When you go on a holiday trip, you must be willing to explore nature to the fullest. And the concept of traveling while staying in a well-furnished luxury hotel is gradually getting invalidated. Instead, staying amid nature with bare minimum resources and without affecting the environment is trending. This trend has given birth to the ecolodge concept, which is becoming popular rapidly. To know more and enjoy your next tour better, stay tuned!
Uncovering Ecolodge
Ecolodge is an idea emerging fast, with travelers being conscious about the environment while choosing holiday accommodations. Tourists across the globe recognize eco-lodges widely to have a minimal impact on nature and distance from the population.
With the growth of technology, global civilization is exposed to millions of traditional accommodations. The hotels, resorts, guest houses, inns, hostels, and lodges regularly accommodate billions of tourists and business travelers. People mostly preferred luxury accommodations with all amenities, and the owners designed their lodging facilities to comply with that. But now, eco lodging is receiving more appreciation than traditional lodging. Travelers can positively contribute to the environment’s wellness while experiencing natural beauty. This is why most travelers adore green lodging so much these days. Uncovering those eco-friendly accommodations is immensely exciting and can open up a new world for you.
What are Eco Lodges?
Simply put, an eco lodge is an initiative prioritized to minimize the harmfulness of lodging on the environment. Traveling to any city or popular tourist destination will see hundreds of hotel and resort buildings. They occupy large spaces, often replacing grounds, trees, and water bodies. Also, they consume natural resources but, in return, emit harmful components polluting the environment.
On the other side, Eco lodges focus on eliminating the adverse effects of lodging on nature. At the same time, it contributes to local communities and conservation efforts positively. As a part of these efforts, those lodges do the following:-
- Use renewable energy as much as possible for power supply.
- Focus on water preservation and energy-efficient lighting.
- They focus on the three R methods – recycle, reduce, and reuse. Green lodging involves maximum usage of anything washable and reusable.
- Use non-toxic cleaning equipment, organic towels, herbal toiletry products, and locally sourced food.
Eco Lodge locations
The most beautiful and beneficial part of an ecolodge is its location. You will never see one in a prime location or locality. It’s always far from the chaos and amid nature. This is the best and most lucrative thing about those lodges for tourists. Who will not love to wake up with birds chirping or the sound of sea waves? Yes, the eco-friendly lodges are mostly situated in remote areas, like beaches, jungles, and mountains. The location makes it possible for the lodging authorities to rely more on nature and local resources. But that’s in a positive way only.
Benefits for travelers
Eco lodging has several benefits, not only for the environment but also for travelers and locals. Sometimes, the dollars allow the local communities to survive without losing natural resources. Thus, the economic profits help the natives to keep their culture and heritage intact.
For travelers, staying in an eco or green lodge means rejuvenating themselves by connecting with nature. Returning to your place and resuming work would be much more refreshing as you stay amid the scenic and pure nature. No matter how comfortable you are staying in a city hotel, you can never feel that way.
Contributions to nature
Eco lodges increase environmental awareness in the most relaxing and entertaining way, which was otherwise impossible. For instance, when choosing an apartment, you will check its proximity to your office. So, the apartment would naturally be in a key location, not a forest. You may not hesitate to buy a new car after being promoted. During all these activities, you may not think about the harm your lifestyle causes to the environment. But, when you have to choose between a congested area and a hill village to spend holidays, you choose the second. The green lodges offer you a fabulous accommodation in that hill village. The lodge will lack nothing you need and provide the highest exposure to nature.
These lodges help to conserve wildlife as well.
Benefits for locals
Many eco-friendly lodges are located near indigenous tribes who are long inhabitants of those areas. Travelers can taste the local culture and experience the natural assets of those places. They get to explore flora and fauna of the region. Meanwhile, the locals can earn their livelihood and maintain the legacy of their land.
In a way, an ecolodge is a bridge between the world and different communities residing in remote locations. While staying in those lodges, travelers across the world learn about the native traditions and customs. On the other hand, the locals meet travelers from several parts of the world and get to know them.
Why is Eco Lodging growing fast?
Green or eco-tourism, is a completely different travel experience. Eco lodge owners offer a delightful and educationally rich tour that a traditional hotel can’t. The experience of staying in a green lodge facilitates you with a whole new way of living. You will learn how to protect nature and use its resources for living without harming it. It’s possible that you will adopt a new lifestyle, after such a trip, with extra cautiousness about the environment. Moreover, you will choose eco lodges only wherever you go the next time. And this is needless to say how much this choice will benefit nature and its habitats.
You can spend a few days, even weeks, very peacefully and comfortably in a green lodge. It provides beautifully structured accommodation amid some untouched place like a deep jungle or high mountain.
Many travelers are getting fond of these lodgings these days. They love the concept of contributing to nature and enjoying its peace and beauty simultaneously. The tourism sector is growing globally, and eco lodging is helping this growth.
Similarly, the movements to save nature also include this lodging trend to prevent the negative effects of civilization. It’s a good sign that this trend is not temporary, but becoming a new way of living.
How to choose the best Eco lodge?
When you look for a good eco lodge, the choices are now multiple. However, you have to be careful about false advertising. Many accommodations in different tourist places claim to be eco-friendly. When you actually visit them, you will discover they are not. So, it’s necessary to conduct proper research before choosing one. Checking on the location, lodging facilities, transportation, and the people and atmosphere is crucial. There are green lodges with various specifications. You must consider which will suit your requirements, especially during solo traveling, business deals, and family hangouts.
An ecolodge that doesn’t focus on saving water, energy, and wildlife is not worth staying. As a visitor, you will see the owners making you use those resources carefully. Elsewise, it isn’t worth staying there again, while you may be unable to check it before the first visit.
A good eco-friendly lodge teaches you sustainable ways of living and traveling. The authorities and the locals will guide you on how to stop affecting nature and protect it and its habitats.
These lodges are also perfect for educational tours, especially for those pursuing studies on environment-related subjects.
They teach you how to reduce the usage of natural resources and reuse amenities like dishes, towels, etc. You will get to eat local food and become educated on local habits and cultures.
Besides ensuring all these factors, look for the minimum comfort also. Otherwise, you can neither enjoy the trip nor learn new things.
Remember that eco lodging won’t provide you with a bar or AC room.
As eco-driven tourism is also being brought to the upscale market, the lodges sometimes provide all the luxuries.
Do your research
It’s always good to research a place you are going to visit. That research essentially includes the area’s natural environment along with the lodging facilities. For example, you will visit Africa or Patagonia. Research every minute detail of the region thoroughly, and then find a suitable eco lodge. Sometimes we choose a place by getting impressed with its environment. In both cases, know which green lodge can offer you the best access to nature and local people. Here are some basics to include in your research:-
- Try to know the exact location.
- Read and learn about the eco-friendly activities
- Contact the authorities to check for everything
- Share your requirements and see what’s the best deal for you
- Be specific about your needs from the very first interactions
- Be generous to accept the new way of living that they show you
Maximize your experience
No matter how deeply you research, you will explore a whole new world on your first eco lodging. It will be an unknown experience for you. Keep an open mind to accept many new things. Just remember everything is positive here, either for yourself, the locals, or nature.
A good ecolodge truly offers an unforgettable experience. It enables you to make the world better while enjoying yourself.
It won’t provide a luxury bed but may be a sun-kissed one. You may dine on the alluring beaches with local foods. The sitting room may have sand as its floor. You may need to cross a wooden bridge to go to the kitchen. Imagine how amazing and refreshing it would be.
You may not get certain things there, but don’t focus on them too much. Try to grab every inch of the most outstanding experience you are having.
The coolest ecolodges
The descriptions may have left you restless. You must have started to imagine that you are already in an ecolodge. Let’s explore as it’s not fair to end this blog without providing a list of the most incredible green lodges.
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Eco Camp Patagonia, Chile
This eco-camp is located in the Torres Del Paine National Park, one of the stunning destinations in Chile. It’s entirely sustainable and equally beautiful, with lakes, forests, and mountains everywhere. The dome-shaped ceiling makes you feel like you are sleeping under the sky. You can experience hiking too.
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Svart, Norway
Feel Norway’s tranquility and fantastic scenery while sitting in the world’s first energy-positive accommodation.
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Karinji Eco Retreat Australia
You will love every component of nature, from waterfalls to hills, wallabies to wildflowers. The lodge will enable you to add to the purity of nature here, as it does itself. The tented suites are well furnished but non-air conditioned and solar-powered.
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Mashpi Lodge, Ecuador
Deep in the Choco-Andean forest, this extraordinary lodge of Ecuador brings extreme peace, amazement, and refreshment. This is built inside the cloud forest without cutting a single tree. You can gaze calmly at the rainforest from your room, along with numerous species of birds and butterflies.
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Pacuare Lodge, Costa Rica
Located in the rainforest of Central Highlands, this ecolodge helps you stay aloof from the world. Just sit back calmly to watch the Pacuare River rushing in a hurry. Or cross the river by a gondola.
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Three Camel Lodge, Mongolia
Have you experienced a mirage? Want to find yourself surrounded by the Gobi Desert, Bayanzag cliffs, and the Altai Mountains? Visit Three Camel Lodge in Mongolia.
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Daintree Wildness Lodge, Australia
Imagine yourself inside the lush rainforests of Australia. Daintree provides the ultimate feel of living in the remotest place with comfort and a relaxed mood. You will get a scope to know the locals and their lifestyles thoroughly.
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Lapa Rios Lodge, Costa Rica
Lapa Rios is an award-winning ecolodge with a magnificent view of the Pacific Ocean and the Osa Peninsula rainforest. The lodge is eco-friendly as well as luxurious and pioneered tourism in the region.
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Garona Safari Camp, South Africa
The tented camp provides all comforts along with the serenity of nature. It maximizes its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.
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El Nido Resorts, Philippines
The four El Nido resorts are situated with a green ethos. They employ locals, offering the tourists opportunities to taste their culture and nature. Their agenda always includes new sustainability programs. You can enjoy numerous nature-based activities in a verdant environment.
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Soneva Kiri, Thailand
You will be lost in the tropical rainforests. There are beautiful beaches too. The luxurious and eco-friendly resort tends to reduce carbon emissions. They have an organic garden as well.
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Secret Bay, Dominica
It’s the perfect and first blend of certified sustainable eco lodging and the beauty of the Caribbean island. A vacation in Secret Bay can reduce your guilt of harming the environment in your technology-driven civilized world. It gives you multiple chances to contribute to nature positively.
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Rewa Lodge Guyana
The local Amerindians own and operate this lodge. It’s gaining wide acclaim among wild lovers. This is one of the most prominent examples of green lodges directly benefiting the locals. The funds raised by tourism have even significantly contributed to the development of the local village.
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Jetwing Surf, Sri Lanka
If you want eco-luxury at a beach, explore Jetwing Surf. The eco lodge is built with as natural materials as possible. The lodge treats wastewater biologically to protect the habitat.
Final thoughts
Don’t wait for anything if you haven’t explored the world of sustainability and beautiful living. Book an ecolodge right for your next holiday destination. Or, in fact, plan and travel to a destination having an amazing eco lodge.
