Holiday Packages – Sacha Lodge Ecuador

Every day, naturalist guides will lead you on different excursions including jungle walks, early morning bird watching,
piranha fishing and night outings to spot caiman.
Guests can also visit 3 exclusive attractions.
A canopy walk (36m high and 275m long) allows guests to climb high above the rainforest canopy for a magnificent view of the area.
Observe toucan, parrot and dozens of other bird species in the treetops.
See one of the largest butterfly farms in the country, now successfully breeding up to 40 local species, and the 43m high Kapok Tower,
constructed around a huge kapok tree.
INCLUSIONS:
• Return airfare Quito/Coca/Quito
• Transfers by motorised canoe with bilingual guides
• Accommodation with private facilities
• 3 Breakfasts (B), 3 Lunches (L), 3 Dinners (D), (excluding beverages)
• Jungle excursions/activities with bilingual naturalist guides
Price Starting From AUD 1485 Per Person
DEPARTURE TIME & POINT:
This tour departs Fri (also available Mon – Wed & Sat for an additional charge) from Quito airport
ITINERARY:
| Day 1 Quito – Sacha Lodge Your journey to the Amazon basin begins with a morning 45 minute flight over the Andes mountains from Quito, Ecuador’s capital, to the port town of Puerto Francisco de Orellana. Here a shaded motorized canoe awaits for a 50-mile, 2½ hour trip down the Napo River, a tributary of the Amazon itself. Upon arrival to our 5000-acre private reserve, you will take your first walk along a raised boardwalk through dense flooded palm forest where several species of monkeys are often sighted. The path leads to Pilchicocha Lake, where dugout canoes await to cross you over to the Lodge. After a welcome cocktail and orientation briefing, you will be shown to your comfortable rooms, which provide 24-hour electricity, private bathrooms with hot water showers, ceiling fans and porches with hammocks overlooking the jungle. Later, there is usually time to take a walk, swim, birdwatch or visit a small lookout with a scenic view of the lake and cabins before sunset. |
| Day 2 Sacha Lodge Our guests will be divided into small groups for activities, which will be led by both a native guide with expert knowledge of the rainforest’s medicinal and other useful plants, and a bilingual naturalist guide educated in the biology and ecology of the area. Each group may decide on its own wake-up and breakfast time, as well as the difficulty and duration of their morning outings. During the first morning you will follow trails through pristine terra firme forest, where 150-foot kapok trees tower above and roots form huge buttresses to give them support. For the adventurous, it is also possible to follow a path along fallen tree trunks and a steel cable zip-line through rich swampland! After lunch you may visit our butterfly farm, where you will be shown how these beautiful insects are bred and raised, and later be free to wander through “the flying room”, where hundreds of colorful butterflies including spectacular blue morphs flutter from flower to flower. Later, paddle along an ancient oxbow lake hidden at the end of one of our forest trails, where luxuriant lianas, bromeliads and palm trees thrive. After dark, you may search for caiman (of the alligator family) on our lake, or take a walk to experience the jungle and its creatures after dark. |
| Day 3 Sacha Lodge A must for all of our guests is a visit to our 135-foot observation tower. Situated on a hill and constructed around a giant kapok tree for stability, this tower allows guests to climb into and above the rainforest canopy for a magnificent view of the surrounding area. Be it shortly after sunrise or before sunset, from the tower’s ample platform it is possible to observe toucans, parrots, and dozens of other colorful bird species in the treetops. With some luck, noisy howler monkeys, foraging squirrel monkeys or the gentle three-toed sloth may also be seen, especially with the aid of a powerful telescope provided by your guides. The tower may be reached on foot via a half-hour walk through terra firme forest, which is an easy way to get there at or before sunrise. However, no one can miss out on at least a one-way trip to or from the tower along Orchid Creek, Pilchicocha Lake’s natural black water runoff to the Napo River. In a dugout canoe guests may follow this winding stream through untamed palm forest for about an hour, a trip that many choose to repeat. In the afternoon you make take some time to fish for the infamous razor-toothed piranha, and later follow strategically raised boardwalks through seasonally flooded forest where walking on the ground would be nearly impossible during most of the year… Keep an eye out for the anacondas! |
| Day 4 Sacha Lodge – Quito After breakfast you will walk back out to the Napo River for the trip to Puerto Francisco de Orellana, and the flight to Quito, arriving after 1pm. Tour concludes. |
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Luggage restrictions for the flight to/from Coca is 20kg per person.
Flights to/from Coca are subject to change, and flight schedules will be confirmed at the time of booking.
The order of activities during days 3 and 4 may vary.
An optional, weather-permitting activity for the morning of day 2 is to visit the Yasuní parrot lick,
an exposed clay bank where brightly colored parrots of several different species gather in the early morning.
In ideal conditions (sunny and dry) thousands of parrots can be seen gathering around this bank for a spectacular show of sound and color.
The lick may be reached from Sacha by a one half-hour motorized canoe trip down the Napo River.
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| INSURANCE is Strongly recommended – Click here for Quote and Book Online
ACCOMMODATION – Click Here for Special Rates |