Coca

180meters above sea level

Coca is officially called Francisco de Orellana and on some cards you will only find it under this name. It is a hot and busy town in the middle of a petroleum extraction area. Coca is the capital of the province of Orellana.

A small monument at the foot of Calle Napo commemorates Francisco de Orellana’s 1542 passage on his way to discover the Amazon. There is a bridge over the Napo River in Coca: here the Via Auca starts, a road to the petroleum fields and to the more southerly Huaorani area. The view of the river is beautiful and it is pleasant to stay on its banks at sunset. You can find good hotels and restaurants in Coca, but the water and electricity supplies are not always reliable; good hotels and restaurants therefore have generators and reserve water tanks. Ironically, Coca, the center of petroleum extraction, often suffers from gasoline shortages.

Coca is a little further from the Colombian border than its sister city Lago Agrio, so it is safer and more peaceful, but it is still best to observe basic safety rules here. Coca is the starting point for visiting Ecuador’s most beautiful lodges and for cruises on the Rio Napo, towards Iquitos. The vast majority of visitors arrive in Coca by plane. A scenic 30-minute flight, steeply along the flanks of the Andes Mountains, takes you from Quito to the small airport of Coca. From there you sail in a canoe for a few hours on the Rio Napo to the lodge. Many of these lodges are run in conjunction with a local Native American community. For more information about these beautiful lodges, such as Napo Wildlife Center, Yachana Lodge and others, please refer to the specialized page

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WHY TRAVEL WITH EXPLORE ECUADOR?

Tom - guide in EcuadorI’m Tom from Belgium and I’ll make sure your trip to Ecuador or cruise in Galapagos goes as smoothly and pleasantly as possible. I have been living in Ecuador for a decade and have been working in tourism for 8 years now. Before that, I obtained my guides diploma in Ecuador. Traveling and discovering new places is my passion.
Together with the local travel agency Descubre-Ecuador, we offer tailor-made tours in Galapagos and on the Ecuadorian mainland. Over the years, Descubre-Ecuador has built a reliable partnership with the best hotels and the best nature guides in Ecuador. Our small-scale way of working ensures easy accessibility and a lot of flexibility when traveling.
Customer satisfaction is the essence for us. And even in those rare moments of unforeseen difficult circumstances, we make sure that we are there to make sure your trip runs smoothly.
Explore Ecuador and Galapagos!

WHY TRAVEL TO ECUADOR?

Indian woman from SalasacasIn South America, Ecuador is one of the smaller countries, but the country is hugely diverse in terms of geography, climate and population. You can visit the Andes, the Amazon rainforest as well as the tropical coast without taking extremely long domestic flights or transfers. And then you have the Galapagos Islands, a once in a lifetime experience. The diversity of flora and fauna per square mile is enormous. Ecuador is South America in a nutshell. Moreover, the country is relatively safe and little visited. The national currency is the USD and you have a wide choice of direct flights to Quito and Guayaquil from Europe and the United States.

WAAROM REIZEN MET ONTDEK-ECUADOR?

Tom - guide in EcuadorIk ben Tom uit België en zorg ervoor dat jullie reis naar Ecuador of cruise in Galapagos zo vlot en aangenaam mogelijk kan verlopen. Ik woon al een tiental jaren in Ecuador en werk nu 8 jaren in toerisme. Daarvoor heb ik in Ecuador mijn gidsen-diploma behaald. Reizen en nieuwe plaatsen ontdekken is mijn passie. Samen met het lokale reiskantoor Descubre-Ecuador, bieden we reizen op maat in Galapagos en op het Ecuadoriaanse vasteland aan. Descubre-Ecuador heeft door de jaren heen een betrouwbare samenwerking opgebouwd met de beste hotels en de beste natuurgidsen van Ecuador. Onze kleinschalige manier van werken zorgt voor een vlotte bereikbaarheid en veel flexibiliteit bij het reizen. De tevredenheid van de klant is voor ons de essentie. En ook op die zeldzame momenten van onvoorziene moeilijke omstandigheden zorgen we dat we er zijn om jullie reis toch perfect te laten verlopen. Ontdek Ecuador en Galapagos!