Challuacocha Lagoon Ecuador Amazon :: Sani Lodge Amazon Jungle

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Amazon Wildlife

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The Sani Lodge was REALLY nice and we all had a great time! I thought everything was well organized, and we saw the amount of wildlife I had expected. My husband and I have traveled to other countries that have rainforests, and we are very aware of how difficult it is to see A LOT of wildlife in a short amount of time. Although we were only at Sani for a few days, I thought we saw plenty of wildlife and learned a lot. The native guide was very good, and seemed to go out of his way to find things that my children would like! I especially liked leaning about the uses of native plants! The little birthday celebration for my oldest daughter was sweet and something I doubt she will ever
forget.

Cynthia Letcher
USA

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Challuacocha, a black water oxbow lake, translates to Small Mouth Lake in Kichwa. Small Mouth refers to an abundant fish found in the lake that lives below the floating grasses and water hyacinths that cover most of the lake. Challuacocha is an excellent habitat for Endangered or Threatened species like Black Caiman, Amazonian Manatee, Giant River Otter and a lung breathing fish called Paiche which grows to over 6 feet long!

The abundant wildlife in and near the lake is due to Challuacocha being thought, at one time, of being “encantada” or haunted. Therefore the local Kichwas from the Sani Isla Comuna did not hunt in this area until about 15 years ago. For the last 5 years due to a commune-wide decision, the area around Challuacocha is off-limits to hunting.

Because the Sani Lodge provides jobs and opportunities, the Sani Isla Commune has also begun to reduce or eliminate hunting in other areas of their property.

We do not encourage swimming in Challuacocha due to the large Black Caimans that patrol the lagoon. However we do have wooden dugouts, which you are welcome to take out on your own if you’d like.