Sacha Lodge (Amazon rain forest)
Sacha Lodge is on the Napo River in the Amazon rain forest. Their website gives a pretty good idea about the location and facilities here and is worth viewing as the aerial views of the kapok tower and canopy walkway give a much better impression than I was able to produce with my photography.
Day 20: Quito to Sacha Lodge - Saturday February 10th 2018
We spent the first part of the morning wandering in the gardens at the hotel in Puembo. Then we went back to Quito airport for the 40 minute flight to Coca. Coca was hot and humid and crowded - there was some sort of festival going on. After a light lunch we loaded up into a fast motorised canoe for the 2 hour journey east along the Napo river to get to Sacha Lodge. Rio Napo is the largest river in Ecuador, but it is only the 7th largest of the Amazon's tributaries. I found the bow spray quite refreshing but many of our team took shelter behind the ponchos we were so thoughtfully given after we had already received a good soaking. There was little wildlife along the river, which functions as the major highway in this part of Ecuador, but we did see Great White and Snowy Egrets. On arrival at the lodge's landing place on the Napo, we transferred to our feet for a 30 minute boardwalk through the rain forest to a small canoe dock on a minor waterway. Here we transferred to paddle canoes and were taken on the final leg of the journey to Sacha Lodge. This last section was extraordinarily tranquil; being paddled along small waterways through the forest which then opened out into a dead-calm lagoon with the lodge on its far shore, as the sun went low in clear skies. It was a wonderful experience. I was keen to spend the last of the daylight looking at wildlife, but had to listen to the lodge owner/manager giving his spiel and sort out our activities for our 2 days here.
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