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Sani lodge community experience 5 days

Suggested Itinerary

Deep within the jungle you will find a mysterious lake called Challuacocha, where floating water hyacinths and grasses obscure the shores. And if you venture out on this lagoon in a dug out canoe early in the morning when it is quiet and the light is still low, you just might see, somewhere out there, lying hidden in the vegetation a rare and wild Manatee or Anaconda. Float here for a while, scanning the horizon and you would probably notice the yellow, banded chest of an Aracari or hear the hoarse whisper of the Hoatzin. Eventually, the day would pass and you could peer out across the shimmering, black water towards the setting sun, and almost certainly see the gleaming orange eyes of the Black Caiman.

Come to Challuacocha and feel the mystery. Come to Challuacocha and experience the world of Sani Lodge.

To the north of Challua lies the massive Cuyabeno Reserve and along the southern border stretches the vast Yasuni National Park. In the corridor between, located on 16,000 hectares (40,000 acres) of untouched forest lies Sani. Here, the biodiversity will amaze! On your adventure, you will walk through a pristine forest gallery that is home to 1,500 species of trees, hundreds of climbing vines, and exotic flowers, as well as 550 species of tropical birds, 13 species of monkeys and 1,000 beautiful butterflies.

About Sani

Sani Lodge offers a full service, first class jungle experience, focusing on amazing wildlife and ecologically friendly tourism.  The lodge itself is located 3 hours down river from Coca, in Ecuador.  The facilities consist of 8 private, thatch roofed cabañas containing twin beds, hammocks, electric lights and modern bathrooms with showers, clustered on the shore of a remote black water lagoon.  The dinning room and bar feature exquisite views of both the lake and of the setting sun.  Lights in the cabañas as well as in the rest of the lodge are powered by solar panels and there is no generator to drown out the sounds of the forest. Access to the Lodge is by motorized canoe from Coca a short 30 minute flight from Quito. 

Here is a sample itinerary for a 5days /4 nights tour beginning from Quito.

Our guests are met in the Quito airport by a bilingual host who handles all passport and flight details and also gives the passengers a short introduction and orientation to the journey from Quito to Sani Lodge.  In Coca, the passengers are greeted by a bilingual naturalist guide as they step off the plane who accompanies them down river to the lodge.  From the airport, the group and their luggage is quickly transported overland to the river and boarded into a covered, motorized, fiberglass canoe, where their jungle experience begins.  Once in the canoe, the guide explains some of the natural history of the area and gives a short introduction to the ecological characteristics of the river.  Traveling 3 hours down the river Napo, the group is fed a light lunch and can relax in comfortable seats while watching scenic trees, herons and other wildlife pass by.

The Lodge is located on a black water lagoon which feeds a small stream or "yacu" which empties into the Napo.  At the confluence of the Yacu and the Napo, the guests, are transferred from the large fiberglass canoe to a small, motorized dugout, suitable for navigating the winding black water stream.  After a brief 30 minute motor up the beautiful yacu, where large blue morpho butterflies and various species of neotropical birds and monkeys are often seen, the yacu widens into a sweeping lagoon and our guests are transported into the world of Sani Lodge (in this point I want to share with you that now we have a new trek that the tourists can go as soon as they finish the 3 hours trip by the Napo, so instead of take a small canoe for the last 30 minutes toward to the Lodge, they can go by themselves there doing a trekking for two hours.  Meanwhile, our will take their luggage to the Lodge.  This choice will depend in the mood or taste of the tourists).  The canoe docks directly in front of the lodge, located on the waters edge, where 8 cabañas, a dinning room and full service bar awaits them.

Once at the lodge, the passengers are settled in their rooms, given a light snack and a welcome drink, while the guide gives a brief orientation to life in the jungle and Sani Lodge.  After, the group is fitted for rubber boots, divided into small groups and taken on an afternoon excursion, arriving back at the lodge in time for a shower and a cocktail before dinner at 19h30 or 20h00.  All of the excursions are guided by a bilingual naturalist as well as an expert Quechua native, who will introduce the group to the ecology of the jungle, as well as show them unique birds, unusual insects, and fascinating animals, as well as medicinal and traditionally useful plants in Quechua culture.

The dinning room features beautiful panoramic views of our large and mysterious lake.  Here, four course meals are served consisting of international and  as well as samples of traditional forest and quichua foods to help give our guests a better understanding of life in the jungle.  Meals are attended by a full wait staff and bar service is available any time during the day.

The activities of the following 3 days at the lodge are customized to the particular interests of the group.  An expert bird guide is available for experienced birders who are interested in viewing the large diversity of species that reside near the lodge.  For the generalist, our program includes early morning hikes, paddles around our lagoon, piranah fishing, a trip up our 30 meter high canopy observation tower built around the mighty Kapoc and night walk adventures, concentrating not only on birds but all aspects of the incredible ecological experience that is the rainforest.  Our extensive network of trails allows our guest to easily access many different types of forest, from tierra firma, to swamps, and each day features a new ecosystem.  All travelers to Sani Lodge will also spend a day on the opposite or south side of the Rio Napo, which divides the region and segregates animal populations and communities .  Here, on the south side, one can find 4 other species of monkeys that cannot be seen to the north, as well as notice the geographical differences in the makeup of the forest and the land.  There is also a clay lick on the south side of the Napo, where our guests can view many species of parrots from a thatched, blind that allows them great looks without disturbing the birds.

The final day of the tour begins early.  Generally about day break, after breakfast, their luggage already loaded, the guests embark in a motorized dugout for  their final float down the yacu.  Time permitting, the motor is not used and our passengers have one final chance to see wildlife and take in the beauty of the pristine stream in the early morning light.  At the mouth of the yacu, there is a transfer into the waiting, larger canoe and the passengers travel upstream, back to Coca for their flight to Quito, arriving in there in time for a late lunch.

Sani Lodge is an ecotourism facility owned and operated by the Quichua community Sani Isla.  With a vast land holding of over 15,000 hectares (40,000 acres), Sani Lodge controls and protects by far the largest, privately held area of rainforest in Ecuador.  The Lodge is an important part of the makeup of the future of this indigenous community and as such the people have set many goals.  First and foremost is the preservation of the land, the plants, and the animals.  Following closely behind, the community has set up a fund whereby the profits of the lodge will be used to help further the education of the young people of the community.

There are plans for an indigenous high school in Coca, where community members will be prepared for university as well as educated in traditional Quechua culture and knowledge.   This means that by visiting Sani Lodge you are participating in direct conservation of both the rainforest and its peoples.  All of the money stays within the community and is used to promote preservation and education in the area.

However, the community also recognizes the need for outside guidance and consultation.  Therefore, they have hired English speaking administrators and naturalist guides with extensive experience in high level ecotourism, from outside the community to insure the highest standards of quality valued by European and American guests.

Finally, what makes 

Sani truly remarkable and truly different is the forest.  In addition to a bird list of over 550 species, Sani Lodge offers a wildlife community that cannot be found at many other lodges along the Rio Napo or elsewhere in the Ecuadorian Amazon.  The area surrounding Sani Lodge supports many healthy populations of animals which are critically endangered throughout the Amazon.  First among them, and certainly most spectacular are our Woolly Monkey and Black Caiman populations.  Several groups of Woolly Monkeys, the largest, most gregarious, and most endangered monkey species in the region,  reside in the trees above the trails at Sani.  Rare elsewhere, but common in our lagoon, Black Caiman, the largest relative of the alligator in South America, sometimes reaching 5 meters in length, can easily be seen at night, and sometimes even during the day.  Also, waterfowl difficult to see in smaller lagoons, such as Wattled Jacana, Sungreb, Anhinga, Neotropical Cormerant, are generally common and easy to view.

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