The volunteer project has been welcoming volunteers, both groups and individuals, since 2000 and the volunteer program continues to play a crucial role in enabling the development of the sustainable ecotourism operation and of the conservation and community projects. Eco-tourism provides a sustainable income making it crucial for the protection and conservation of the Cloud Forest Lodge. The hard work, support and enthusiasm of so many volunteers have helped to reinforce the value of the cloud forest reserve and the importance of its continued protection.

One of the strengths of the volunteer program is that volunteers work alongside members of the local community and you will gain a real insight into daily life of locals. People are always ready for a game of football or you can spend your free time hiking, birding, swimming, visiting waterfalls and enjoying the fiestas and dances in the nearby towns.

Eco-tourism is very labor intensive demanding additional help from volunteers. Sometimes it’s possible for volunteers to focus on a specific project; however, volunteers are asked to carry out a variety of tasks and should be willing to lend a hand where necessary. Amongst the tasks are:

• Maintaining trails: several trails are constantly improved to avoid erosion and to make them easily accessible for visitors. .
• Working in the organic garden: to provide the lodge with fresh organic products.
• Working in agro forestry projects: coffee, bananas and sugar cane including making panela (sugar) the traditional way.
• Creating a hummingbird garden: planting native plants and flowers around the lodge to attract hummingbirds.
• Planting trees: planting cedro, a native endangered species in areas of degraded forest.
• Working in the orchid garden: research about more than 300 species of orchids. Some of this work requires knowledge of botany.
• Support the project: other tasks related to construction and maintenance.
• Carrying out independent projects: create your own projects or independent research projects are welcome. If interested, please ask for further details.

• Eco-Tourism Lodge in the cloud forest
• Volunteer house down in the valley
• Rooms for two, four or eight people
• Three meals per day

Accommodation is provided 7 days a week either in the eco-tourism lodge up in the mountains or in the volunteer house down in the valley, depending on which project you will be actively participating in. The lodge is at the heart of the cloud forest at a height of 6,200 feet. It has an incredible panoramic view of the surrounding cloud forest. The volunteer house is also set in a very beautiful countryside a little bit lower than the lodge. Each option includes full-board, access to hot showers and bed-linens. The rooms in the lodge are very comfortable and cozy.

If you are working up in the lodge, you will usually stay there from Monday to Friday and spend the weekends in the volunteer house. The lodge is a 40 minute ride by truck from the volunteer house and then a 90 minutes hike. It is also possible to walk the whole way but it takes several hours.

Beds and bed-linen are supplied, so you do not need to bring a sleeping bag. There are rooms in different sizes which will be shared by either two, four or eight people. Please note that some of the dorms might be shared by men and women!

Three meals per day are provided and vegetarians or other special dietary requirements will be respected with prior notification.

Solar panels provide a limited supply of electricity at the lodge but the volunteer house down in the valley has electricity from the public network. You can wash your clothes by hand at the lodge and in the volunteer house. Alternatively, you can pay a local person to launder your clothes.

The conservation and eco-tourism lodge is located in the mountainous cloud forests of the Choco-Andean bio region of northwestern Ecuador. This area is a global 'hotspot' in terms of biodiversity with over 1,500 species of tropical plants including orchids, bromeliads and other epiphytes. Over 390 species of birds and a variety of other exotic animals, including the endangered Andean spectacled bear, live here as well. The lodge was first formed as an agricultural cooperative over 30 years ago, with the objective of providing lands for local peasant families who otherwise had no way of growing crops or raising cattle.

Over the years, it became obvious that the remote mountains of the cloud forests were ill-suited for agriculture, and more valuable if left intact. The lodge is now dedicated to the conservation and sustainable management of these natural resources. Eco-tourism has been developed as a means of providing a sustainable income which funds protecting the forest. The volunteer program plays an essential role in enabling the development of this eco-tourism operation and other conservation and local community projects. The inhabitants are eager to welcome visitors from other parts of the world to share not only the beauty of their cloud forest and its diverse wildlife, but also their friendship, lively folk-music, enthusiasm for nature and their joyful outlook on life.

Volunteers work alongside members of the local community allowing plenty of opportunities to make new friends, to get in touch with the rural Ecuadorian culture, to improve your Spanish, while learning about the cloud forest and helping to conserve it.

Source: Google Maps

One time registration fee 75 USD.

• Accommodation
• 3 meals / day (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
• Orientation kit
• Local support
• 24h-Emergency Number
• Volunteer Work Placement

• Flight
• Airport pick-up
• Medical Insurance
• Visa (if necesary)
• Local Travels