Mashpi Lodge

The most amazing wilderness experience;the guides help you see frogs,hummingbirds,and many others.The rooms are great with comfortable beds;the food and wine/beer and cocktails also great;they also make great barista coffee. All this while preserving the local environment

Mashpi Lodge offers a unique experience in the middle of a large private reserve in Ecuador‘s cloud forest. Basically a rainforest on about 1000 m above sea level. We loved the diverse activities and being active. Our hike to the Magnolia Falls and through a floating river was one of our highlights. The team is very friendly and welcoming, the food delicious and our naturalist guide Jonathan was exceptional.

We had high hopes for this property but it did not meet our expectations. The drive there is awful and takes three and a half hours - bumpy road for 40 minutes and windy the rest of the time - not for the faint hearted. If anyone gets car sick don’t even consider going. Mashpi has done a wonderful job in providing work for the local community - it is shame they have a policy on husbands and wives not being able to work on the property together - this makes it hard for families. Also it is tough for staff that even if they are local they have to stay onsite for 2 week shifts - there used to be a shuttle bus to take staff back to the local town at the end of the day but I think cost cutting has won out. In our opinion really nothing about this lodge stands out - with the big exception of the restaurant food and service. The food was among the best we have had in our South American travels - shout out to Darwin who looked after us so well. The rooms have a gorgeous outlook but are by no means luxurious - tiny bath towels and even tinier dressing gowns. In terms of the rainforest experience- it wasn’t remarkable - the walks were all very similar and not overly exciting. There is minimal wildlife just lots of insects - apparently there are sloths and monkeys - but most of the guides said they are very hard to locate. Perhaps this is suited to families with little kids who get excited about insects and small birds. Speaking of little kids - this is where the lodge caters most to - certainly as an older couple we did not enjoy the sounds of crying toddlers. Some of the guides are great but by no means all of them. There is nothing to do when not on an activity - perhaps a pool table or even table tennis could be a good idea or even just a games cupboard. Another thing to mention is guests with different ability levels - you will find yourself in a group that is painfully slow - especially with little ones or older guests - effort needs to be made to match guest skill levels when working out groups for activities. Another disappointment was the jacuzzi - we thought it would be overlooking the rainforest but it is behind a large screen with no outlook. Avoid getting massage - the worst hot stone massage ever - had no idea what she was doing! For us as a couple who have travelled extensively this lodge is far from luxury and biggest let down or our one month trip to South America.