La Selva Ecolodge

One of our top choices in the Ecuadorian Amazon is the La Selva Ecolodge, a remote and beautiful place where guests stay in thatched cabins at the edge of a rainforest lake. The ecolodge offers 4 or 5 day programs that start on various days of the week, and is easily accessible with a quick flight from Quito followed by a scenic journey downriver.

Located in the Ecuadorian Amazon Jungle, La Selva Ecolodge enjoys a remote location on the shore of Garzacocha Lake, a wildlife-filled natural lagoon. Each of the 12 private bungalows offers private bathrooms and electricity, and are equipped with fans, mosquito nets, and hammocks. The cabins are connected by walkways to each other and to the public common areas, which include a spacious dining room with a rooftop lookout point and an open-air bar and lounge with a wrap-around view of the lake. La Selva offers a variety of activities, including birdwatching, hiking, night walks, fishing and canoeing.

Arriving to the La Selva Ecolodge is an adventure in and of itself. You will be met at the Quito airport by a representative of the lodge, who will give you your boarding pass, assist you with check-in, and brief you about the upcoming journey. Your 30-minute flight takes you over the spectacular Andes mountains to the jungle city of Coca. You will be transferred to the city’s main dock, where a motorized canoe will be waiting to take you about 2.5 hours down the Napo River. Upon arrival at La Selva’s main dock, the lodge staff takes your luggage and leads you on a hike of about 15 minutes into the jungle to the beautiful Garzacocha Lake. Cross this rainforest lake in a paddle canoe to reach the lodge on the opposite shore.

Why we recommend it
La Selva Ecolodge sits in a privileged location between the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, the Yasuní National Park, and the Pañacocha Protected Forest, in an area considered one of the best in the Ecuadorian Amazon for bird-watching and wildlife. The lodge is very close to the Napo Clay Lick, where flocks of parrots and parakeets descend in a colorful spectacle each day to eat the mineral-rich clay. The lodge’s suites offer beautiful views of Lake Garzacocha, one of the biggest natural lagoons in the Ecuadorian Amazon, which is often visited by troops of different kinds of primates and offers great wildlife observation opportunities right from your suite’s balcony.