Experience the best of Nueva Loja

Nueva Loja, commonly known as Lago Agrio, is the capital of Sucumbíos province in the Amazon lowlands of north-eastern Ecuador, at about 300 metres. It began in the 1960s as a base for oil exploration, and the name Lago Agrio is the Spanish version of Sour Lake, a Texas town. Nueva Loja honours the first settlers, who came from Loja province.

East of the city, the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, a flooded forest of black-water lagoons and rivers, is home to pink river dolphins, caimans, monkeys and many birds, and is explored by canoe. Siona, Secoya, Cofán and Kichwa communities live in the region. The road west to Quito climbs over the Andes, passing the San Rafael Falls, one of Ecuador's highest waterfalls.

Menus mix Amazon dishes, such as fish steamed in leaves with yuca and plantain, with the soups and roast meats of the Andes, brought by settlers from Loja and beyond. The climate is hot and humid, and heavy rain is normal in any season.