1.800.344.6118
Contact UsRequest a QuoteRequest a Catalog

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.

Chalalan Lodge

Cabin at ChalalanIn the heart of Bolivia's pristine Madidi National Park lies Chalalan Ecolodge. Chalalan is the result of 6 years of hard work by the nearby indigenous community of San Jose Uchupiamonas and the commitment of two foreign aid organizations who were willing to break with tradition to support the community’s initiative. The result is comfortable accommodation surrounded by 4.5 million acres of protected wilderness. The lodge is owned and managed entirely by the indigenous Quechuas.

Chalalan is in one of the richest protected areas of the planet known by scientists as a "Biodiversity Hotspot", which is a priority for conservation weakened by the huge demand for development in the area. This tropical Andean hotspot has the highest biodiversity of plants endemic to the planet and is host to some 45,000 different plant species and over 1,000 tropical bird species whose songs will wake you up in the morning.

Chalalan sits on the edge of Chalalan Lake, and is accessed by dugout canoe up the spectacular Beni and Tuichi Rivers, 5 hours from the gateway community of Rurrenabaque. Chalalan has been constructed with respect for the natural surroundings, using forest materials and with solar energy providing limited electricty, and intensive protection of the lake. The cabins are surrounded by primary forest inhabited by an astonishing variety of birds and mammals. The lake is and ideal habitat for monkeys, caiman, turtles, hoatzin, and macaws that reverberates under a constant symphony of birdsong, shouts of howler monkeys, and barking toucans, particularly at dawn and dusk.

Local guides give expert interpretation as ecotourists traverse the varied forest paths around Chalalán. Each hike has a different theme where you will learn about medicinal plants, hardwood trees, observe the wildlife and experience primary forest.

At dusk the birds and monkeys come down to the shores of Chalalán to drink and then go back into the canopy to look for insects, making the lodge a great destination for bird watching. Once they have fed they gather together in groups to spend the night in the branches of the largest trees.

Lodge at ChalalanDesign and Infrastructure

  • Traditional Tacana-style cabins: chonta palm walls, roofs woven from jatata leaves, interiors with decorative art and protective mosquito nets.
  • Capacity: 24 people - 9 cabins accommodating 18 people in double occupancy rooms, plus 3 romantic honeymoon cabins with private bathrooms.
  • Professional kitchen with a delicious combination of local and international cuisine.
  • Modern public bathrooms and showers and three cabins with private bathroom
  • Potable water and solar energy providing limited electricty.
  • Library, field guides, art exposition, rest area.

 

Chalalan Lodge Activities

Birdwatching at Chalalan Ecolodge in BoliviaGuided Nature Hikes

Local guides give expert interpretation as you traverse the varied forest habitats of Madidi. There are over 25 kilometers of trails to choose from, including:

  • The Chichilo with scenic overviews of the Madidi National Park.
  • The Silbador for its medicinal, fruit, and exotic plants.
  • The Wichi and Jaguar is best for birdwatching and plants typically used for local handicrafts grow here.
  • The Wabucuru y Marimono focus on Madidi's wildlife and ecology and also visit a recently discovered archeological site. Enjoy the return via the Eslabon River.
Wildlife Viewing

Frequent sightings of spider monkeys, capuchin monkeys, howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, tapirs, alligators, wild pigs and capybaras. If you are lucky, you might catch a glimpse of the elusive jaguar.

Birdwatching

Over 340 species of birds live in the vicinity of Chalalan including macaws, hoatzins, touchans, tangiers and hummingbirds. Their songs and calls are easily identified by our expert guides.

Night Hikes

Experience the nocturnal wildlife of Madidi. Equipped with headlamps, discover another world of colorful frogs, birds and other species critical to the ecosystem of Madidi.

Canoe Trips

Enjoy canoe trips on Chalalan lake at dusk when the birds and troops of monkeys are actively preparing for the night and when caimans are easily spotted.

Swimming and Relaxing

After a day of hiking a refreshing dip in the pristine Chalalan lake is always welcome or simply relax in a hammock while listening to the symphony of the forest.

Folklore Tales and Cultural Interaction

Learn the legends of the forest animals, of how they have evolved to their current state, and how they have figured in the daily life of the community. Also, together with your guide, experience a traditional Joseano evening.

Madidi National Park

Madidi National Park, BoliviaThe Madidi National Park of northwest Bolivia was created in 1995 and protects a full array of tropical ecosystems. From the high Andes to the Amazon basin, Madidi's vast wilderness of 4,500,000 acres encompasses unparalleled biological diversity ranging from mountain cloud forest to dry tropical forest, humid lowland rainforest to savanna, wild rivers to lakes.

Madidi National Park's mountains, forest, and riverine habitat is home to more than 1,000 species of birds, 44%of all new world species of mammal, and an estimated 38% of neo-tropical amphibians. The tropical Andes, where Madidi is located, is also a globally critical hotspot of plant endemism.

Madidi Nationa Park, BoliviaDevelopment with Cultural Identity

  • 300 years of living in tropical rain forest
  • Quenchua-Tacana culture
  • Visionaries and owners of Chalalan
  • Sustainable development of their community
  • Conservation of their forest

The Chalalan enterprise is the property of community shareholders, partners seeking a productive future for San Jose de Uchupiamonas.

Conservation International provides technical assistance and builds human capacity to guarantee efficient administration of the Chalalan EcoLodge.

In their own words, the people of San Jose de Uchupiamonas describe their life project the best:

"We live in the rain forest, we eat, we cure ourselves, we dressed with what the rain forest gives us, we know that the trees, the plants, the animals are possessed by supernatural beings that can punish us and make people fall sick for reasons that only they know."

"Unfortunately, things are changing and the young people are losing our customs and beliefs. For us, the old Tacana, the music and the dances have been and continue being the only and best way that we have to honor the gods and saints."

Francisco Navi, shaman
San Jose de Uchupiamonas

 

Letter by the Villagers of San Jose

Villagers Carving at Chalalan Lodge, BoliviaThis is the story of a dream come true. A dream that was born in the depths of the Bolivian Amazon in the village of San Jose de Uchupiamonas. We, the Josesanos, have lived surrounded by the jungle for the past 300 years. The jungle has sustained us, providing the necessary resources for survival. Our village is located 8 hours by river from the closest town. Our contact with population centers has been a permanent necessity; we have to travel there to sell our products: coffee, rice, peanuts and others.

The great distance to the closest market has made it increasingly difficult to sell our products the outside world. For this reason, we have looked for alternative economic options for our young people, to keep them from migrating to other locations. Additionally, we have seen that many economic alternatives put our forests in danger.

We want to conserve our forest for our children and our grand-children so that they too can coexist within the nature that surrounds us.

Many years ago, tourists began to flow into the Tuichi River Valley. Many of them brought by the lure of adventure described in the book by Jossi Ginsberg, and Israeli tourist who was lost in the Amazon jungle and eventually rescued by local people. Because of this tourist flow, some of our community members began to work as guides for the groups that arrived at our doorstep. And this is the story of how a group of visionary community members in San Jose decided to build and "ecolodge".

Today, the long trail to construct our lodge had become a reality. The lodge is not just a source of jobs forStay in the Amazon jungle with the Villagers at San Jose, Bolivia the Josesanos, it also provides us a space to conserve.

Thanks to the financing of the International Development Bank and the technical assistance of Conservation International, we are constructing the cabins along the Chalalan Lake, inside the integrated Management Area of Madidi National Park.

The lodge has been designed to respect the environment that surrounds it, utilizing native materials and local building techniques while simultaneously providing comfort to tourists.

The lodge is surrounded by a labyrinth of trails that crisscross the forest, permitting observation of different ecosystems, each with its individual type of flora and fauna.

We understand that tourists come to visit and enjoy our natural resources, to experience our culture, to learn about our ecosystems, to taste our traditional cooking and to rest in the heart of the Amazon forest.

Conservation International is training community members in San Jose that are interested in working at Chalalan. We would like to enrich our ancestral knowledge and provide administration of this ecotourism enterprise. Currently, we are putting our efforts in learning the skills necessary to manage Chalalan.

It is our intention that Chalalan becomes a unique spot in the Bolivian Amazon that will provide tourists with comfort, excellent cuisine, environmental education, activities in the rainforest; such as hikes, river cruises, wildlife observation, and cultural exchange, that will make Chalalan an unforgettable experience.

We believe that by taking care of our animals and forests for the enjoyment of tourists is a way of taking care of our own home.

We will be waiting for you to come visit us in Chalalan.