For many years MISAHUALLÍ was the place in the Oriente in which to organize a jungle tour. A bustling little port at the confluence of the ríos Misahuallí and Napo, it was the perfect starting point for an adventure. Wooden houses with corrugated-iron roofs clinging to the riverbanks, local Quichua Communities, and tracts of rainforest accessible by a quick boat ride gave Misahullí all the excitement and remoteness of a frontier outpost. However, the road linking Tena to Coca, completed in the late 1980s, slashed the port's commercial trade, while its surrounding forest were cleared or severely disturbed by settlers and oil prospecting. What primary forest remains in the upper Napo has shrunk to such an extent that larger animals, particularly mammals, have all but disappeared from the region. Meanwhile the oil industry has probed ever deeper into the east, opening up far remoter regions to visitors, where the big reserves protect thousands of hectares of pristine rainforest and all its wildlife.

 

Luckily for Misahuallí, its lingering reputation as a good meeting point where you can arrange jungle trips at the drop of a hat has kept the port in business. With its constant trickle of tourists, almost every hotel, restaurant, craft shop and racketeer offers forays into the jungle, and the section of the Napo around here has more tourist lodges and cabañas than any other part of the river. Competition is fierce, keeping prices consistently low - another of the port's attractions for budget travellers - and the large number of tours offer pretty similar activities and facilities, such as guided jungle hikes to waterfalls, gold panning and swimming in rivers, with accommodation either at campsites or in simple cabins. English-speaking guides are pretty thin on the ground, so meeting them before you set out is always a good idea, and check that they have a guiding license issued by the Ministerio de Turismo or CETUR. They should also produce written authorization from the community concerned if they plan to visit the Huaorani. Tours to the remoter Cuyabeno or Yasuní reserves, the Río Tiputini or more distant rivers need to be at least four or five days long. Before you leave Misahuallí by canoe you should register your passport at the Capitanía .

Save choosing your jungle trip, there's not a lot else to keep you busy in Misahuallí itself, but there's a good little hike up to some small waterfalls and bathing pools on the Río Latas, a favourite place for local children. Take a bus from the central square towards Puerto Napo and ask the driver to drop you off for " las cascadas ", around 7km from Misahuallí They'll leave you at the trailhead; the biggest falls are about a ninety-minute hike away, but most people settle for the streams and pools along the way. Apart from swimming gear, you'll need shoes or sandals that you won't mind getting wet, and food and water.