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A Luxury Trip to Mashpi Lodge
by Shruti Gupta Digital Marketing Manager“Go to Mashpi Lodge
Ecuador,” they said. “It’ll be great!” they said. They weren’t wrong. But it
was better than great. In fact, it was incredible at Mashpi Lodge. Mashpi Lodge
is one of the finest Ecuador luxury lodges in the Mashpi Rainforest
Biodiversity Reserve, itself in the Chaco Rainforest, just three hours from
Quito. This is a trip that I would recommend to anyone, for the flora, the
fauna, the food, the activities, and oh, of course, the magnificent opulence of
it all.
A Mashpi Lodge booking is pretty straightforward, and I went through Ecuador and Galapagos Insiders, who arranged everything for me. A smooth journey passed quickly and on
arrival I was escorted to my room, which was nothing less than fabulous. One of
the best parts was the views – the rooms have floor-to ceiling and wall-to-wall
panoramic glass windows, and with such a really superb view of the jungle, you
really do feel you’ve arrived. Everything is tastefully designed and selected,
apart from the jungle outside of course, which is as nature designed. The
rainforest is a constant delightful cacophony of bird song, frog calls and
monkeys howling all around. The room was fantastic, yet I did not come all this
way to stay in the room. Instead, I headed out to enjoy my first delicious meal
of many at the lodge, tucking in to a tasty ceviche, washed down with a local
beer.
One of the main reasons for visiting Mashpi Lodge is the tremendous biodiversity in this part of the country. In fact, this is considered one of the planet’s “biodiversity hotspots” by National Geographic. Mashpi Lodge tours include explorations within the reserve, all designed to heighten one’s enjoyment of the natural treasures to be found in this delightful place. One of the pleasures for me was going walking along the various trails that the lodge has to offer. One of my favorites of these was the Strangler Fig Trail, a 45-minute walk through the forest paths, to observe the nature along the way. I had enough time to enjoy this trail on my first day shortly after I arrived. By the next day I was well into the swing of jungle life. Quite literally as it turned out, as I chose to traverse the Jungle Swing Trail that day. About half way along the trail we had a chance to swing on a rope vine, adding a few very exhilarating moments into the walk! The Capuchin Monkey Trail was equally fabulous in a different way, and one of the highlights of this walk was spotting the Club-wing Manakin birds along the way. The lodge even has a so-called Luminous Trail which provides the intrepid a chance to observe creepy crawly insect life at night!
Trails are not all
Mashpi Lodge is about, not by a long shot. Another special treat is the chance
to ride on the Dragonfly, a cable system that takes the guest through the
forest canopy to gain different views – from above, below and within. There are
two stations and six towers, and plenty of opportunities to observe the jungle
ecosystem from different angles – a truly unique aspect to any visit to
Ecuador. For those not done with time suspended in the air, there is also an
innovative Sky Bike ride, which is peddled along cables between points in the
forest.
After all that
activity, I fancied some relaxation time. A sort of vacation from my vacation,
if you like. Mashpi Lodge again did not disappoint. I headed off to the spa,
and enjoyed some luxurious treatments, including a fine massage. One of the
best parts of this was feeling totally immersed in nature throughout the
experience. The treatments are designed to have a rainforest ambiance, and I
enjoyed the chance to laze around and let someone else take care of me for a
while. The indoor hot tub was my next port of call, as I soaked away the day’s
excitement, leaving myself feeling well rested. It was hard to imagine how it
could get any better, but Mashpi Lodge still had plenty more tricks up its
sleeve for my enjoyment and pleasure.
More mesmerizing
experiences followed later, as I visited the Life Center. Here I enjoyed
observing tayras and tropical birds feeding. I experienced further delights at
the Hummingbird Garden on my final morning at the Mashpi Lodge Ecuador. The trail to this treat was harder than some of the others,
but it was well worth the walk – and you can always take a car if you prefer.
While guests have reported seeing 19 species here, and there are an amazing 32
species at Mashpi, I only managed to observe eight different types. This was
still a wonderful treat, and one which I will cherish for my entire life.
So now I say to you,
“Go to Mashpi Lodge Ecuador! It’ll be great!” Trust me on this, I am not wrong.
There is nowhere quite like it in the world. It won’t disappoint.
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About Shruti Gupta 
Digital Marketing Manager
9 connections, 0 recommendations, 29 honor points.Joined APSense since, January 9th, 2018, From Gurgaon, India.
Created on Feb 22nd 2018 22:04. Viewed 409 times.
