Indigenous-Led Experiences With Anakonda Amazon Cruises In Ecuador

Written by Rebecca Woolford, Senderos

The Ecuadorian Amazon basin accounts for just 2% of the Amazon river basin, yet it’s one of the most biodiverse and pristine areas in the whole of South America.

Home to endangered pink river dolphins, manatees, over 4000 species of butterflies, 1700 species of birds, and 450 mammals, it’s also a region that faces many threats, including those brought by oil and gold mining companies. 

Working to protect and restore this unique region through indigenous-led experiences, Anakonda is the only luxury, conscious cruise ship navigating these rivers in one of the most biodiverse corners of the planet. Working closely with 18 communities along the Napo River in Ecuador, Raul (see below) offers guests unparalleled cultural experiences whilst creating opportunity for the people of the Amazon. 

Raul Garcia, the founder and CEO of Anakonda Amazon Cruises, uses the vehicle of tourism, a powerful catalyst for change, to engage both guest and host.

For more than two decades this family run business has been working to protect the endangered wildlife from pink river dolphins to manatees, and continues to celebrate the region’s rich cultural heritage. Raul says, “Tourism is the only opportunity there is for the people of the Amazon to have a real future.”

With over 40 years of exploration of the Ecuadorian Amazon under his belt, Raul shares wonderful new insights in the interview below. 

 

Where did the journey begin, Raul and how did it lead you to founding Anakonda Amazon Cruises?

“When I was a youth I started working on a small sailboat in the Galapagos, it accommodated six guests and 4 crew members – plus one naturalist guide – so it was very hands-on. It was a great experience!

Many years later the same company invited me to be part of a new initiative in the Amazon. I accepted the challenge without hesitation. Exploring the rivers, and lagoons was fantastic. I had eight encounters with jaguars and witnessed the mythical black panther twice in my time there. 

The wildlife is incredible, but beyond the wildlife, my biggest love is for the indigenous communities of the Amazon. They say, ‘the eyes are the window to the soul’ and you can see how true this is through their eyes. I can only describe the communities I’ve met as generous, honest and kind.

After working in the Amazon for over 18 years, I became the operation manager and then the general manager of that travel company. The directors later decided to change direction and ceased operations to focus solely on the Galapagos.

So, I decided I would carve my own path. I would find a way to navigate these rivers and its waters, abundant with life and rich cultural heritage. 

In the 20 odd years that I’d worked in the Amazon basin I learnt so much, I was able to read the river with such precision and confidence. Being in an environment like that is incomparable to being out at sea. You don’t have any of the same technical instruments, nor satellites for navigation.

One day I took a small canoe made of wood, and for 30 days and nights I navigated solo down the river. It was an experience I’ll never forget…

Such close encounters with wildlife, I was living amongst them, sleeping alongside, and washing in the river. You quickly begin to feel part of this family. 

From electric eels to Anaconda’s (the heaviest snakes in the world) I can’t report one difficult or dangerous experience with wildlife, instead I would greet them as my friends in the morning light.

It inspired me to design my own river boat to connect other people to this place, one that would be perfectly suited for navigating these unforgiving rivers, and low water levels. 

The key difference between my boat and others is how light it is, which has lots of benefits, including needing less fuel.”

Friends with 18 different communities along the Napo River, can you share how these relationships came about and why these bonds are such an important part of what you do?

“I want Anakonda Cruises to be an example to the rest of the tourism industry. As a representative of the tourism sector , I’m passionate about engaging all stakeholders, especially indigenous people. 

My mission and responsibility is to bring visitors to Ecuador because it’s the only opportunity there is for the people of the Amazon to have a future. 

Otherwise, the nature, the wonder of this place will be totally destroyed and all these people, all that knowledge, and the ancient traditions will be lost. Every day there is loss, every minute, but tourism gives us an alternative ending to this story. 

We work with 18 indigenous communities along the Napo River which sits inside the Ecuadorian Amazon. These communities are the stewards of the land, the guardians of the lagoons, the creeks, the giant Kapok trees. 

Some of these communities have built a canopy tower in the forests which my guests can climb up. Others have different initiatives, there is a group of women who offer my guests both cooking and jewelry making experiences. They are proud and passionate about sharing their knowledge and ancestral heritage with other people. 

It’s a symbiotic relationship, just like in nature. I have the opportunity to work with these incredible communities, and they have the opportunity to share knowledge and earn money from each guest I bring to their home. 

The communities understand why it’s important to teach our guests about the Amazon rainforest, and in exchange receive benefits, including money of course, necessary for the small clinic, to buy gasoline for their canoes to enable them to get around, and to take their kids to the local school. The money they earn through Anakonda Amazon Cruises contributes to their daily lives. 

During the pandemic community leaders would call me and say, ‘hey, when will we start again? Please come and visit us.’ 

Money is important, as it is for us all, but it’s not the only motivation for these communities. They value and appreciate the opportunity to talk about the vanilla orchid, a gift from the forest, used to make vanilla essence, to share the medicinal remedies, and the garlic smelling vines with visitors. 

There’s a real need to educate people about this fragile ecosystem, the threats, and the solutions. Our local naturalist guides speak English and can translate everything with ease. 

Too many people have come to this part of the world looking for oil and gold, only interested in what they can take away from the Amazon. What we’re trying to do is the reverse of that and that’s possible through the power of travel and tourism.

Travel is an exchange of ideas and knowledge between guest and host. For example, I’ve been swimming with the piranhas for 45 years and I’ve never been bitten, people are often amazed by this fact. 

Hollywood has portrayed the piranha fish with their sharp teeth as dangerous, but I can share a different perspective, as I know where and when to swim in the river. I take some of my guests to the Blackwater Lake where the indigenous communities I work with also swim.

After learning all about life in the Amazon, from the indigenous communities to the manatees, guests receive a certificate. We empower them to be Ambassadors of this place.”

Unique to Anakonda Cruises and central to the guest experience are the interactions with the indigenous communities whether it be cooking or walking in the rainforest. How did you foster these relationships?

“It takes me back 40 odd years… 

During my 30-day, solo canoe trip I visited the communities with a can of sardines or tuna fish. It goes back to the old ways, to something I believe humanity has lost. 

I remember it as clear as day, it’d been raining for 15 days without stopping and my clothes smelled awful. It’s worth saying we don’t get that anymore, with climate change it’s much drier. I arrived at dusk and shared my tuna can with them and they gave me hot rice  and Chicha de Yuca. 

Sitting around the fire we didn’t understand everything, yet we were able to communicate with each other and exchange – mostly through gestures and sounds. It’s amazing just how much you can understand with sound words and visual communications.

Every three months I go back down the river to say hello, to ask how are you, do you need anything? All the people living in Amazon do this, they care for one another.”

 

Can you share a positive impact story? One that helps illustrate the beauty of working with local communities, sharing a common purpose, and using tourism as a catalyst for change.

“About 12 years ago we started to see endangered pink river dolphins floating in the river without heads. 

We later discovered that people from outside the region were coming in to take the dolphins’ teeth to sell them to markets because somebody decided, somewhere, that the teeth of the dolphins created stronger, alpha-like males.

Working with the local community, as well as with biologists, we found a family of just three dolphins in the area where they were being hunted. 

This small family of 3 are now a healthy pod of 18 pink Amazonian dolphins in this region! How did we make this happen? 

In the beginning we used a metal pipe like a bell to communicate with the dolphins. They came to learn that when we made noises it meant we had small fish to give them. 

Now, Dolphins eat more than 10 kilos of fish daily. So, this tiny piece of fish is almost nothing compared to what they’ll hunt down naturally. We believe they come to us because they enjoy having this interaction. We never touch them. We don’t swim with them, we just observe.

We have an economic agreement with the Community,  for each guest who gets to experience these pink river dolphins. This has resulted in that local community embodying the role of a park ranger which has stopped the beheading of dolphins as their river boat patrols around the boundary have put an end to it.  

I’ve since had other local communities call me up and say, ‘hey I have seen giant otters here in my creek, if you come at six o ‘clock your guests will see there. I have another community with a big group of macaws who sit in this giant tree on their land. 

Anakonda Amazon Cruises, where we bring guests, empower and engage this local community to protect a species that people are willing to pay to see in their natural habitat. They take care of their land and take care of the dolphins. 

The community in this region, where the dolphins are, have changed, they have an invested interest and they understand just how important the river, creek and flooded forest is and the life that lives there. 

Travel and tourism is an alternative path for people who sometimes have no choice but to cut down the forest, to plant grass for cattle, to sell beef or milk. 

This success story has inspired us to work with Yasuni National Park,  Ecuador’s largest protected area, to try to repopulate the area with the endangered manatees.” 

 

What’s causing the number of Manatees to decline, what are the threats and can you tell us about your exciting project?

“The decline of the Amazonian Manatee (otherwise known as sea cows) started when the Spanish arrived in Ecuador in 1530, they wanted the oil from the Amazonian manatee because it created a light grease with no odor. It was used all over Europe for candles in the streets and in houses. 

Today the main threat to the Amazonian manatee is illegal hunting from local people. The International trade of the Amazonian manatee is now prohibited but the manatee’s food supplies are decreasing as the areas surrounding their river habitats suffer from deforestation and pollution. 

Such a gentle and slow animal, it’s easy to hunt them, there’s no struggle. The Amazonian manatee is like a combination between a hippopotamus and seal and it’s the smallest of all manatee species. 

We are working to develop the Manatee Project, involving local children from the Napo River and Peruvian waters to educate them about this vulnerable species, and their important role in the ecosystem. We want to give local children the opportunity to observe the manatees, to come to see it as a friend, rather than something to hunt down because someone offers to pay you money. 

My knowledgeable friend explains to them their role and importance as a keystone species. They are good indicators of habitat health and are absolutely critical to the balance of the aquatic system. We share how it’s all our responsibility to protect them. 

For the children it would be like a holiday. All the kids come together, we share food and everyone gets a hat and t -shirt with the manatee on it.” 

 

Tourism can create fair, and safe employment opportunities for local people, who can then feel the benefits of it. But it’s often not the case. How many people in your team are from this region?

“75% of my crew are local, people who were born and raised here. Our team extends to the 18 indigenous communities along the Napo river. 

We have local women working in the cabins who have kids to care for, and they love to engage in their work, to feel part of something beyond the home and to interact with guests. I also have an incredible captain, I call him my ‘pilot’ as he navigates the river with ease. 

I want to share that a few years ago I had a serious heart attack. While at the hospital recovering, I got an unexpected call…

It was the shaman from the Cocaya  community, his name is Manuel, and he lives in the community who are protecting the Pink River dolphins. He said, ‘I sense that you are unwell, how are you Capi?’ 

I also had a call from Carlos, who is from the Cofan community, another indigenous community with a different language and culture. He called and said, ‘Capi, what happened to you? I sense something is wrong.’

There was no possible way they could have found out I had a heart attack so fast, I don’t know where he got my number from either. Nobody knew about this situation, but these two guys from the remote part of the forest did. They are good friends who I’m grateful to know.

Working with the communities is an important part of preserving the Amazon rainforest and the work we do on Anakonda Amazon Cruises. We could operate without their input and ideas, but it would be a spiritless operation.”

What next for Anakonda Amazon Cruises in Ecuador?

“We’ll continue to improve the guest experience, not just on board the boat, but in everything we do. Without visitors we don’t have the opportunity to share this environment, so I hope more people will visit Ecuador soon. 

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