HOTEL REVIEW: LA SELVA LODGE, AMAZON ECUADOR

Whilst travelling South America for six months we knew we wanted to make a trip to the Amazon. The first question was where to go from? We heard stories of unpleasant 7 days spent in a hammock on a boat in Brazil, we were tempted by the promise of Jaguars in Peru, but in the end we decided on going on the Ecuadorian side. This fitted in with our schedule and seemed like one of the easier places to reach, just a short 35minute flight from Quito to Coca.

We did a lot of research on the various lodges  in the area (by alot I mean a few days since we we were only booking a week in advance!) and decided on the La Selva Lodge. Our decision was made easier by the incredible deals we were able to get by booking so last minute for a trip people probably book a year in advance!

Once you are on you way, from the airport it’s short journey to a two hour motorised boat journey down the river, which for us featured a 20 minute downpour. Now at this point I will disclose how utterly unprepared we were for the ‘rain’ forest, everyone grabbed their rain jacks and then huddled under industrial ponchos provided by La Selva. Being last on the boat we missed out on the ponchos and a few kindles and electronics didn’t quite make it through the experience!

After this journey we took a short walk to the paddle canoes which we would enjoy for the last leg of the journey to the lodge. We spent around 45 minutes travelling through narrow canals to the sounds of monkeys and birds. Already we were on the look out for wildlife and our naturalist and naturist were pointing everything out to us.

On arrival at La Selva, we were greeted with cool cocktails and given an introduction to the history of the lodge and the itinerary for the next few days. We were eager to get up to our room and were absolutely delighted to find we were in one of the closest buildings to the lodge with a huge room, with four poster bed, living area and balcony out onto the lake.

Included in your stay is breakfast, lunch and dinner in the upstairs of the lodge. You are seated with your group and joined by the naturist for every meal. The food was absolutely delicious and if you wanted to wash this down with a glass (or bottle) of wine this is added to your tab. Every evening the guide gives you an itinerary for following day and the lodge mixes the order up for each of the groups of eight people so that you are doing different activities and you always feel that you have the jungle to yourselves!

You can choose to participate in as many or as little of the activities as you wish. So if you prefer to skip one of the hikes in favour of a canoe on the lagoon, piranha fishing or just relaxing with a book that’s just fine.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Piranha fishing and if you are brave enough, swimming with them in the lagoon – our guides assured us that the piranhas are not interested in nibbling on us humans, but after seeing a few of these sabre toothed fish being caught on the jetty we decided against it!
• Night Hike – if you are scared of bugs this one may not be for you.  Tarantula sightings along with other creepy crawlies are guaranteed. Bring a torch and watch out for low hanging trees!
• Sunset paddle around the lake – this was our absolute favourite activity. You cannot explain the the serenity and calm of being on the lake watching the sunset and looking for caimans until your experience it.
• Bird watching from the Tree Tower – if you can make your way up a few hundred steps you will be rewarded with an incredible canopy top view above the jungle to search for birds and watch the sunset.

TIPS

• If you can be flexible, i.e. this isn’t your one trip of the year planned well in advance you can benefit from some great deals on the lodges. We were able to book just 10 days ahead of our arrival and received a significant discount on the regular price. We looked at several lodges, all of which offered similar deals for last minute bookings.
• Bring waterproofs, and waterproof bags for your belongings. You will get rained on. The lodge provides a dry box in each room to dry out your electronics should they get wet.
• Unless you prefer you own it’s not necessary to have really good walking shoes as the lodge provides you with wellies which are suitable for all of the jungle hikes.
• Bring any snacks, insect repellants, sun screens that you think you will need. The lodge does sell these, but at a high price!
• Don’t forget to bring currency for tips at the end of the stay for the naturist and naturalists. The typical amount given was around US $100 between two people.
• Wifi is available in the lodge, but if you have anything pressing requiring the internet be sure to do this before arriving. This is a great opportunity to disconnect and switch the mobile off!

We hope that this article has inspired you to visit The Amazon in Ecuador. If you have any questions about the destination please leave these in the comments below.

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We Are Travel Girls Founder & Editor Becky van Dijk of BeckyvanDijk.com
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