As we pack up our Ecuador equipment and look towards home, we will definitely miss the paddling! As well will be some of the cultural differences found here, the most prominant being the politeness between both friends and strangers here in the country... And...
Ecuador
Thinking outside your backyard and Traveling Abroad via Kayak
Traveling outside the country provides an opportunity to combine a passion for paddling and a desire to experience different cultures than we have at home-- with great people. Our trips have been a win-win combination for the past 23 years — just ask the group that...
Cultural Immersion from a Different Perspective
Heading out to paddle/run trips in an international setting means bringing along a checklist that includes such things as learning the access points, watersheds (because if the river you were hoping to do is too high, what else is coming in), the language…and so on;...
The Varying Moods of the Quijos River
Walking out to the beach on the Quijos River it is always a guess as to what the river mood will be. This morning found the river a gorgeous glacier green color. The different colors/river levels on the Quijos change as frequently as a mood ring. As a result--even...
The Magic of Paddling in Ecuador
Lava laced canyon walls monkeys swinging through the trees little ones gathering to watch you gear up stunning jungle scenery a week of awesome whitewater with good friends All of the above are reasons a boater packs up their paddling gear and heads to winter paddling...
Where the headwaters of the Amazon headwaters originate Ecuador-style
The Amazon River is the second largest river in the world: 3,900 miles of river, 2,720,000 square miles that discharges more cfs into the Atlantic Ocean that the next six largest rivers combined. The majority of rivers we paddle here in Ecuador are all part of the...
When all your hard work pays off and you are kayaking somewhere cool!
As little as a year ago, at least two of this crew would have never imagined that they would be kayaking in Ecuador. They were still struggling to learn how to roll, catch eddies and stay rightside up. And then the next thing you know there you are--paddling rivers in...
And when the snow really falls–Kayak Ecuador!!
Our 2011 Ecuador Whitewater shirt is another awesome design!! This year our design artist is Marlo Wright--who captured the magic of San Rafael Falls with her paint brush. Every year we do a unique design for our trip shirt. And with the help of the proceeds from the...
Winter Solstice in Ecuador
Winter solstice means the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere--and the longest in the southern hemisphere, giving us even more time to enjoy paddling here in Ecuador! The effects of sunshine, the good company, the Upper Pano and the Upper Mishaulli...
Busy is the Operative Word for Rivers in Ecuador
Paddlers often feel more comfortable on a new run when they have something to compare it to--a river they are familiar with. When asked about the rivers in Ecuador, it can be hard to come up with similar runs back home. If river in Ecuador could be summed up in one...
Part Shaman, Hostess, Quichua, Doña Cleo Is Part of Team ERA
One of the main components to international kayaking trips is the community relations. And ensuring that members of the international community we spend time in feel like they are part of our "team" always make our trips run better. How fortunate we are to have Doña...
Our Team of International Guides
While the reputation of great boating is what attracts boaters to Costa Rica and Ecuador, it is the reputation of the Endless River Adventures' guides that brings people to us--and back again so many times. In the words of a repeat guest/friend, "Friendly help,...
Where are all the animals in the rainforest?
When you hear rainforest you think monkeys and birds and iguanas and snakes (yikes!) and butterflies and more birds.....and they are all there. They are just difficult to spot because of their innate ability to stay out of sight of their predators. But there are...
One Hundred and Twenty Gallons of Gas: the Hunt for Peacock Bass
by Ken Kastorff One hundred twenty gallons of gas, how in the world are we going to transport that much fuel? That was just one of many questions that were running through my mind this March as I started putting together an expedition to head down into the Ecuadorian...
Time to Go Home
February 14, 2010 Quito Airport Time to go home. There is so much of Ecuador that I will miss. For starters, I will miss the closeness of everything. I will miss crowded buses and packed markets. I will miss the jungle pressed tight against me, the intimacy of the...
Time to Say Adios to Your Favorite Place
Whether your first trip paddling in a foreign country or a destination you have called home for years, sitting in the airport preparing to return to the "real world" can be a downer. Team ERA's Brian Snyder has spent the past five years guiding/living/boating/sharing...
First Descent down the Rio Cofanes, Ecuador
First descents. In most countries they start out with the most obvious runs– roadside boating, the runs that have access, the runs that have the most potential; eventually goals are set on those that have a drop that looks the best on television/ in a magazine/ or for...
First Descent on the Rio Cofanes, Ecuador
First descents. In most countries they start out with the most obvious runs-- roadside boating, the runs that have access, the runs that have the most potential; eventually goals are set on those that have a drop that looks the best on television/ in a magazine/ or...
Eddying out for a litte jungle time at Cuyabeno Reserve
The rivers of Ecuador are so awesome that oft times the surrounding jungle gets little more than a second glance. High forest cloud forest, low altitude jungle--the river we do on any particular day determines the backdrop of scenery. For once, we decided to leave...
2200 Miles South in Sunny Ecuador
Ecuador is 2200 miles south of the border--and the weather is a whole lot better in Ecuador than in the States right now. In fact, some have complained that there has been too much sunny weather here in the Oriente. Not us!! While the rivers have been lower than in...