WHEN: November to January. However from May to August, water levels fluctuate due to rain and it can change Upano's usual class III rapids into IV or V.
HOW LONG: 5 days, including put in and take out.
WITH WHO: there are many rafting agencies who will provide all raft and safety equipment. 1 backpack is allowed per person.
HIGHLIGHTS:
"On its swift-flowing path from the Andes to the Ecuadorian Amazon, the Upano River becomes broad jungle waterway spun with thrilling rapids. Occasional clearings in the dense forest on its banks are home to the indigenous Shuar people, whose frail balsa rafts are the only river traffic. The descending river powers through canyons trialed with vines and foliage, then twists into a narrow gorge chocked by massive boulders. A dozen waterfalls crash hundreds of feet from the high canyon walls, adding their sparkle to the drenching spume of contorted water. It's spectacular, ecstatic, breathtaking -- one of the best white-water rafting adventures in the whole world.
Everything about the legendary five-day Upano raft trip is perfect. You join the river at the frontier town of Macas, where it runs broad, , a flight path for egrets, parrots, raptors and the darting brightness of songbirds galore. Shuar guides share their knowledge of the forest and of culture in the headwaters of the Amazon. After the Patuca Bridge, the Upano enters a series of rocky gorges, culminating in the Canyon of Sacred Waterfalls. These are grade IV and V rapids, and all the more exciting because you have been well prepared for them. Better still, there are lots of them, they come in groups, so you won't get completely battered or exhausted. By the time you leave the river at Santiago, 65 miles downstream, you fell exhilarated not jut by the speed thrills of distance rafting, but by the the feeling of having learned a bit about the Shuar and the Amazon rain forest from the amazing side-trips and the evenings in camp."
*501 Must-Take Journeys. London: Octopus Publishing Group Lmtd, 2008.
Also quickly found this website for trips on the river and it's relatively cheap at a little over $600 a person.
http://www.detourdestinations.com/products/The_Upano_River_Expedition__6_Days_16248.html
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