Tag: rainforest

Ride Mashpi Lodge’s new Dragonfly gondola over Ecuador’s rainforest

Fancy a bird’s-eye view over 1,300 hectares of Ecuadorian rainforest? The new Dragonfly gondola at Mashpi Lodge promises a jaw-dropping experience…

Mashpi Lodge, a founding member of National Geographic’s ‘Unique Lodges of the World’, has created a special way for its guests to explore the incredible wildlife of the Mashpi Rainforest Reserve. The new Dragonfly gondola, an ‘open’ cable-car gliding 200m above ground, will take passengers on a two kilometre trip through the cloud forest accompanied by a guide.

On The Dragonfly gondola
On The Dragonfly gondola

There are three separate ‘on or off’ points located at differing altitudes so guests can choose whether to combine a ride on The Dragonfly with a testing hike through the forest, or to take the full two-hour return trip for a more relaxing experience (although perhaps not for vertigo sufferers!). The whole experience promises to reveal hidden waterfalls, swimming holes, walking trails and some amazing monkeys, birds and plantlife.

Watch the video here for a glimpse into this stunning ride https://vimeo.com/181557565

Riding the Dragonfly
Riding The Dragonfly

Mashpi’s sustainability ethos means The Dragonfly was carefully constructed over a period of 18 months largely by hand and without the use of any heavy machinery, to ensure minimal impact to the reserve and its wildlife. Much like the lodge itself, The Dragonfly is powered by renewable energy and designed to blend seamlessly and silently into the surrounding forest.

Mashpi Lodge – A “cocoon in the clouds”

Eco retreat Mashpi Lodge is described as a “cocoon in the clouds” – the 22 luxurious rooms are set within a striking contemporary structure with floor-to-ceiling glass allowing for magnificent views of the surrounding rainforest and mountains.

Mashpi Lodge
Mashpi Lodge

A paradise for nature lovers, the award-winning Lodge features an immersive Life Centre where wildlife enthusiasts can learn more about the reserve’s inhabitants including 500 species of bird, as well as butterflies, frogs and monkeys. The Hummingbird Viewpoint offers avid birders an unrivalled setting for bird-watching, featuring a shelter with seating and feeders for the birds strung from its roof.

Mashpi’s ‘Sky Bike’ (a fun idea) is another thrilling way to explore the canopy up close – pedal your way along a cable stretched between the trees, and enjoy panoramic views across the forest from the 26m-high Observation Tower.

For full details of Mashpi Lodge, including prices and booking, visit www.mashpilodge.com

Hummingbird at Mashpi Lodge
Hummingbird at Mashpi Lodge

Buy a piece of luxury eco resort The Baymen, Belize

Nestled in the jungle of Belize, lovers of luxury are being offered the opportunity to grab a piece of paradise at a brand new eco resort…

The Baymen Luxury Decking & Plunge Pool

For those looking for a holiday investment opportunity (and if you’ve a few hundred thousand burning a hole in your pocket), new eco resort The Baymen Lodge and Spa is now offering its range of suites for sale. Buying a suite in this boutique eco retreat, currently in development, also gives you 30 days a year personal use of the hotel or Belize Ocean Club (part of the same group). The developers are predicting the suites will generate a high rental yield each year.

The Baymen promises high spec luxury that makes the most of Belize’s beautiful natural assets, and a retreat that aims to be as carbon neutral as possible. Located in 1,000 acres of private rainforest the deluxe suites and larger residences boast luxurious features such as infinity pools and plunge pools, private showers outdoors in the rainforest, four-poster beds, generous outdoor and indoor living space all designed in an old world colonial style, plus a stunning waterfall and natural wine cave in the grounds. Goodtrippers is predicting that holiday makers will be queuing up to stay here for some eco-friendly R&R!

The Baymen Luxury Suite Bedroom

The resort will be run on a combination of solar and hydropower, with water sourced from rainwater and the natural springs on site (springs which once served the ancient Mayans!). The vast majority of buildings are constructed using locally sourced, sustainably harvested wood. The roofs of the main buildings and individual hotel residences are made from local palm fronds, harvested locally three days before or after the full moon. All trees felled in the development are used in some form or another in either construction or in powering the site via the biomass generator.

Prices of the deluxe suites and larger residences range from US$230K – $460K. For more information visit www.thebaymen.com or contact Wolf Wörster Associates Inc on freephone 0808 169 6526.

‘Good’ credentials:

  • Responsible water management – use of natural springs and rainwater; filtration and reuse of waste water
  • Solar and hydropower energy generation
  • Local and sustainable timber and other responsibly sourced natural materials used in construction
  • Reinvestment into the local land and community to help the local economy

 

The Baymen Pool

‘As seen on TV’ – the Amazon rainforest project you can join

Guest blogger Gemma, placement manager at volunteering organisation PoD, reveals more about their Amazon Conservation project recently featured on the BBC, and how you can join them…

The PoD team have loved watching the BBC 2 TV series ‘I Bought a Rainforest’ – not only is a great series to investigate the complexities surrounding rainforest conservation, but it also features our Amazon Conservation project location in Peru!

Wildlife photographer Charlie Hamilton James bought 100 acres of tropical rainforest on the edge of Manu National Park in south east Peru with the aim to conserve the area. The BBC documentary follows his journey into the forest and the difficult decisions he has to make when conserving his area of jungle. He learns that the conservation of the rainforest is not a simple issue to solve. To help understand the importance of regenerating previously logged or farmed rainforest and find out about the forest ecosystem Charlie and the film crew visited our PoD Amazon Conservation project location.

PoDVolunteer

In the first episode Andy Whitworth, the scientific coordinator who works closely with PoD volunteers at our Amazon Conservation project in Peru, demonstrated the different research techniques which help the research centre to have a greater understanding of the importance and biodiversity area of rainforest. The team documented all the species found on a mahogany tree using a ‘bio-blast’ which was due to be cut down by a local logger. It was incredible to see that there were so many species of beetle, ant, butterfly, bird and frog on one single tree. Unfortunately illegal logging is a big issue in the reserve and during the second episode Charlie follows individual loggers and gold miners.

Although it can be easy from an outsider’s point of view to blame the illegal loggers or illegal gold miners for the deforestation and the negative environmental impacts, the documentary follows individual loggers and miners which illuminates the complex issues. The illegal loggers and gold miners are desperate to make an income to support their families and there are often limited other options for them to pursue. It is incredible to see the juxtaposition of Beto, the illegal logger, who has strong love for nature and the rainforest, yet he cuts down 150 year old trees to pay for his daughter’s education.

How volunteers help the project

The PoD project in Peru has a real passion for helping to conserve the rainforest by working alongside the local communities. Volunteers at the Amazon Conservation project work alongside local communities to develop bio-gardens and agroforestry plots. Volunteers help develop food gardens with local mothers on wasteland which provides nutritious food for the families and even produces enough for the families to gain additional income by selling the vegetables at the local market. The biogardens provide healthy meals for 360 children at the local school, and since 2009 has increased local families’ income by 35%. This reduces the pressure for the local community to log illegally and helps to preserve the forest.

PoDAmazon3

The impact of the project

The agroforestry project works with local farmers to harvest sustainable woods and bananas. This is an environmentally sustainable alternative that protects the surrounding forest from illegal logging activity, encourages species diversity, increases soil nutrition, and creates carbon credits that can be sold to further support the project. Volunteers have helped turn 17 hectares of abandoned and degraded land into agroforestry plots, which have subsequently seen increased biodiversity, help plant over 10,000 plantains and 3,000 trees, and created the first program in Peru to ever commercialize carbon credits on behalf of a local community.

It is fantastic to follow the BBC series in the jungle – you get a real flavour for the rainforest and project location. We hope that this will encourage more volunteers to join the project and do their bit to help conserve the Amazon rainforest.

If you would like to find out more about the project or find out how you can apply simply visit: www.podvolunteer.org/Conservation/amazon-conservation.html

A luxury stay at Costa Rica’s Lapa Rios Eco Lodge

Guest blogger Bev Sninchak reviews a luxurious eco resort nestled in the rainforest of Costa Rica…Macaws at Lapa Rios, Costa Rica

Tucked away in the Costa Rican rainforest, eco lodge Lapa Rios, which means ‘River of Scarlet Macaws’, is a green resort which oozes luxury. According to a Stanford University study published in the Journal of Ecotourism, Lapa Rios offers significant eco-tourism benefits to the region, in addition to offering economic boosts to the area.

Accommodation

Nestled in a private rainforest wonderland of beaches and wildlife, Lapa Rios touts its destination as the place to be for tourists who insist on the ultimate green travel, combining ethereal luxury with environmentally friendly practices that put the goal of sustainability as the top priority. What’s more, the land can never be developed to ensure the forest remains untouched, based on a conservation easement signed by owners John and Karen Lewis.

Facilities

At 930 acres, Lapa Rios’s Eco Lodge features 16 luxurious rainforest bungalows set right in the middle of the rainforest. Awaken to the sound of macaws and enjoy being surrounded by delightful jungle animals such as toucans, sloths and howler monkeys. You can take in a Pacific Ocean view directly from your bed, and when you’re ready for a meal, saunter down to Lapa Rios’s award-winning Brisa Azul restaurant.

Food

Focusing on eco-friendly fare, Brisa Azul serves dishes featuring grass-fed beef, organic chicken, locally caught seafood, and fresh vegetables and fruits produced from the local region alongside organic wine.

Horse riding at Lapa Rios, Costa Rica

Activities

This stunning location in a private rainforest set on the Osa Peninsula reserve that stretches a thousand acres provides visitors with active participation in sustainable eco-tourism. Guided tours with trained local guides teach about the biodiversity of the area. Access to waterfalls as well as three beaches provides a wealth of experiences for lovers of sand and surf, including boating trips, horseback riding along the beach, kayaking, and surfing.

Recommended for…Those who want to completely ‘unplug’ there is no internet, air conditioning, telephone, or television at Lapa Rios.

Be aware that…Lapa Rios is a private rainforest reserve located 45 minutes from the closest airstrip in Puerto Jiménez, and driving takes seven hours from San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica.

‘Good’ credentials:

  • Lapa Rios was the first Costa Rican hotel to receive the highest status for sustainability from the Costa Rica Tourism Board.
  • Provides both organic and biodegradable shampoo, soap, and lotion.
  • Eco-friendly grooming products are produced locally.
  • Serves to educate about biodiversity through the use of informative materials located in a guide hut.

 

For additional information and to book your trip, visit www.laparios.com

About the author: Bev Sninchak is a veteran freelance writer with 16 years of experience producing content for various publications. She writes about many subjects, from managing your social media platform to Reputation.com testimonials.

New Amazon Rainforest conservation project launched

Guest blogger Ellie Cambridge, of NGO Frontier, profiles a new conservation project that takes you to the heart of the Peruvian jungle.wildlife in the Amazon (c) Frontier

The mighty Amazon rainforest has long been seen as one of the ultimate destinations for adventurers – but with its fragile biodiversity in danger, it needs dedicated teams of conservationists and their volunteers more than ever.

NGO Frontier has launched a new volunteering project – Peru Amazon Rainforest Conservation. By working in a  unique region of the Peruvian Amazon, Frontier and the volunteers work in partnership with leading international universities on the project to carry out research and education, to promote a model for sustainability that could be replicated by other communities throughout South and Central America. And it couldn’t some sooner…

The Amazon Rainforest boasts half of the world’s species of plants, animals and insects, and holds one fifth of the world’s fresh water and produces more than 20% of the world’s oxygen. Due to deforestation, the rainforest is losing 137 plant, animals and insect species everyday. This project aims to lead by example and help protect the rainforest as a valuable resource that should be sustainably looked after.

The work – butterfly identification to tree phenology

Volunteers can get involved in several practical tasks and surveys, and take part in community work such as promoting the project’s work, and new sustainable ways to use the rainforest, in local schools. Practical projects may include camera checks, biomass projects, butterfly traps, tree phenology, agroforestry projects and night transects.

wildlife watching in the Amazon rainforest (c) FrontierAccommodation – a fabulous eco lodge in the heart of the rainforest

Volunteers stay in a fabulous Eco-Lodge which boasts a solar-powered internet connection, an environmentally sound septic system and gravity-fed water pumps; all helping to minimise the centre’s impact on the environment. The lodges consist of six thatched buildings with two single beds in each pod. All food is provided, which includes three meals a day of pancakes, omelettes, fruit, rice, beans, meat, potatoes and cheese. Other food and snacks, if required, can be purchased once a week from a nearby town.

Recommended for… Anyone who wants hands-on conservation work that will help protect a vital and biodiverse rich area of the world; and who wants to see what it’s really like to live and work in the rainforest.

Be aware that… This project means total immersion in the rainforest so volunteers can gain the best possible understanding of conservation, climate change, and poverty. It is for those that want to get stuck in to the conservation effort and do as much as they can to help, and will potentially involve a four day expedition into the rainforest sleeping under the starts if volunteers stay for longer than four weeks.

‘Good’ credentials:

  • Base data gathered by volunteers provides the local community with crucial information, helping them grow the local economy, alongside supporting natural resources to protect the environment
    Frontier aims to create international connections linking industries (including agriculture, tourism, timber) to a network of responsible organisations and communities to ensure continued sustainability

 

For more details, prices and booking visit www.frontier.ac.uk  

About the author: Ellie Cambridge works for Frontier, an NGO dedicated to safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystem integrity, and building sustainable livelihoods for marginalised communities in the world’s poorest countries. Find out more about Frontier’s volunteer projects, ethical adventure trails and gap year planning

image courtesy of Peru Amazon Rainforest Conservation

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Our Jungle House, Khao Sok National Park, Thailand

Our Jungle House

Khao Sok National Park, Thailand

T: (from outside Thailand) 6681-417-0546; (from inside) 081-417-0546

www.khaosokaccommodation.com

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‘Our Jungle House’ is well away from the (small) town on the edge of the Khao Sok National Park, and is nestled deep inside 25 acres of privately owned rainforest. You will only hear the sound of gibbons, hornbills and the running stream! Run by American Bodhi and his Thai family, they are committed to responsible tourism and ensure that everything they do at ‘Our Jungle House’ has minimal impact on the environment and a positive impact on the local community. Bodhi has been working at similar tourism ventures (including Golden Bhudda Beach Resort also recommended on this site) and is always happy to suggest ways to expand your experience by volunteering in the area.

Accommodation: Over four nights we stayed in three of the thirteen tree houses and riverside cottages (due to a busy booking period!) so feel quite well-versed in their accommodation facilities – all very impressive! The Romance Tree House (with its ‘outdoor’ bathroom and large, secluded balcony overlooking the river and incredible limestone cliff face) was the best, closely followed by the Thai House riverside cottage (high on stilts and spacious with two floors – balcony does face the pathway though). The Hideaway Tree House is cute but is rather cramped in comparison with a tiny balcony! Cottages and tree houses suit from 1-2 people or 1-4 people (with one suiting up to 5).

Food: Thai, American and European food (breakfasts , lunches, snacks and dinner) is available at the restaurant and bar, both downstairs and upstairs (choose the upstairs open balcony seats for cocktails under the stars).

Facilities: Being on the edge of the Khao Sok National Park means you can’t stay here without booking a trek in the jungle. You can arrange a number of treks and tours (half, full day or overnight treks; treks to see the Refflesia flower; survival treks; wildlife tours; night safari, a trip to Chiew Larn Lake etc). If the river is high enough you can try river tubing or relax with a Thai or oil massage. Free internet available (they’ll even lend you their computer if needed at less busy times).

Recommended for… The fantastic tree houses (especially Romance Tree House) make the very most of the jungle environment – and what a view with those limestone cliffs on your doorstep!

Be aware that… Size and aspect of each tree house and riverside cottage can vary greatly – the small difference in price doesn’t reflect this so if it really matters to you (although all three of the choices we tried were very good), check this out before booking (via website pictures or asking staff).

Good credentials:

  • Energy conservation: by foregoing air conditioning, hot water, and televisions
  • Respectful building: treehouses and riverside cottages are made from natural materials, and even more importantly, over 80% of the property is undeveloped
  • Reduce, reuse, and recycle: all waste is sorted into compost, glass, plastic, metal, and paper.  Since beginning this program, trash sent to landfill has been reduced by 50%. Even empty juice boxes are reused by an artist in Phuket who builds furniture out of them.
  • The owners love the forest: they’ve created a wildlife trail around the property and intend to live in harmony with the surrounding ecosystem
  • Food is bought locally: organic limes, cucumbers, green beans, and chili peppers are among the vegetables purchased from neighbours.
  • Staff are local: most of Our Jungle House service providers are locals, from guides and bartenders to the electricians and tree trimmers, so they make a big contribution to the local economy.
  • Supporting education: in 2011, Our Jungle House raised over 2 million baht to build a school for Burmese children who lack access to education.  In 2012, they are building a new kindergarten for children at the local Bang Pru school (ask them about it – guests are invited to help if they wish)
  • Conservation and community development projects: the people behind Our Jungle House are involved in many projects including scholarships, building community centres, a youth conservation network, and community-based tourism

 

Date of visit: February 2012

 

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