QUIJOS VALLEY
Papallacta - Of the expert runs we guide this is the most difficult and has the steepest gradient. Few eddies are big enough for more than one boat.
Quijos – Cheese House Run - Puts in on the
Quijos just below the confluence with the Papallacta. This is also an
expert run with slightly less gradient and more catchable eddies than found
on the Papallacta.
Bridge #2 - Continuous
Class 3+ or up, depending on the flows. Two thirds
down, the Cosanga river joins in. Great for its continuous bounciness
and
scenery.
Borja to Sardinas - Great playful, warm-up run with one scout.
Sardinas
to Bom Bon - Class 4- and up, depending on flows. Playful
big-water, drop-pool river sporting one scout and some of the most beautiful
canyons in the country.
Bom Bon to Salado - Continuation of the theme;
Starts as Class 3+/4-,
depending on flows. Playful big-water, drop-pool river sporting a couple
of
scouts, more Class 3 rapids decreasing to Class 1 as the last mile meanders
through virgin rain forest with cascading waterfalls.
Oyacachi - Flows into the Quijos above Bom Bon. Continuous Class 4 and up, depending on the flows. The run is a bouncy hole-dodger racing out of the Oyacachi Preserve. The scenery, if you remember to look up from the whitewater, is stunning.
Cosanga - Town down - Challenging Class 3 with
one portage. Small, intimate
and technical.
Lower Run - The Classic! This Class 4 and up run starts
with a mile of Class
4- warm-up before entering the lower canyon. Boat scouting and eddy hopping
through a steep, remote, lush canyon with spectacular scenery keeps you
on
your toes. Keep your eyes open for the Andean Cock of the Rock -- not
a
famous Ecuadorian kayaker, but a remarkable flying flame the size of
a
rooster!