Ecuador Amazon Extension | Sacha Lodge

Return flights from Quito to Coca are included with the local supplier for the start of your Amazon adventure. You will be met by a representative at check in in Quito who will assist you on your 30 minute flight to Coca.
** Exact flight times will be provided in your final documentation.

From Quito airport you will be in the safe hands of one of our bilingual team members, and will be guided all the way to the Lodge. On arrival in Coca, there will be a short 30-minute hike through the rainforest, where you will be met by native workers who will paddle you across the lake, to Sacha Lodge.

After arriving at Sacha Lodge around lunchtime and meeting your guide you will take your first excursion into the forest. Once you have returned and had dinner, you will set out for your first nighttime adventure: snake spotting in the jungle or canoeing among the caimans on the lake.

A typical day at Sacha begins at sunrise or earlier, taking advantage of the cool morning hours when the rainforest’s animals are most active. Each group agrees on a wake-up time, when their guide will knock on their door to begin the day. Breakfast will begin half an hour after that.

Wherever the destination, our excursions proceed slowly in order to appreciate the fascinating details that our guides point out around you. You might begin the day paddling dugout canoes along tannin-rich black-water creeks and lakes, where luxuriant lianas, orchids, bromeliads and palm trees thrive, always with the possibility of spotting animals, from the tiny pygmy marmoset to the feared ocelot or puma. Then, you could board the motorized canoe for a short ride along the Napo River to visit the Providencia Community of Yasuní, learning about their jungle way of life and testing out their cooking techniques, stopping to watch the parrot disco of the clay lick along the way.

You will return to the Lodge in the late morning, in time for a 1PM lunch. In the time between lunch and your afternoon adventure, you are free to enjoy the Lodge, lounging on sun chairs with a book on the Balsa, or cooling off in the Lake Pool. Activities begin again between 3:00PM and 4:30PM and often continue into the evening, when the nocturnal insect and frog chorus begins. An afternoon excursion might see you trekking through pristine Terra Firme forest, where 150-foot kapok trees tower above and roots form huge buttresses to give trees support, your guide pointing out the crest owl territory and calling to the howler monkeys. You could then climb 94 feet (30 meters) up to the Canopy Walk, a 940-foot (275-meter) bridge across the treetops from where you can spot dozens of animals and birds.

Days at Sacha Lodge do not end with the fading of the light, or even with dinner. Night walks and canoe trips, with the aid of flashlights, often reveal creatures seldom seen during daylight. Caimans (of the alligator family) and giant insects rule the jungle after sunset. Do you dare search for them?

*Please note: activities are subject to weather and are in no set order, though Forest Walks, the Kapok Tower, and Canopy Walk are the keystones of the Sacha Lodge experience.

Continue your explorations from Sacha Lodge, by waking at sunrise or earlier, to once again take advantage of the cool morning hours when the rainforest’s animals are most active. Enjoy breakfast before heading out on more memorable guided excursions with a list of possible wildlife to spot. No two days are the same, so whatever you haven't had the opportunity to see or do, will be ready and waiting for you today.

Returning to the Lodge, once again, late morning, in time for a 1PM lunch. Free time is then available between lunch and your afternoon adventure, where you can enjoy the calmness of the lodge and its surrounds before heading back out again between 3:00PM and 4:30PM for further explorations of the Amazon.

*Please note: activities are subject to weather, though Forest Walks, the Kapok Tower, and Canopy Walk are the keystones of the Sacha Lodge experience.

Enjoy an early breakfast before departing the lodge for your return journey to Coca to board your flight back to Quito.

Please note: Suggested itinerary is subject to changes.