LA SELVA jungle and rainforest lodge is in Ecuador's Primary Rainforest. Ecuador's Amazon Rainforest is a tropical garden of colorful blossoms, billowing ferns and giant trees providing a green sanctuary to rare and exotic wildlife with intriguing insects, unique species of birds and butterflies and magical sceneries.

The rain stimulates the Amazon rainforest’s luxuriant growth and drenches the visitor who comes to see the spectacle. In other words the Amazon Rainforest is LA SELVA Jungle Lodge reason of existence.

La Selva Jungle Lodge is now approaching its 20th year of operation. La Selva Jungle Lodge is proud to have 10 second-generation employees, sons of La Selva Jungle Lodge current staff, now working alongside their parents. This is but one indication of the strong bonds La Selva Jungle Lodge has made with the Quichua-speaking indians who live around us.

Since La Selva Jungle Lodge foundation, we have donated a portion of its profits each year in cash and (the more popular) tangible work projects such as schools, health centers, and communal meeting centers, which La Selva Jungle Lodge has built at its own expense.

La Selva Jungle Lodge has instituted a program of medical checkups for our native neighbors by an international medical team that comes each year.

To get a feeling for where you are headed, imagine a tranquil country: Ecuador, and to the east deep in a rainforest of an unparalleled biodiversity, in the sensuous Amazon Basin, a lodge, a paradise that is located on Garzacocha Lake, the Heron Lake.
 
La Selva which in Spanish means “the jungle” is necessarily remote but one of the most easily reached destinations in Ecuador's Amazon and ideal for avid travelers (traveling alone as well as organized tours.)

La Selva Jungle Lodge, is a 25 minute flight from Quito to Coca and about sixty miles down river from the town of Coca (2 hours) to La Selva Jungle Lodge’s isolated dock, a half mile boardwalk of bamboo slats keeps you above a vast mysterious palm swamp as you make your way to the lake. The boardwalk ends at Garzacocha Lake where paddle canoes await you to take you across to the lodge.

Besides La Selva Jungle Lodge's small size (which will remain unchanged despite great demand) and vast experience, La Selva Jungle Lodge also offers you as much world-class efficiency as you want.

La Selva Jungle Lodge's position is at almost exactly on the equator, making the weather at La Selva Jungle Lodge pleasant for visits all year around. 

WELCOME to La Selva Jungle Lodge...start your Ecuador Expedition with La Selva Jungle Lodge.

f. Eric & Maggie Schwartz & LA SELVA Staff.

Below is a partial list of activities that La Selva Jungle Lodge offers. Trained Naturalist guides and Native assistants will accompany you during all your adventure.

You can choose to trek, hike, fish, swim, paddle canoes, birdwatch, butterfly watch, photography or simply relax.

Nature excursions

• El Salado: Visit a site where, with a little luck, parrots and parakeets, by the thousands can be seen.
• Walk to a Native's House and learn the amazon way of life.
• Cross Garzacocha Lake. A purposely underdeveloped trail which has some physical challenge. Half of the walk takes place in Ecuador's primary rainforest and the other half passes the huts of our Indigenous neighbours along the Napo River. 
• High Forest Trail: Cross the Napo River and arrive at a challenging mountainous trail, which offers yet another ecosystem. It is a chance to see birds and wildlife nowhere else seen.
• Mandicocha Trail: An easy trail close to La Selva Jungle Lodge which is usually filled with wildlife.
• Pilche Trail: Through the Pilche Trail you will see an enormous colony of leafcutter ants and whatever wildlife may come your way. 
• Night Excursions: La Selva Jungle Lodge has canoe or walking trips after dark to view nocturnal animals such as caiman, monkeys, insects and owls.
• Pedro's Trail: Long Version - Cross Garzacocha lake, walk through the virgin forest of Ecuador and arrive at the tower - Four Hours. Short version: La Selva Jungle Lodge takes you through the Butterfly farm and you will join Pedro's Trail in the middle - Two Hours.
• Chawamango's Trail: Walk along the Mandicocha lake to the Napo River. You will return to La Selva Jungle Lodge by an elevated walkway and cross Garzacocha by canoe
• Little Chawamango: Short trip by foot around the edge of Lake Garzacocha. Return by canoe to La Selva Jungle Lodge.
• Ruth's Trail: Ruth's Trail is a good place to look for Jaguars.
• 135 Foot Observation Tower 

Bird Watching

With perhaps the highest species list in the neo-tropics, La Selva Jungle Lodge uses native birding experts for those guests with this singular passion. The Natives speak minimal English, but know the names of all the birds, and, more importantly, how to find them.

Please specify in advance if you are a birder and would like to take advantage of this service that La Selva Jungle Lodge offers.

Tree Tower

Not far from La Selva Jungle Lodge you can observe many birds flying by at eyelevel, wildlife of all kinds, and, yes, a bird's-eye view of it all, from the top platform of La Selva Jungle Lodge's observation tree tower.

The Butterfly Farm

Only 5 minutes from La Selva Jungle Lodge, a guide will take you there at least once during your stay; however, many people go back a second and third time on their own.

La Selva Jungle Lodge Butterfly Farm was designed to present an ecologically sound, sustainable alternative way to help preserve Ecuador's rainforest. La Selva Jungle Lodge breeds butterflies – it does not catch them in the forest – and sell them alive all over the world.

La Selva Jungle Lodge produces as many as 20,000 butterflies per year from egg to caterpillar to pupae for exportation.

Lake Kayaking

Guests may take out La Selva Jungle Lodge's kayaks to explore the lake on their own anytime they wish. The kayaks hold one or two people and paddlers must be signed in and out at the bar. Kayak instructions will be available from La Selva Jungle Lodge staff.

Swimming 

Swimming, another great recreational activity is highly encouraged at La Selva Jungle Lodge.

The Lonely Planet guide has called our lake Garzacocha one of the most beautiful lakes in the Amazon, so take a swim to La Selva Jungle Lodge's balsa wood raft and enjoy the tranquility. A well applied sunscreen is adviced since the sun is really strong at La Selva Jungle Lodge.

The Biology Field Station

In 1992 La Selva Jungle Lodge created, built and continues to fund The Neo-tropical Field Biology Institute. Researchers from around the world come to La Selva Jungle Lodge to carry out scientific investigation at the Neo-tropical Field Biology Institute..

Jungle Camping Nights

The trail that is followed is constantly changed according to the physical ability of the group, personal interests and the local weather.

Guests who stay for the 4 night program at La Selva Jungle Lodge and the two following nights enjoy camping at Mandicocha, a unique rainforest highway.
La Selva Jungle Lodge camp site has a rustic kitchen / dinning room constructed in the traditional style of the region. The toilet facilities at the campsite are latrines.

All tents at the camp site are set on a bamboo platform with a thatched roof. The tents contain camping mattresses, each with a comfortable pillow, clean sheets and towels are provided daily. Lanterns light La Selva Jungle Lodge's campsite; however, a personal flashlight is required.

All of La Selva Jungle Lodge expeditions are very flexible and La Selva Jungle Lodge will organize them day by day in a democratic way between you and your guide.

Rooms:

The lodges of La Selva Jungle Lodge come of a native design: rustic, authentic and comfortable. The lodges can be described as private bungalows that are dry, cozy and immaculately clean.

The 17 bungalows at La Selva Jungle Lodge are made entirely of secondary rainforest materials and are designed to blend with Ecuador's Jungle.

Each lodge has a private bathroom, a hammock and a mosquito netting in each bed. Amenities such as hot water. Everything at La Selva Jungle Lodge is sanitary beyond your wildest expectations.

Services:

• Dining room, very spacious with a cone-shaped roof.
• Open-air bar
• Lounge area with a wrap-around view of the lake.
• You can sneak a siesta (spanish for nap) in the hammock hut, or spend some lazing about and reviewing photos of the day on your digitial camera.
• Laundry: Recognizing the necessity of some of our guests to appear less savage than others, and recognizing the very understandable miscalculations that may exist in the relationship of mud and water proportionate to the amount of clothing brought, we offer Slothful Laundry, the state of the art in Amazon laundry services.

Food Services

The food is La Selva Jungle Lodge pride.

La Selva Jungle Lodge blends the finest ingredients Ecuador has to offer with French, North American and Ecuadorian cooking skills.

Fresh, tropical fruit juices accompany each meal. La Selva Jungle lodge offers its signature Amazonian pizza that will rival any, veal milanesa a l'Amazon; and local fish - when available - prepared with one of our numerous original recipes. (Vegetarian and special diets are available upon request, as well as special meal schedules and box lunch options for birdwatchers)

On top of everything, La Selva Jungle Lodge bakes its own bread and serves its own freshly made pasta. Yummy!!!