The Oriente
Many visitors to the Oriente prefer to arrive by air as a 20-minute flight can take 12 hours by land. Daily flights leave from Quito to the jungle towns of Lago Agrio and Coca.
Misahualli
The small jungle town of Misahualli is in the headwaters of the River Napo. There are several inexpensive hostels and restaurants and jungle guides can be hired for about US$2 a day. The area around Misahualli has been colonized and the forest is secondary growth. Large mammals and birds have been mainly hunted or have left due to habitat destruction, but short trips in the area will still give you a look at a variety of plants, insects, and smaller birds.
San Rafael Falls
The San Rafael Falls are on the River Quijos, about half-way between Baeza and Lago Agrio. With a height of about 145 metres they are the highest falls in the country. They can be glimpsed from the bus on the new road, but for an impressive close-up look at the falls get off at the INECEL electricity station at Reventador. From here, it is a 20-minute walk down an overgrown trail through lush forest to a lookpoint where, if the wind is right, you can be sprayed by the light mist caused by the crashing water.
