Selva Jungle Lodge

LA SELVA JUNGLE LODGE is located in the heart of the Amazon basin of Ecuador. LA SELVA has been in successful operation for about sixteen years, and we are a highly respected (if not the best) jungle lodge in South America, which won the "ECOTOURISM AWARD" at World Congress on Tourism and Environment.

LA SELVA provides guided tours of the rainforest with trained Naturalist guides and Native assistants. However, there are many other options available and you can create your own itinerary: decide for swimming, fishing, bird-watching or simply relaxing. and enjoying our gourmet food and personalized service.
You should know that "in the jungle anything is possible" and there you will find the ultimate rainforest experience that will surprise, as well as overwhelm your senses.

We invite you to share LA SELVA JUNGLE LODGE that is Eric Schwartz's (owner) dream-come-true,  a Californian free lance writer, that with his Ecuadorian-born wife, together, they: "harness the power of the marketplace in service to the environment".

LA SELVA, which you might know, in Spanish means "the jungle", is about sixty miles from the town called Coca, down the Napo river (one of the main tributaries of the Amazonas river) and one mile in land from the river itself.

Accommodation
La Selva is comprised of 17 thatched-roofed bungalows with many different sleeping configurations, a spacious but cozy bar with a wrap-around view of our gorgeous lake, and a grand dining room, also with a cone-shaped gigantic, thatched roof.

You can sneak a siesta (spanish for nap) in the hammock hut, or spend some time lazing about on your own private hammock reviewing the day's photos from your digitial camera.

La Selva Jungle Lodge comes of a native design: rustic, authentic and comfortable. The lodge can be described as private bungalows that are cozy and immaculately clean.

The bungalows at La Selva Jungle Lodge are made entirely of secondary rainforest materials and are designed to blend with Ecuador's Jungle.
Each bungalow has a private bathroom, a hammock and a mosquito net in each bed.

The unexpected amenities such as hot water showers will delight you. And everything at the lodge is sanitary beyond your wildest expectations.

Activities
A complementary welcome cocktail greets them in the bar along with the Naturalist guides. In order to give, the first class service the LA SELVA is well known for, we have prepared a random sample itinerary. The first excursion will be organized, as fast as they want and they will be ready to choose one of the innumerable possibilities that we are glad to detail for you:

WALK TO SILVERIO'S HOUSE: Cross Garzacocha Lake. Two and a half to three hour walk on a purposely underdeveloped trail which has some physical challenge. Half of the walk takes place in primary forest and the other half passes the huts of our indigenous neighbors along the Napo River.

MANDICOCHA TRAIL: An easy trail close to the hotel which is usually filled with wildlife no matter what hour of the day you do it. The excursion can last as long as you want.

MANDICOCHA-MANDIYACU: A 3 to 4 hour trip. Follow the Mandicocha trail until you reach Mandicocha Lake which has a completely different ecosystem than Lake Garzacocha (where the hotel is located). Board paddle canoes for a one and half hour glide down Mandiyacu stream. One easily sees the myriad of wildlife that presents itself along the shores of the stream. Arriving at the Napo River, board a motorized canoe for the trip back to LA SELVA.

EL SALADO: It's a two-hour excursion often combined with a picnic lunch and trips across the Napo River (see following). Visit a site where with a little luck, parrots, parakeets and macaws can be seen by the thousands.

HIGH FOREST TRAIL: The duration can vary between 3 to 5 hours. Cross the Napo River and arrive at a challenging mountainous trail which offers yet another ecosystem. It is a chance to see birds and other wildlife nowhere else seen. Also a chance to eat lemon ants.

CHALLUACOCHA LAKE: A motorized canoe trip down the Napo River. Then a walk and a paddle canoe trip to Challuacocha for a picnic at a shelter overlooking the lake, then relaxing canoeing, fishing for piranhas, or a two-hour hike through yet another unique forest.

PILCHE TRAIL: Cross Garzacocha Lake then one hour or more of walking. See and enormous colony of leafcutter ants and whatever wildlife may come your way.

NIGHT EXCURSIONS: Canoe or walking trips after dark to view nocturnal animals such as caiman, monkeys, insect, owls. Sample the LA SELVA nightlife.

135 FOOT OBSERVATION TOWER: Not far from the lodge you can spend many hours observing birds flying by at eye-level, wildlife of all kinds, and yes, a bird's-eye view of it all.

And more possibilities!