Experience the best of Coca

Coca, whose full name is Puerto Francisco de Orellana, lies in the Amazon lowlands of eastern Ecuador, where the Coca River joins the Napo, at around 300 metres above the sea. It is the capital of Orellana Province and takes its name from Francisco de Orellana, who is believed to have set out near here on the voyage that took him down the Napo and the Amazon to the Atlantic in the early 1540s.

From Coca, boats run down the Napo through the rainforest, and road and river lead to Yasuní National Park, a UNESCO biosphere reserve rich in birds, monkeys and plants. Clay licks in the forest draw parrots and macaws, and Kichwa communities along the river welcome visitors to lodges deep in the trees.

Maito, fish or chicken grilled in a wrapping of leaves, is the dish of the forest, served with yuca and green plantain, and chicha, a fermented cassava drink, goes with it. Rain falls in every month, more than three metres a year, and the days are hot and humid.