Cloudforest ecolodge in Ecuador
| country: | Ecuador |
| location: | Cloud forest |
| price: | From US $28 (dorms) up to US $75 with guide in beautiful cabanas per person per night full board, including tax. General Interest and Birding Packages also available. |
description
Just 2.5 hours from Quito, our cloudforest reserve and ecolodge are in the foothills of the Andes in northwestern Ecuador, in the Choco Bioregion which is considered a ‘hotspot' for biodiversity. Community-owned and community-run, we are committed to conservation, responsible ecotourism and sustainable development.
Just two hours from Quito, the reserve has more than 390 species of birds including the White-faced Nunbird, Beautiful Jay, Plate-billed Mountain Toucan, Giant and Moustached Antpitta and hummingbirds. The reserve is home to at least 45 species of mammals including pumas and the Andean Spectacled Bear, as well as many reptiles, frogs and toads, cecilidades and butterflies. The rich plant life of the forest includes orchids and bromeliads.
Our lodge is an ideal place for ecotourists to visit, whether you are a birder, a backpacker, a scientist, a nature lover, looking for adventure or simply looking for a break from the city. The reserve offers a wide range of attractions such as superb hiking to mountain waterfalls along ancient trails used by the Yumbo people, camping in primary forest, birding including visiting the Andean Cock of the Rock lek, visiting our traditional panela (sugar) workshop, finding out about our mammal camera ‘trapping’ monitoring project or simply relaxing in the hammocks.
We also have a well established volunteering programme and are seeking volunteers to help with our ecotourism and conservation projects.
Just two hours from Quito, the reserve has more than 390 species of birds including the White-faced Nunbird, Beautiful Jay, Plate-billed Mountain Toucan, Giant and Moustached Antpitta and hummingbirds. The reserve is home to at least 45 species of mammals including pumas and the Andean Spectacled Bear, as well as many reptiles, frogs and toads, cecilidades and butterflies. The rich plant life of the forest includes orchids and bromeliads.
Our lodge is an ideal place for ecotourists to visit, whether you are a birder, a backpacker, a scientist, a nature lover, looking for adventure or simply looking for a break from the city. The reserve offers a wide range of attractions such as superb hiking to mountain waterfalls along ancient trails used by the Yumbo people, camping in primary forest, birding including visiting the Andean Cock of the Rock lek, visiting our traditional panela (sugar) workshop, finding out about our mammal camera ‘trapping’ monitoring project or simply relaxing in the hammocks.
We also have a well established volunteering programme and are seeking volunteers to help with our ecotourism and conservation projects.
rooms, food and facilities
We provide full board and lodging for visitors, and also meals for day visitors to the reserve. We also offer general and specialist birding guided tours.We offer 2 types of accommodation:
- Beautiful cabanas with private bathroom and stunning views over the forest. Lit by candles
- Lodge with running water, shared bathrooms with hot showers, regular as well as compost toilets, limited electricity
how this holiday makes a difference
 We are a local cooperative which owns and manages its own cloudforest reserve and ecolodge. Ecotourism provides us with a sustainable alternative to forest clearance and hunting while allowing us to conserve our forest. Our ecotourism operation requires a constant and careful presence within the forest which more effectively protects the forest from land invasion than the Protected Forest laws alone. (Land invasion occurs in neighbouring cooperatives´ land which has been abandoned by their owners.) Very much a part of our local community, we provide placements for young people in the area, buy from local families where possible and through our volunteering programme work with children in the town of Nanegal. Scientists from Earthwatch carry out research in the reserve and we have a ‘camera trapping’ project to monitor large mammals.  This holiday is part of the responsibletravel.com and Conservation International Community Based Tourism Programme to support and promote community based tourism ventures that offer significant conservation and development benefits to local communities. To see other community based tourism holidays and find out more about the programme click here. |
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