Mashpi Lodge is the brain child of a former mayor of Quito. Roque Sevilla's passion for the creatures and landscapes of the cloud forest led him to create a first class refuge for the adventurous and a natural reserve that protects the creatures within its borders.
Miles away from roughing it, the streamlined lodge is sleek and sophisticated-perched on an outcrop overlooking the rolling hills and valleys of the Choco region. A tract of land that extends from Columbia to the forests of Peru. Floor to ceiling windows, overstuffed beds, and elegant fixtures mimic the style and decor of the dining room. Meals use ingredients that are locally sourced and grown. No small affair, chef's constantly rotate the menu depending on the season, creating dishes that inspire and norish.
The 3,000-acre Mashpi reserve that surronds the lodge is teaming with birds,animals, rivers that lead to waterfalls, and trails that crisscross the property. Day trips find you high above the canopy on the SkyBike, a pedal-powered ride 600 ft. above a river gorge-on top of a observation tower where eagle-eyed guides point out to toulcans, tanger, and parrots perching in trees and up high in the sky.
The Life Centre is the place to learn about the reserve and the cloud forest. Mashpi employs a team of naturalists and local experts who walk guests through the wide variety of butterflies found in the reserve, and point out the different stages of growth in their own breeding facilities.
This urban retreat beats with the rythm of the forest while making discerning guests feel at home with state of the art design, top shelf food, guides, and services, and above the bar comfort.
Standing proudly while overlooking the spas, restaurants, hotels, and bed and breakfasts of the town of Banos below, Luna Runtun is a elegant spa and resort that reflects the exotic natural surrondings of the outdoor adventure capital of Ecuador.
The collection of rooms spare no expense-redifining luxury travel in Ecuador to include an opulant retreat to call home between rafting, biking, canyoning, and climbing adventures. The resort's spa and infinatie pool let you splurge and relax, taking away to the worries that creep up during the hustle of everyday life.
Rock fireplaces warm wood floors in spacious suites and expansive windows let in the natural beauty of the lush surrondings, and oversized beds and bathtubs are thrown in for good measure.
The volcanic spa uses ashes and volcanic stones from the nearby, active Tungurahua volcano, and fresh and natural medicinal plants, fruits, and vegetables for a variety of treatments that include massges, facials, and mud wraps.
Luna Rutun's restaurant serves a medley of Ecuadorian dishes ranging from fresh seafood to Ecuadorian traditional food. Beef in red wine sauce, chicken stroganoff, and shrimp with aji are a few of the dishes that tempt the taste buds after a big day of adventure.
The final approach to Sacha Lodge finds travellers slowly making their way to the dock of the low-key but elegant collection of thatched roof buildings. Once a shore, the charm and warmth of the jungle refuge and reserve come into focus.
Rustic luxury in Ecuador is a growing trend-Sacha Lodge was one of its fore runners- providing a haven that doubles as a research station and butterfly farm. The founders started the farm to export the jungle's wealth of butterfly species, and the naturalist team in charge spent years studying and researching the different varieties.
The fruits of their labors are impressive. The private reserve has grown to 5000 acres- hiding a 900 ft canopy bridge almost a hundred feet over the forest. Walking through the tree tops or standing at the top of the towering observation platform immerses you in the creatures of the jungle. Parrots, toulcans, and hundreds of other birds soar nearby and overhead while sloths, monkeys, and capybaras hang in the trees and on the forest floor below.
Meals are casual-served buffet style in an open dining room overlooking the peaceful lagoon nearby. The guides and staff are top notch-expertly showing guests the nooks and crannies and hidden hot spots of the surrounding jungle.
A trip to Sacha Lodge is an experience that gives you a new kind of luxury-one that encompasses the natural riches of the jungle while adding a touch of elegance to the traditional lodge's found in remote areas around the world.
Hacienda La Cienega located to the south of Quito and close to Cotopaxi National Park, Latacunga, and the Quilotoa Loop is luxury travel in Ecuador at its finest. For four hundred years explorers, scientists, naturalists, painters, writers, revolutionaries, freedom fighters, and presidents have called the lavish hacienda home while in Ecuador.
Rooms and suites highlight the historic, stately decor of the hacienda while ushering in the present with lavish and comfortable appointments. La Cienega's chef serves hearty, gourmet meals centering around traditional Ecuadorian cuisine.
The property includes lush gardens, a chapel, an outdoor swimming pool, and tennis courts. The hacienda offers tours to neighboring peaks, markets, and crater lakes that captured the hearts and spirits of explorers including Charles Marie de La Condamine, a French scientist who was on the first foriegn team allowed in Spanish terratory in 1742.
