Online - October 01, 2008

Greener than Thou

Rain Forest Ecolodges in the Americas

You recycle, reuse, and reduce feverishly, and you don’t want to give up your green values just because you’re on vacation. These ecolodges are run the way you’d do it. If you, you know, owned a hotel in the middle of the jungle.

Your beloved ASPCA rescue beagle would approve of Ballum Na in Belize. Located in a private 13,000-acre nature reserve inside a 600,000-acre protected National Park system, it is home to two jaguars that live on-site in a 2.1-acre sanctuary.

Holy Costa Rica, Greenman. Talk about location: in the lush rain forest in the Piedras Blancas National Park on the coast of Golfo Dulce. Playa Nicuesa was built with naturally fallen wood and roof tiles made from recycled plastics, including banana bags. (Something to consider for your next home improvement project.)

Organic angels will love Brazil’s sixteen-suite Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge across from one of the world’s largest river archipelago in the fountainhead of the Amazon basin. While there, you’ll hike through the jungle and get schooled on which wild fruits and herbs you can eat. No, not the red pill.

To really escape the rat race, visit Kapawi Ecolodge & Reserve on the edge of the rain forest in Ecuador. How isolated? The only way in is by plane. How green? The indigenous Achuar people totally own and operate the sustainable lodge, which has spared the forest from pillaging.

For the ultimate Amazon jungle experience, head to Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica on the Madre de Dios River in Peru. The lodge has long been an industry trailblazer for it’s strong eco ethos. From the treetop canopy to the birds perched within, you’ll hike and paddle and generally be amazed at nature’s bounty that abounds.