Roaming South America

Joya de los Sachas, Ecuador

September 30, 2025

Joya de los Sachas, Ecuador - a town in northern Ecuador in the Amazon basin, has a population of, well, don't know. The canton (county) has about 52,000. Sachas is the biggest town in the canton. But there is no data for the town itself separate from the county. The town, my guess, has at least 20,000, based on my experiences throughout South America and visiting around 300 towns/cities. Being in the Amazon it rains frequenty. During my 4 days here, there was one day with no rain. The others had some rain, but what's nice is it never lasts very long - 10, 20 minutes. And from what I saw, it doesn't pour buckets, it's just a steady or light rain. “Sacha” is a word in Kichwa meaning “forest, jungle, wilderness.” So “Joya de los Sachas” loosely means “Jewel of the Forests” (or “of the jungles”).
Reference: Ecuador Lives

History

Sachas is not an old town. It popped up in the mid-20th century with the discovery of oil. Although the town is young, there have been many indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basic for ages. They lived mostly along rivers. Between 1945 and 1980, most of the indigenous people were pushed out of what is now Sachas and into other communities. Eventually, the indigenous people organized themselves and worked against this. Then people from outside the region, from the coast, started moving into the area. This caused problems with some of the native people - on on hand, the settlers enriched the culture, but on the other - they disrupted the indigenous and their development. Over time, that has all mellowed out and everyone gets along now.
Reference: Alcaldía Sachas

Tourist Activities

Throughout the canton are eco-tourism opportunities - rivers, waterfalls, lakes, and hiking.
Reference: ViajandoX

My Impressions

The town is a pleasant place to visit - quiet, friendly. There's a big supermarket, many ATMs, restaurants, hotels. There's a panadería (bakery) that is very good and run by a woman name Yuli (Juli). It is located across the street from the town's biggest grocery store - Supermercado Tia. I recommend this bakery if you happen to visit the town - delicious breads of many types, cakes, and more. The climate is, of course, humid, but if you're traveling through the Amazon region you would expect that. The average temperature ~26.6 °C (80° F); extremes between ~18 °C (64° F) and ~34 °C (93° F). So, even though this is just about sitting on the equator, it's not hot, but the humidity can be overbearing, if you're not accustomed to it. The town is split by the highway, unfortunately. But, at least the median is wide, 21 meters, so is a linear park space the full length of the town. It's quite nice - walkers, joggers, cyclists all share it. There are a couple of small restaurants and public restrooms.

Should you put it on your list of places to see in Ecuador? Not necessarily, but for stopping for a meal and a quick visit, it's quite nice.