Napo Wildlife Centre

Community-run lakeside lodge: the most warmly inviting and charming of all the properties in the region. A peaceful haven from which to enjoy the natural world.

Deep in the Ecuadorian jungle, the community-run Napo Wildlife Centre on a lakeside is the most warmly inviting and charming of all the properties in the region. It sits in the Yasuni National Park, a biosphere reserve which shelters an exuberant array of wildlife, especially birds.

Reached by plane and canoe, the lodge is a haven of undisturbed tranquillity from which to make daily excursions into the rainforest, all accompanied by indigenous guides. There is a 40m canopy tower to take you right up into the treetops, and two clay licks visited by parakeets with dazzling plumage as well as mammals such as the delicate red brocket deer. 

The accommodation is particularly attractive: private thatched cabins with electricity and unlimited hot water are decorated in cheerful blues and golds. There’s a library and the dining room gleams with polished teak furnishings. Enjoy the sunset from your private porch; you may spot a watchful black caiman or giant otter.