Lodge Class
5-Star
Program Duration
4/5 Days
Community/Zone
Yasuni
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Lodge Class
Program Duration
Community/Zone
Sacha Lodge provides a deep jungle experience, accessed by motor boat from the port town of Coca. The emphasis of this program is to provide a close-contact encounter with wildlife and observe the fauna in its natural state.
This is an educational tour, for those who desire to learn about the neotropical ecosystem and the Quichua culture of our native guides.
In order to obtain a better appreciation of the rainforest, and to improve wildlife encounters, we will keep group sizes to a maximum of six people while out on an excursion. Each group will be accompanied by both a naturalist and a native guide.
Sacha Lodge offers regular 4 and 5 days visits. Although we can always organize for more days if required. The program can begin and end on any day of the week, except on Sundays. Visit the parrot clay lick is offered on Wednesdays and Sundays at no extra cost. (optional visit, if weather permitting)
The first day you fly from Quito airport (where a representative of Sacha lodge will assist you) a flight to Coca. From there you will use ground and canoe transportation to get to the Lodge, arriving in time to settle in, bird-watch, swim, or take a walk under the canopy before dinner.
The following days will include activities in and around Sacha Lodge, and on the last day of your visit, you will have an early breakfast before being transported back to Coca airport for your flight back to Quito.
Please scroll to see a list of the activities available during your visit to Sacha lodge. Each excursion group of six visitors or less is provided with a guide. The Sacha staff strives to organize the groups according to the guess interest and age.
Imagine crossing the rainforest across a bridge 94 feet (36 meters) high over the treetops. This 940-foot (275-meter) sturdy walkway is fixed to the ground by three metal towers and offers an astounding opportunity to spot dozens of animals and epiphytes seldom seen from the ground, immersed in the canopy. You might even follow along with troops of monkeys as they forage through the forest canopy. And if you don’t see them, you’ll almost certainly hear them: howler monkeys roaring through the sunset like true kings of the jungle.
You’ll feel like you’re on the very top of the world on our 135-foot (43-meter) observation tower, a platform built on the highest branches of a giant kapok tree. From here, magnificent, panoramic views of the forest unfold all around, while the 500 species of birds registered in the area, including rainbow-colored toucans and parrots, become easy to spot. Climb onto the crows’ nest for the 360-degree experience, the captain of the Amazon.
A short distance from Sacha Lodge is Ecuador’s most accessible parrot lick, an exposed clay riverbank where technicolored parrots of several different species gather in the early morning. In ideal conditions (sunny and dry) hundreds of parrots will perch on and eat the exposed clay in a spectacular show of sound and color! The lick is located on the edge of Yasuní National Park, which is accessible from Sacha by a short canoe trip down the Napo River.
Sacha Lodge is home to one of the largest butterfly farms in Ecuador. Designed as a live exhibition conservatory, the Butterfly House is now successfully breeding nearly 40 local butterfly species. Guests will be shown how these beautiful insects are bred and raised and may roam through ‚” the flying room” where hundreds of colorful butterflies flutter from flower to flower. Transparent glass-wing butterflies, spectacular blue morphs, striking tiger longwings, bright yellow swallowtail, and giant nocturnal owl butterflies are only a few of the species you’ll encounter here, up close and personal.
Creeping along the jungle paths through the spotlights of sun filtering down through the canopy, careful not to tread on an army of marching ants, your nature guide will point out plants and insects and the fascinating symbiosis between them. He might take you through the territory of the crested owls or spider monkeys, expertly mimicking the creatures’ call to win their trust and coax them out of hiding. When darkness falls, have your flashlight ready to spot creatures of the night, from tarantulas and boas to stick insects and frogs.
Besides being your means of transport between expeditions, creek paddling in dug-out canoes is a fabulous adventure in itself, with the bonus that it requires little physical exertion. Paddling down the streams is like entering into a tunnel leading to a lost world. Birds call in surround-sound and vast families of monkeys leap from branches overhead, a show to coincide with the setting of the sun.
A night-time expedition to look for caiman on the lake is perhaps the most magical experience of an adventure already filled with wonder. Undercover of darkness, you will take a canoe out onto the water, your way lit by glittering stars. The eyes of the caiman glow ghoulishly red in the torchlight, as the amphibious creatures float along the swampy shallows.
Of the incredible 1,600 bird species registered in Ecuador, 600 (37 percent) have been seen at Sacha Lodge. That’s almost 7 percent of the species found in the entire world!
For avid birdwatchers, we can provide specialist bird guides, who know the best spots for the hard-to-find species and can easily identify species by both sight and sound. Oscar Tapuy, our local expert who has been with Sacha since 1995, estimates that he spots 60 species per day on average. Your guide will lead you through a variety of habitats where mixed flocks are common, and generally begin before sunrise to take full advantage of the morning peak. Our guides carry telescopes, and have become dab-hands at taking photos with your camera or phone through the lens!
Our visit takes us to the Shipati Warmi project, an initiative run by and benefiting the women of the Providencia community of Yasuní. Through an unobtrusive dialogue, we learn about their day-to-day lives: how they dry clothes in the jungle and the challenges of getting to school, before helping to prepare and trying traditional food. It’s an intimate, unique experience, in which we discover both the differences and similarities between our own and another culture. The Ship Warmi project asks that each guest donates $5
Ideal for families, the Lake Pool is the only one of its kind in the Amazon region. The plunge pool, protected by a mesh cage, allows you to cool off and relax in the black shallows of the Pilchicocha Lake, without the fear of encountering the unknown. You could even spot caiman and giant otters swim by the other side of the net…
Please note that some of the activities might be temporarily restricted, during your visit due to weather.
2023
Days | 4 days/ 3 nights | 5 days/ 4 nights | Airfare |
Double/Triple | $1490 | $1890 | $275 |
Single | $1880 | $2360 | $275 |
Suite Double/Triple | $1800 | $2260 | $275 |
Suite Single Traveler | $2260 | $2800 | $275 |
*Prices are per person
*Airfare subject to change and can sometimes be lower
*30% discount on lodging prices and 25% discount on airfare for children under 12
*Lodging free and 25% discount on airfare for children under 5
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