Ecuador, rising above the canopy

The black waters of the emerald forest

Deep in the Amazon, on the shores of Lake Pilchicocha – the “black water lake” in Quichua – lies a preserved sanctuary. Here, in the far east of Ecuador, indigenous communities have managed to preserve their way of life, on the banks of the Napo River, three days downstream from the Amazon by boat. Here you find frog species found nowhere else, monkeys in abundance, and giant otters. It is also a haven for birds — clay-licking parrots and toucans that animate the canopy treetops.

This sanctuary has to be earned: it is accessible only by boat, at the end of a journey of nearly two hours. On the black waters of the lake, a handful of cabins on stilts welcome lovers of wild nature.

Welcome to Sacha Lodge, at the heart of the emerald forest, on land that still seems untouched, inviolate and inviolable.

Here, the hours pass to the rhythm of the Rio Napo. Aboard dugout canoes, you navigate from channel to channel, from dawn until nightfall, when the crimson sun sets over Lake Pilchicocha. When you leave the water, it is to plunge into the jungle or, why not, to rise above the canopy. At Sacha Lodge, you can walk above the treetops, on a remarkable, solidly suspended bridge. From there, the chorus of birds mingles with the calls of monkeys. For anyone with a naturalist’s eye, you can spend hours tracking birds with names more or less esoteric: toucans, lanceolated monklets, collared puffbirds, zigzag herons, white-eared antwrens, even fierce harpy eagles — the most powerful raptors of the rainforest…
You won’t know where to point your binoculars first: scientists have recorded more than six hundred species at Sacha Lodge, representing 7% of all known bird species on the planet!