Cuyabeno is a wildlife reserve, but it is not empty land. The Siona have lived along these rivers for generations. So most of our Cuyabeno programmes set aside a full day to visit them at Tarabeaya, a Siona community inside the reserve. It is not a fifteen-minute photo stop on the way to somewhere else. It is the day itself: a morning with a family, lunch, and an afternoon with the shaman.
Here is what that day involves and which of our tours include it. Also, you will see what the separate community fee pays for. Finally, we cover how to be a decent guest while you are there.
Who the Siona are
The Siona are one of the Indigenous peoples of the north-eastern Ecuadorian Amazon. They live in the lowland forest drained by the Cuyabeno and Aguarico rivers. Their own language, Paicoca, belongs to the Western Tucanoan family, and they speak it alongside Spanish. They are not the only people here: Cofan, Siekopai, Kichwa and Shuar communities also hold territory in and around the reserve.
For a visitor the useful point is simpler than the ethnography. The rivers you paddle are somebody’s road. Likewise, the forest your guide walks you through is a pharmacy and a larder. Meanwhile, the family you spend the morning with is not performing a lost past for tourists. They live here now, and visits are one of the things that make living here viable.
What the day at Tarabeaya looks like
On our tours, the Siona community day starts after breakfast at Cuyabeno Dolphin Lodge. That is our own lodge inside the reserve. You go out with your bilingual naturalist guide and spend the morning with a local family. Then you eat lunch and visit the shaman in the afternoon. After that, you head back to the lodge for dinner. Finally, the evening finishes with a night canoe expedition looking for caimans.
The community day is the gentlest day in any of these itineraries. Instead, the hard walking happens on the hiking days. Difficulty across the four programmes is not uniform, though. The 3-day and 4-day tours carry an Easy rating, and the 5-day and 6-day ones Moderate.
Making casabe, hands on
The centrepiece of the morning is casabe, the traditional bread of the region. However, you do not just watch the process. You help.
Cassava is the staple of the whole Amazon basin, grown in family gardens cut out of the forest. First, you dig, peel and grate the roots. Then you press the pulp to squeeze out the liquid. After that, you spread the remaining mass flat and toast it over a fire. The result is a large, pale, faintly chewy disc that keeps for days without refrigeration. Doing it yourself takes longer than you expect. It also leaves you with honest respect for anyone who does it every week. While you work, your guide explains the culture and the traditions behind what you are doing.
The visit to the shaman
After lunch you meet the shaman, who talks about the ceremonies of the jungle.
Be clear on what this is: a conversation and an explanation, not a ceremony you join. Our itineraries include the visit and the talk, nothing more. If you are travelling with something else in mind, tell us before you book rather than asking on the day. After all, that is not something to spring on a community.
Which Cuyabeno tours include the community day
Three of our four Cuyabeno programmes build the Siona community day into the itinerary, and the fourth can add it on request.
- Cuyabeno 4-Day Jungle and Community Tour: the community day is day 3, after a hiking day in primary forest. Also, this is our best seller and the shortest programme that fits everything in. Easy level, departures on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.
- Cuyabeno 5-Day Amazon Expedition: the community and shaman also fall on day 3, and the programme adds a full day paddling a traditional canoe. Moderate level, departures on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays.
- Cuyabeno 6-Day Paddling Expedition: Tarabeaya is day 4. This one begins with roughly six hours of paddling from Paso del Tigre to the lodge. Paddlers from the local community and a motorised support canoe come along. Moderate level, and the most active of our Cuyabeno programmes. Departures every day of the week with a minimum of 2 passengers.
- Cuyabeno 3-Day Rainforest Escape: the community day is not in the itinerary, but we can arrange it. In that case, the community comes to the lodge on request. So if you want it built in properly, take the 4-day tour.
All four start at Puente Cuyabeno at 11:00 a.m. Then you head down the Cuyabeno River to the lodge by motorised canoe. On the 6-day tour, the motor only takes you as far as Paso del Tigre. There the paddling begins, and you arrive at sunset. The price includes all meals, purified water, coffee and tea. On top of that, you get rubber boots, a rain poncho and a life jacket for the excursions.
The two fees of USD 10, and why they are separate
The community visit costs USD 10 per person and the shaman USD 10 per person. Neither comes inside the tour price. Also, on the 3-day and 6-day programmes you only pay them if the activity actually takes place.
That separation is deliberate. Both appear as their own line in what the price does not cover. So nothing about the visit hides inside a package figure. If you want to know how to settle them, ask us when you book. We will tell you.
How to be a good guest
- Ask before photographing anyone. Your guide will tell you what is fine and what is not, and a refusal is not a negotiation.
- Dress the way you would for the forest. Long-sleeved shirts and comfortable trousers rather than jeans, a hat or cap, sunscreen and mosquito repellent.
- Ask your guide before giving anything. Well-meant gifts, and sweets in particular, do more harm than people realise.
- Bring your original passport or ID card. It is on the packing list for every Cuyabeno tour.
Spend a day with the Siona community in Cuyabeno
Cuyabeno Dolphin Lodge is ours – we own it and we run it. So the canoe, the guide, the kitchen and the beds all come from the same team. There is no agency in the middle. Check dates on the Cuyabeno 4-Day Jungle and Community Tour page. Then compare it with the other Cuyabeno reserve programmes or the rest of our tours. You can also send us a WhatsApp at +593 98 094 2338. After that, we will tell you straight which itinerary gives you the day you are after.
