WHAT YOU NEED TO DO to build in the Jungle?

Stories

A Short List of Dos and Don’ts for Building Jungle Lodges

Family at Refugio Amazonas

I know these are the proverbial tips of a fish in a small bowl, That doesn’t matter, I hope they help!

Do pick high ground.

The Amazon floodplain is wide. And I mean wide. When we built Tambopata Research Center we had a couple of Ese’eja friends recommend the site. “My granddaddy never saw this land flood,” they told us. Rivers however have a time scale in centuries, and floodplains are several kilometers wide in the upper Amazon (much wider in the lower). In 1990, we built the lodge about 100 meters from the river. By 2004, the river passed a few meters from our porch and we had to move the lodge 500 meters away, to higher ground. Think in the time scale of rivers, not humans.

Do use cement below the ground.

Jungle lodges that our clients like are contextual – wood, palm frond, bamboo, etc. However, wherever we’ve found one good place to cheat. Let me explain: the columns holding the lodge up are made of wood. Even the best wood won’t outlast cement in the moist rainforest underground. So we assemble a cement post below the ground, with a beautiful wooden one above. It’s aesthetic and lasts a lot longer.

Do prune your trees.

If you have palm frond roofs, or roofs of any vegetable material, worry about the trees on top of them. If there are branches overhanging your roof, it may be the beginning or the end of your beautiful palm frond roof. Water will drip from the branches onto the roof. Leaves will fall on it, carrying fungi and disease. The shade will be cast, keeping the roofs wet for longer periods of time.  Be sure pruning scissors are part of your equipment from day 1.

Don’t use shihuahuaco wood (Dipteryx micrantha).

I already posted on the fantastic ironwood, or shihuahuaco, tree. I explained its growth rate is so slow (eighty or one hundred years to be harvestable), that is logging is practically like mining it. Describing how it hosts literally dozens of species, my favorite being nesting macaws. It is a great wood and would make a great lodge. But please don’t use it.

Don’t build on lake shores.

Don’t build your lodge on lake shores.  According to the Frankfurt Zoological Society, they are prime habitats for the critically endangered giant river otter. Lakeside habitat is prime for otters’ burrows, and that’s where they have their pups. If you cut the forest off the edge of the lake, they will stop using that area. And otters need all the habitat they can get.

Don’t garden.

Can you beat the rainforest? Then don’t worry about gardening. Let the forest do its job. Our lodges greatest asset is that there are no walls between guests and primary tropical rain forest less than five meters away.

Please share more dos and don’ts for building in the jungle. And come see for yourself how our Amazon jungle lodges are built!

  • What our guest say

    • Valuation Excellent
    • 5/5

Jacob Shama May 2024

Yaacov May 2024

secaBoulder May 2024

Cecilia D May 2024

Andrea Breanna Apr 2024

A user Apr 2024

Niko Dietsch Apr 2024

Yuting C Apr 2024

Yuting Chen Apr 2024

Víctor Moscoso Apr 2024

Ari S March 2024

Dreamer627120 March 2024

The lodge is located in the middle of the forest accessible only by boat. The experience was very unique and exciting. Service is great, and the fun part are the nature activities and tours the hotel offers for free. We had an amazing tour guide that had a lot of knowledge and was fun to spend time with. The rooms are totally open to the forest which is really cool the struggle is the there is no privacy at all in between the rooms, also food was pretty basic. All together a very unique experience. Read all

This hotel is the perfect blend of comfort and hospitality, with the natural experience. The hotel is reached by a hours boat ride from Puerto Maldonado, expertly organized and accomplished. Most staff are members of the local Esa Ejja community. The food is good and plentiful. Hot water is always available and lovely bedding features mosquito nets. There is of course no air conditioning (one side wall is open in rach room) and the electricity is off for a few hours at night affecting overhead fans, so I was glad to have brought a small battery powered fan for sleeping. But the best of the experience is the wildlife. Our expert guide Oscar Mishaja introduced us to nearly 100 bird species, along with caimans, river otters, poison dart frogs and capybara. A trip of a lifetime. Read all

Excellent experience overall— really kind and welcoming staff at every point of the journey. All transfers were well organized and smooth. Excellent and educational excursions all around the rainforest. Delicious food for every meal. We had wonderful guides- Freet and Alvaro. Enjoyed our time here! Read all

Unbelievable.... Magical Everything I have dreamed of since I was 8 years old but MORE Read all

We had a surreal experience at Refugio Amazonas. From the well organized transportation to the warm welcome, hospitality and the experience of living in nature - we loved it all. Huge shout out to our guide Boris who went out of his way to ensure we had a good experience and got to watch all kinds of wild life. The meals and cocktails were delicious. And even though this place is smack in the middle of the jungle there was super fast WiFi available. We made unforgettable memories. Read all

We had an amazing time in TRC. From the guide, tours, lounge staff, food and room, everything has exceeded our expectation and like an amazing dream came true. We highly recommend to directly book with the lounge website, so that you got a private guide for your group. Special thanks to our guide Saul, who made this experience extra special! We were so impressed by his knowledge about all the animals and the rainforest. Read all

We had an amazing time in TRC. From the guide, tours, lounge staff, food and room, everything has exceeded our expectation and like an amazing dream came true. This is the only lounge available in Tambopata national park, and this eco lounge takes environment seriously. We highly recommend to directly book with the lounge website, so that you got a private guide for your group. Special thanks to our guide Saul, who made this experience extra special! We were so impressed by his knowledge about all the animals and the rainforest. If you are a natural lover, you can’t miss this place Read all

Excellent and luxurious place, wonderful experience and our guide Boris was first class, he had a unique patience with my 8 year old son. An experience in the tropical rainforest that marks the life of its visitors. In addition to the scientific research that takes place in the place: a whole research center. Rooms: Very comfortable and luxuriou Read all

El mejor hotel para visitar la Amazonia peruana. Hotel eco turístico metido en medio de la selva, equipado para visitar y vivir la selva, su flora y fauna, en todas sus facetas. Todo incluido, con guías preparados y amables, resultó una experiencia increíble para mi familia. Dentro de las opciones no se debe perder el Canopy de 45 metros de altura para observar y escuchar la selva, así como el lago de las tres Chimbadas, lugar único para ver caimanes, nutrias gigantes, monos y aves exóticas. Recomiendo mínimo dos noches!!! Read all

Wunderbare lodge mit freundlichen Menschen. sehr persönliche guides, tolle Tourangebote und super kulinarische Verpflegung ! Wir wurden herzlichst von Caesar empfangen und unser guide JuanJo hat uns phantastische Dinge gezeigt. Wir können die lodge nur wärmstens empfehlen! Read all

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