Mashpi Lodge

The Chocó Andino is one of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems — a strip of cloud forest along Ecuador’s western Andean slopes that connects the High Andes with the Pacific lowlands and has evolved in isolation long enough to produce an exceptional concentration of endemic species. It is also one of the most threatened: agricultural expansion and logging have reduced the original forest by over 90% in recent decades. Mashpi Lodge operates within one of the last intact private reserves of this ecosystem, and staying here contributes directly to its protection.

The lodge building itself is an architectural statement of some ambition: a three-storey glass-and-steel structure that opens its entire front elevation to the forest. From the restaurant and the infinity pool, the cloud forest fills the view completely — misty ridges receding into the distance, the occasional flash of a tanager or cock-of-the-rock crossing the clearing. At dawn, when cloud fills the valley below and only the higher canopy is visible, the effect is genuinely otherworldly.

Activities are led by resident naturalist guides with genuine expertise in the local ecosystem. The Sky Bike — a bicycle-powered gondola between two forest platforms — provides a canopy-level perspective on the reserve. Night walks reveal poison dart frogs, glowing fungi, and sleeping birds. The reserve’s trail network covers all elevations from riparian forest to cloud-draped ridge, and the bird list is serious: Toucan Barbet, Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan, Andean Cock-of-the-rock, and dozens of hummingbird species among the 400+ recorded. The all-inclusive rate covers all meals, drinks, guided excursions, and the Sky Bike — there is effectively nothing extra to pay once you arrive.

Mashpi is reached by road from Quito — a two-hour transfer through the Andean foothills that is part of the journey’s drama. The lodge provides transfers from Quito; otherwise, a hire car or private driver handles the route comfortably.