Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / Ecuador / Ahuano / Sacha Lodge
Sacha Lodge
Ahuano, Ecuador · Independent · Accessible Luxury
Swiss explorer Beny Ammeter had already opened La Casa del Suizo beside Ahuano when a companion walked him through a swamp to Pilchicocha, a blackwater lagoon off the Napo. He started Sacha Lodge there in October 1991 and opened it in April 1992 with six rooms. The family still runs 26 thatched cabins inside a 2,000-hectare reserve that Ecuador recognizes as a private protected forest. A canopy walk of 275 meters hangs 36 meters up between three towers, and a platform built into a kapok tree climbs to 43 meters.
- 26 rooms
- Opened 1992
About Sacha Lodge
- The canopy walk runs 275 meters between three steel towers, 36 meters above the forest, about a mile from the lodge and two miles from the Napo.
- From Coca the trip is a motorboat of about two hours down the Napo, a forest walk, then a canoe across Pilchicocha to the cabins.
- A 43-meter platform sits in the upper branches of a giant kapok, in forest where the lodge has logged more than 500 bird species.
- A mesh cage holds a plunge pool in the black water of Pilchicocha, with caiman and giant otters on the other side of the net.
- In October 1991 about 70 workers began the lodge and its wooden tower. It opened in April 1992 with six guest rooms.
History
Sacha Lodge takes its name from the Amazon Kichwa word for forest. Swiss explorer Beny Ammeter, who had opened La Casa del Suizo beside Ahuano in 1985, was led through a swamp to the blackwater lagoon Pilchicocha and decided to build there. About 70 workers started the lodge and a wooden tower in October 1991. It opened in April 1992 with six guest rooms. The family still runs it: 26 thatched cabins inside a reserve of about 2,000 hectares, recognized by Ecuador's Ministry of Environment as a Private Protected Forest.
Experiences
- Guided forest exploration in small groups with naturalist and/or Kichwa naturalist guides — Guests explore in small groups with Ecuadorian guides, naturalists, Kichwa naturalists, or both, revealing the forest through scientific insight and ancestral wisdom.
- Night game drive — Night game drive referenced in a Condé Nast Traveler headline: 'No Safari Is Complete Without a Night Game Drive'.
- Forest bathing — Forest bathing referenced in a Business Traveler USA headline: 'Interested in Forest Bathing? Here's How to Get Started'.
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