives from an indigenous man who resisted Spanish colonisation during the 16th century: the tribal chief and his people took refuge in these very caves, killing the conquistadors who ventured inside to flush them out. All around, meanwhile, here as in the rest of the province of Napo, one can discover truly unique and surprising plant species: flowers such as the cat’s paw, dragon’s blood, the majestic ungurahua palm, the elegant legume macrolobium, the rapidly growing guarumo, the caimito with its round fruits, and also the pambil palm, as well as the tagua palm which produces nuts known as ‘vegetable ivory’ – all confirming how the vegetation is the undisputed star of this land, to which it has always provided a bounty of food and a natural pharmacy. These secrets are known and passed down by the indigenous peoples, guardians of a body of knowledge that is dangerously threatened by blind and thoughtless deforestation, which is all too often difficult to control: responsible tourism can therefore make a huge contribution to supporting non-profit organisations and environmental associations operating in the extraordinary eastern region of Ecuador.