Sacha Lodge - Luxury Accommodation in Ecuador
Pat White, Client.
Our canoe glides through the mouth of the creek into the Black Lagoon and Sacha Lodge rises up on stilts on the opposite bank. We paddle towards it and the biggest raindrops we’ve ever seen spatter us. By the time we reach Sacha we are in high spirits, and we are soaked.
The canoe slips into a channel leading to the entrance. We dock, and clamber out, hoping to make this a more elegant manoeuvre with practice. And here we are; in the heart of the rain forest.
Delicious dinner over, we’re assigned to our group, fitted for our wellie boots, and off on our first trek. We’re delighted with our fellow trekkers - two American women and two guides, Sean, English-speaking and Sergio, our native guide.
Dusk is short in the jungle; night drops like a curtain and before long we’re in the dark. We listen – tree frogs, cicadas, shrieks and rustles that make us wonder.
More excitement daily: we nose our canoe through Orchid Creek and just before sunset we’re joined by a troop of squirrel monkeys in the trees above, close enough for us to see their faces. We climb a 130ft tower, linked to two others by suspended walkways, which wobble hardly at all. Now we’re up in the canopy with the birds. Fantastic.
But our biggest adventure takes us off-plan; the jungle is enticing. We follow Sean to a Crested Owl’s hideaway; Sergio leads us to a tagua tree, source of vegetable ‘ivory’. Suddenly the track is very narrow. We’re not exactly lost, just in the wrong place and dusk has been and gone. Sergio, machete flashing, runs on ahead. We wait, and wait some more. And while we wait we make up limericks. Then he’s back and we’re off, our path lit by just Sean’s head torch and my micro-flashlight (don’t laugh, it did the trick!).
It’s not long before we reach the boardwalk, which Sean ceremoniously bends down to kiss, then we find the canoe and pile in. Sergio and Sean panic-paddle across the lagoon – we’ve been out for more than four hours, instead of two. The welcome party on the dock is smiling, they heard our singing and knew all was well.
All this and more in just 3 days. We’re still wearing the tagua necklaces Sergio made us. And the limericks? Sorry, not for sharing.
