Description: Following the Napo River down the eastern slope of the Andes you reach the steamy tropical lowlands of the Oriente, known as the Ecuadorian Amazon. Sacha Lodge lies in the heart of this wilderness, 50 miles down the Napo River from Coca, a small jungle town. With its stunning lakeside setting and experienced enthusiastic staff, the lodge provides a superb base from which to explore and appreciate the raw beauty of the rain forest. Sacha is also a relaxing retreat where you can enjoy the lodge’s comforts and services. Swimming in the lake is a delight!

The rain forests of this region are the most complex biological communities that exist, and provide the single greatest reservoir of genetic diversity on Earth. A small area can boast 500 species of birds, 400 species of fish and over 100 species of mammals. Not surprisingly, this forest remains a focus for scientific investigation. Estimates suggest that a mere tenth of the insect species have been named, let alone studied. A short walk soon reveals the huge variety of forms: a monkey just bigger than a mouse; a liana as thick as a man’s waist; a striped frog with poisonous skin; a dry leaf that suddenly sprouts legs and starts walking. Wonders are there for all to see.

Getting there: Your journey to the lodge starts in Quito with a 40 minute flight to Coca. In the airport, one of our guides meets you and takes you across town by bus to the dock. Here our covered motorized canoe awaits to take you on the 2 ½ hour ride downriver to the lodge.

Quichua Communities. Although the Napo River is a kilometer wide in places, it is often surprisingly shallow. Pushing a large canoe full of people off a sandbar is not something the crew wants to do, so the canoe zigzags its way down the river following the deepest channels. The riverbanks are home to Quichua communities. Traditionally, their thatched roof houses are raised on stilts and surrounded by small gardens or chacras, where they grow coffee, bananas and yuca, among other things. In recent years, enormous oil reserves have been discovered in this region and signs of the oil industry are now a common sight along the river. Your guide will explain the surroundings in more detail and answer any questions.

At the lodge. After docking, you take a short walk on a village path along the river, then follow a raised boardwalk through flooded palm forest. Giant electric blue morpho butterflies, blue-and-yellow macaws, and squirrel monkeys are regularly seen here. From the end of the boardwalk, our staff awaits with a dugout canoe. The guide paddles you down a channel and across Pilchicocha Lake to the lodge. After a brief orientation, groups of four to six people are assigned their guides, a bilingual naturalist, and a local Quichua guide.

Accommodations -- luxury in the Amazon: Before setting out on your first tour, you will be able to settle into your cabin. The accommodations at Sacha Lodge are truly comfortable, verging on luxurious. While we’ve taken every care to preserve the flavor of the jungle, we’ve added some amenities to make your stay more enjoyable. Our 14 double cabins are constructed from wood and other natural materials to maintain a rustic feel. Electricity is available from dawn to 10:00PM and the modern bathrooms have hot showers. You’re protected from the insects by screened windows. The cabins are linked together by elevated walkways to the main building where the dining room, bar and lounge are situated. Above the bar is a small lookout that offers views over the lake and lodge.


The habitat. Sacha Lodge owns 3000 acres of rainforest covering a variety of different habitats, mostly in primary jungle; they range from terra firme to swamp to rivers and lakes. Although most tours are on foot, some can be combined with river trips in a dugout canoe. Tours are not just limited to the ground either. From our 135-foot observation tower, you can view the forest canopy up close among the epiphyte-laden branches of a kapok tree. From here you see the rainforest stretch to the horizon in all directions. On a clear day, the snowcapped peak of Sumaco, an extinct volcano 100 miles away, is often visible.

Flora and fauna, invisible from the ground, can be studied at close quarters from this vantage point. Water-filled tank bromeliads stand side by side with sprays of orchids. Hopping between them are a host of exotic birds with equally exotic names: Paradise Tanager, Spangled Cotinga, Many-banded Aracari. The canopy is one of the least studied habitats and harbors thousands of still unknown plant and animal species. To be surrounded by such richness is a rare experience.

Parrot Salt Lick. Further down the Napo from Sacha, you can visit a parrot salt-lick to see hundreds of parrots and parakeets. They are attracted to an impressive red cliff on the riverbank early each morning in order to fulfill their daily mineral requirements. Whether clinging to the cliff or wheeling in circles above it, these birds provide an unforgettable spectacle of color and noise.

Ecotourism. The land was bought in 1991 by Beni Ammeter, a Swiss entrepreneur, who has been in Ecuador for the last 25 years. Sacha Lodge received its first visitors in 1992. Because Sacha actually has title to the land, hunting and farming are not permitted. The adjacent Quichua villages benefit from employment and other services that the lodge provides. Through tourism, Sacha has made the land economically competitive. By educating visitors on the culture of the indigenous people and the fragility of the forest, tourism offers a way to protect the rainforest.

 

Departure Dates

You can go to Sacha Lodge any time throughout the year. There are no set departure dates. Flights from Quito to Coca are daily except Sunday. Typical programs are 4 days/3 nights, running Friday to Monday; and
5 days/4 nights, Monday to Friday. However, you may travel there on any other day, "non-standard" day (except Sunday) for an additional canoe charge (see below.)

Prices

4 days/3 nights, Friday to Monday: $645 per person sharing double or triple accommodation
                                                     $840 Single accommodation

5 days/4 nights,  Monday to Friday: $790 per person sharing double or triple accommodation
                                                      $990 Single accommodation

2008 - 2009

4 days/3 nights Friday to Monday: $690 per person sharing double or triple accommodation
                                                   $1,035 Single accommodation

5 days/4 nights Monday to Friday:  $870,  per person sharing double or triple accommodation,
                                                    $1,305 Single accommodation


Internal Airfare: $120, Quito-Coca round-trip, subject to change.

Single supplement: No charge. If you are traveling singly and prefer to share accommodations, we will pair you with another person of the same gender and there will be no supplementary charge.

Extra canoe charges for travel to or from lodge on a non-standard days (Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat).
No service on Sundays

1 passenger: $80 -  each way
2 passengers: $40 per person, each way
3 passengers: $27 per person, each way
4+ passengers: no charge

Children's discount:  age 5 to 11½, 30% discount on the land price, 50% off the airfare.
Under age 5, the lodge is free; air is 50% discount.

Included / Not included

Pre-Departure Information: Once your deposit is received, we send you up-to-date—and very complete—pre-departure information which tells you what you need to know to prepare for your adventure; including packing list and tips, health issues, reading lists, tipping guide, information on weather, climate, cities, museums, etc.

Included in the land cost: accommodation in double cabin with private hot water shower; all meals at the lodge; services of professional naturalist guides on walks and canoe rides; transportation from Coca to the lodge and back to Coca via motorized dugout canoe.

Not included: tips to guides & staff; soft drinks and alcoholic beverages; laundry, phone calls and other personal matters, insurance, airport taxes.