Eastern of the Cordillera de los Andes is the Amazon Forest, the majority is lush green rain forest. This region, known as the Ecuadorian Amazon Basin or Rain Forest, covers approximately half of the country’s total area, all the rivers that flows East of the Andes, contribute to the volume of water and biodiversity of the mighty Amazon River, transforming Ecuador as the Headwaters of the Amazon.
The Ecuadorian Amazon is easily accessible, it has good infrastructure, and is home to many indigenous cultures and settlements. The relative closeness to the Cordillera of the Andes, makes the temperatures milder than in other Amazon forest regions. Ecuador’s region is tropical and humid, the Ecuadorian Amazon hosts temperatures of 30 to 35 Celsius degrees, and rainfall of 110 to 160 inches annually. The constant moisture and heat produces an environment that sustains the principal attraction the rain forest’s abundance of animals and flora.

The Amazon in Ecuador is home of more species of plants and animals than in the rest of the world’s ecosystems combined. The Ecuadorian Amazon is considered one of the richest and most complex habitats for each specie of planst and animals in the world. Over 100 species of trees per acre live in these regions, while in the rain forest of Central America compares with only 40 species of trees per acre.
The Amazon Forest is a thick, layered mesh of life forms. The upper canopy’s trees reach 195 ft / 80 mt. towards the sky, providing the structure for other plants and animals below to subsist. Beneath their broad evergreen leaves and branches is a world of textures and smells. Trees, vines, orchids and bromelias intertwine becoming the hiding place for the birds and animals that live in the area.