Before you even arrive, you can sense it. Something special about this rainforest place. If you’re arriving by plane, as you descend over vast tracks of uninterrupted forests and waterways, you’ll feel a buzz of electricity. You’re heading towards something incredibly indescribable.
You’re greeted at the airport by a uniformed staff member who loads your luggage into an already-cooled, well-maintained four-wheel drive vehicle. In striking up an early conversation, your driver learns what brought you to this remote part of the world. Likely, you will be shown some of those very things as your journey progresses further and further out of town: monkeys, parrots, birds of prey, and more. Want a closer look? Let’s pull over for a bit. Take out your binoculars. Watch the wildlife behavior. There’s no need to rush. This is what you came here for.
When you arrive, you are immediately greeted by more staff eager to help. You need not worry about a thing at first but taking in your surroundings. Your senses are alive from sounds and sights, both wild and deliberate. Stone pathways, slatted wood walls, white stucco, green gardens bursting with colors. Take a seat. Relax. There’s much to impart. A library full of resource books.
Are you thirsty? Hungry? Let’s take care of that. You’ve been traveling all day. Would you like a cool tropical fruit blend? How about a platter of fresh fruits? Do you have any food sensitivities you might not have already told us? You do not need to tell us twice. Throughout your stay, your sensitivities will be observed by the chef and the restaurant team. You observe the magnificent dining space, floating in the rainforest, effectively en plien air with its high ceilings and railings that barely separate guests from the tree canopy line.
Once you are replenished and re-energized, your accommodation awaits. An attentive staff member will guide you there, pointing out little things along the way – a bird here, a flower there. You will be shown special room features, told about activities, booked for your first dinner time.
You absorb the details of your room: the sumptuous wood from floor to ceiling with walls that yield to the rainforest outside. Instead of glass, windows are mesh-covered openings allowing forest breezes to flow through the open space design. There is no clock in this room. There is no great need for one – you are on jungle time, and the rhythm of the rainforest will quickly become self-evident.
As dusk comes, the rainforest beckons. Skies reverberate with the rowdy sound of Scarlet Macaws calling to each other from across the canyon, with Toucans urging others to join them, with monkeys swinging across tree limbs in search of food. You sit outside and take the magnificence all in.
Mealtime comes, and you head to the restaurant. The menu offers abundant options, all sounding delicious, making the selection difficult. Local cuisine features prominently but so do other omnivore choices. Attentive servers – always present but never hovering — take and fill your food and drink order, refill water glasses without having to be asked, and allow you to enjoy your meal at whatever pace is comfortable for you.
Your stay activities await you, and these need to be planned and confirmed. Finer details, important to make your experience as personalized as possible, are discussed. So are timing and coordination. For some activities, you will have extremely knowledgeable private guides; for others, you will be in small, guided groups; and yet others you will do on your own. There are ocean tides and tidal pools to learn about. Walks, hikes, climbs, views, and wildlife to see by day as well as by night. Water, forest, sky, and earth all await you, and every day you will have staff and expert guides to ensure your experience matches your expectations. You are already on your way to discover the rainforest jungle, and you cannot wait to explore more in the morning and each day that follows.
Arriving back at your room, lights are dimmed to keep the dark skies as pristine as possible. Head back outdoors to observe the stars. Listen for the roar of the ocean as it crashes against the surf. Take some deep breaths, enjoying the freshness of the air, wet and unsullied, and unlike anything you’re breathing back at home.
Take a cleansing shower before retiring for the night. As the invigorating, cool water – or caress of warm water if you prefer – flows freely. You come away feeling completely refreshed.
Falling into your tall, plush bed, you suddenly realize you haven’t checked your phone once…and you haven’t missed it at all. You revel in that realization, waking up your phone now only to set your alarm. You have a busy tomorrow ahead.
You won’t want to miss a thing.
