Absolutely! At La Selva we are family oriented and what better place is there for children to grow a love for nature and all things wild than in the rainforest! La Selva offers excellent opportunities with the Junior Naturalist Guide Program dedicated to teaching children about the Amazon flora and fauna and how to practice conservation. Families are more than welcome and can even book one of our special Family Suites, specially designed for traveling and adventurous families. Children under 12 receive special priced discounts. Families with children between 3 and 6 years old are booked with a private guide. Please speak with a representative for more details.

No vaccinations are required in order to visit La Selva Amazon Ecolodge. There have been no reported cases of disease in the area of La Selva, including malaria, yellow fever, Zika, and cholera. However, we always suggest our passengers to consult their physician to get the most up-to-date information and advice.

At La Selva Lodge, we have a total of 19 suites with options of either Scenic Suites, Superior Suites, or Family Suites. All of them are built with the same material of bamboo and in the same style as the natives from the local communities; high ceilings that allow for an airy interior since the heat is able to rise, each suite has a private bathroom with luxury amenities from L’Occitane, ceiling fans are used instead of air-conditioning in order to conserve energy, and netting is placed above the beds as an option for guests to use if they’d like. There are no windows in La Selva’s suites, everything is covered by screens, which allows for the natural sounds of nature to enter.

The price of the programs includes your accommodations, all meals during program, Naturalist and Native Guides, scheduled excursions like canoe trips, hikes, visits to the observation tower and local community. Yoga sessions are also included. Additionally La Selva will provide rubber boots during excursions and ponchos if it should begin to rain. It also includes the transfers from Coca to La Selva, and back to Coca at the end of your program.

The price does not include alcohol, bottled soft drinks, personal expenses, souvenirs, and tipping. Extra activities such as spa treatments and massages, Charapa Turtle Adoption Conservation program, private dinners, private guides and sunset cruises. Local and/or international flights are not included.

The lodge provides rain ponchos and rubber boots up to size 10½ mens US. The lodge also provides telescopes at the observation tower and lounge area in order to get a closer look at the wildlife.

See our packing list.

It is difficult to say exactly what you will see during your time at La Selva. The Amazon is very large and diverse, but the animals dispersed throughout are very dense. What you see one day you may not see again for another month or two. The Amazon and its inhabitants are wild and we cannot predict what you will see, but we CAN provide a list of what has been seen: various monkeys such as squirrel monkeys, howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys, and more; a variety of parrots, tapirs, otters, green anacondas, toucans, harpy eagles, kites, butterflies, owls, lizards, boas, tarantulas, and hundreds of other plant and insect species. Although we cannot know for sure what you will encounter, we do know there is always something spectacular to see!

If you have things you want to keep dry, such as cameras, cell phones, medications and documents; you should take some simple precautions. We suggest using dry bags or Ziploc bags for keeping things dry while out on hikes or on canoe excursions. In each suite we provide dry boxes to keep your electrical devices safe from the humidity.
A waterproof backpack will protect camera gear from sudden showers while on excursions.

At La Selva, our chef is excellent at creating new and exciting dishes for all types of diets. La Selva can accommodate vegetarian, vegan, kosher, and non-dairy diets, as well as any other diet not mentioned. If you have specific allergies we can also amend the menu to your specific needs. Notice of these special diets must be given during booking. Please let your representative know about your diet preferences so we can accommodate all your needs.

Yes! We have a generator which runs around the clock, so bring your electric gadgets and chargers. Our outlets are 110V, which is fine for devices from the US or Canada, but if your chargers need a different voltage you will want to bring an adapter. Our wall outlets have three prongs (two narrow and flat, one rounded) like in the USA.

The Amazon Rainforest is home to an estimated 30 million species of insects. So technically, in the Amazon you could say there are a lot of bugs. If you are more specifically worried about bugs in your accommodations, let us put your mind at ease! All accommodations are secured with either doors or screens, keeping unwanted critters out. As for myths and legends of human-sized mosquitos carrying away grown men, we’ll leave those to the imaginations of movie producers. There is no such thing, and at La Selva, the water in our private lagoon is actually not apt for mosquitoes because the pH of the water does not allow them to breed. Our lodge is nearly free of bothersome mosquitos. Most of our guests tell us they were surprised at how few annoying insects there were.

La Selva Amazon Ecolodge & Spa is located in the buffer zones of the Yasuni National Park and Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserves situated privately on Garzacocha lagoon in the Province of Sucumbios, Ecuador, with the exact coordinates of: Latitude: 0.5026° Longitude: 76.3821°.

If you’re not already in Ecuador, you’ll first need to arrive to Quito. Plan on staying one night in Quito before heading to La Selva since flights go out in the morning. (It is best to have one of our representatives book your flights to/from Coca due to specific logistics and operational hours arranged in order to arrive/depart from La Selva.)
From Quito you will fly to the city of Coca, a 30 minute flight. Once at Coca, you’ll be met by one of our representatives who will take you to the Napo River boat landing. Here you will board a motorized canoe with the guide and La Selva representatives. They’ll accompany you for the two and a half-hour ride on the river until you reach La Selva’s private boat landing.

Please note: traveling on the Napo River is the only means to reach the lodge from Coca. If flights are delayed or cancelled, transportation may be an alternative in order to arrive to Coca. If this should happen, contact your representative right away.

Normal airline luggage restrictions apply on the flights into Quito and from Quito to Coca and back: check with your airline for details, but usually anything not exceeding 20 kilograms (44 pounds) is fine. Once you arrive in Coca our representatives will worry about your luggage for the rest of the way. If you want to have some of your belongings with you, you can keep them in a small backpack for the rest of the way to the lodge. When you arrive at the lodge our staff will take your luggage immediately to your accommodations.

At La Selva, your day will be full of adventures! Our certified Naturalist Guides will take you and your group on exciting jungle walks, canoe rides, visits to the observation tower and much more. These excursions have no extra cost and are designed to show our guests the best parts of the Amazon Rainforest. If you don’t feel like going out on an excursion there are plenty of activities to enjoy at the lodge. You can enjoy the observation tower above the lounge, yoga, massages or spa treatments, or a swim in Garzacocha lagoon.

On your trip, you will see many species of animals, birds, insects, and plants. Most of them will be at a distance or hiding within the vegetation so you’ll certainly want a good camera on hand with great focus for macro and a long lens for long-distance shots. Make sure you have plenty of memory!

Yes! Binoculars are essential to your trip, most animals will be found above, either in the canopy of the rainforest or resting in the branches of the trees. Remember this is a different ecosystem and animals have adapted themselves to be invisible to the naked eye and binoculars will help you to unravel the hidden world of the Amazon rainforest.

At La Selva and Ecuador in general, tipping is considered a customary practice. We understand many of our guests come from different parts of the world with cultures where tipping may/may not be appropriate. This why tipping at La Selva is left at the sole discretion of our guests and should be based on the level of service received. If you would like to leave a tip for our staff and guides, we have provided the following suggestions:

– Naturalist Bilingual Guide, $15 per passenger / per night
– Native Guide, $10 per passenger / per night
– General Staff, $20 per passenger/ per day (please keep in mind tips will be shared equally amongst lodge personnel, 20 people)

Please understand that this is just a suggestion. Tipping/gratuities are a very personal matter and it entirely depends on the value of the service you received.

Ecuador is a wonderfully diverse country. It is full of friendly people and much to see and do. The most popular visitor destinations are the Amazon Rainforest and the Galapagos Islands, where British Naturalist Charles Darwin was inspired to develop his famous Theory of Evolution. Other attractions within Ecuador mainland include Quito city tours, the indigenous markets of Otavalo, the charming colonial city of Cuenca, train rides across the avenue of volcanoes and much more. La Selva Lodge’s representatives will be happy to help you design your complete Ecuadorian aventure!