PlymouthPete19
Google
This lodge, located in the forest beside the river, is well designed with meshing to keep insects out, yet a feel of being close to the outside. The bar area however was a bit small, not well organised (despite best attempts from the staff) and had very uncomfortable stools. Music in the restaurant was too loud and seemed unnecessary in a natural environment. ||Our room was pleasant with a wood finish and a comfy bed but no sound insulation from people walking (normally) on the floor above - very loud! Also, although the toilet paper was folded into a point, there were cobwebs under the table - so more attention to cleaning and less to the fancy bits would have been better.||Electricity and hot water are (understandably) for set hours only and the WiFi was fine.||The food was absolutely excellent (in keeping with another hotel in the Inkaterra chain which we had stayed in earlier in our trip) with a great choice of largely veggy and plant-based dishes - imaginative and prepared to a very high standard. There was a good supply of drinking water with meals and in the eco centre.||All lodge staff were friendly and helpful with Sergio especially so. ||Our 3-night package included a number of excursions. They were led by general nature guides rather than experts who weren't very good at ensuring people saw the the wildlife they were pointing out. If you have target species - forget it! I tried engaging with them on seeing some specific birds but they made no effort to help. Often they wouldn't even identify birds to species level and even in one case, just declaring "night bird"! Furthermore, on the excursion to the canopy walk, the guides did not deal well with a very noisy family, putting them on the walkway before everyone else, meaning any wildlife was long gone by the time the rest of us got there.||This was all particularly frustrating as there are very few options for independent birding around the lodge, with lots of restrictions on where you can go (despite many interesting trails being there). Despite this, with no help from the guides, I managed to see many species around the lodge including plenty of Hoatzins, Chestnut-tailed Antbird, Pale-legged Hornero, Swallow Tanager, Spotted Tody-Flycatcher, Amazonian Motmot, Forest Elaenia, Black-fronted Nunbird, Buff-throated Woodcreeper, Reddish Hermit & Rusty Margined Flycatcher. It's a shame that the guides can't / won't make an effort to find the wealth of birdlife around the lodge, for the benefit of visitors.||So, although we felt the lodge was quite good and the food excellent, there were a few short comings there and wildlife opportunities left something to be desired. You could find this frustrating if you're a keen wildlife watcher.