23-06-2025
A Better Way to Get Around in the Amazon: Solar-Powered Canoes
On a sweltering Sunday morning, 20 Indigenous men in the Ecuadorean Amazon boarded a canoe in their community near the border with Peru. Their destination was a neighboring village 45 minutes away by river.
They were athletes, headed to an intervillage sports competition, a cherished tradition that strengthens community bonds.
But it is one that had not happened in years, and for many participants, it was a reunion of sorts.
'I hadn't visited Kusutkao since I was a kid,' said Luciano Peas, 28, a member of the Achuar Indigenous group, referring to the village they were headed to.
The journey between the isolated villages was made possible thanks to their boat, a traditional river canoe aside from one distinctive feature on top: 24 solar panels that harness sunlight to power an engine.
The canoe is part of a growing fleet of electric-powered vessels providing a cheaper and greener alternative to diesel-powered boats that typically travel the Indigenous region's waterways.
colOmbia
ECUADOR
Detail
area
Iquitos
peru
Quito
Coca
ecuador
PASTAZA
Kapawari River
Peru
Kapawi
Kusutkao
50 miles
By The New York Times
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