Argentina Tours

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This is our primary hotel choice in this location, though availability is not guaranteed. If a given hotel is not available for your tour date, we will reserve you a room at a hotel of similar appeal and quality in the same area.

Yacutinga Lodge

The Yacutinga Lodge aims to have a low impact on the environment while providing excellent facilities and services to guests. Staying at Yacutinga Lodge means entering into a communion with Nature. Their sustainability policy for managing one of the last untouched private rainforest reserves in Argentina includes using local guides, recycling, using alternative energy systems, and developing native plant seeding programs, among other ecologically sound practices.

The lodge buildings were designed to maintain harmony with the surrounding jungle and have been built to follow the natural terrain. While the Yacutinga Reserve covers 570 hectares, a nominal 4 hectares of forest were disturbed to accommodate the lodge facilities. Special care has been taken to use local materials, such as stone and large wood pieces gathered from naturally fallen trees.

Highlights of the lodge include an indoor restaurant and an open-air terrace bar, surrounded by Palmetto palm forest. A nearby observation tower and raised catwalk allow you to wander at your leisure while observing the area's birdlife. The central botanical area boasts a barbeque, pool, and herb garden.

Separate sleeping areas, called "Butterflies," are spread throughout the forest surrounding the common areas. Each Butterfly contains four large private suites, each with its own entrance, porch, bedroom, and private bathroom with warm water. In the winter, the Butterflies are heated by wood stoves.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to its remote location, Yacutinga Lodge DOES NOT ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS. Traveler's Checks (Amex, Visa, Mastercard) are accepted.

Sample Sustainable Practices at Yacutinga Lodge

Solar heated tanks provide hot water for showers. On days when the weather does not permit this, heating is assisted by an electric system.

To reduce energy consumption the lodge uses a water recycling system for the pool. During rainstorms, fresh rainwater is collected on the large roof of the main building. The water flows over 2 garden waterfalls to the pool, where it collects any floating debris (e.g fallen leaves), exits the pool to be filtered, and finally flows to a compost storage area where it's again naturally filtered and re-used. A separate wastewater recycling system was also designed to clean graywater. This water goes through an engineered gravel marsh planted with various rainforest swamp plants. Wastewater flows into the gravel marsh and saturates it, starting a cycle of draining, refilling with air, and activating the aerobic and anaerobic bacteria that purify the water.

All the lodge buildings have been designed to use the surroundings as a natural cooling system. By building in the shade and digging into the naturally cool ground, the structures remain comfortable even as air temperatures soar. The electricity is also turned off during the night hours.