San Miguel del Bala Eco-Lodge
San Miguel del Bala Eco-Lodge is a jungle lodge in the north of Bolivia, situated in the Bolivian Amazon rainforest on the banks of the Beni River, near Rurrenabaque. The Eco-Lodge is built, owned and operated by the indigenous Tacana community of San Miguel del Bala. The Eco-Lodge is 1600 meters south west of the middle of the village San Miguel del Bala. The area can only be reached by boat 40 minutes up stream from Rurrenabaque.
The inhabitants of the community of San Miguel have built and now run themselves the Eco-Lodge with the financial and technical help of local authorities, the United Nations Development Fund and several NGO's: CARE, Conservation International and Wildlife Conservation Society.
The San Miguel del Bala Eco-Lodge & Eco-Tourism (with an office in Rurrenabaque) offers: Rainforest hikes in and around the Madidi National Park. Comfortable lodging in cabins with electricity and private bathroom.
The Eco-Lodge has a restaurant and 7 cabins each with 3 beds. The cabins are located scattered, giving the feeling of living alone in the rain forest. From a viewpoint, 50 m over the canopies, The visitors can enjoy clean views of the Bala Gorge, the Beni River, and nearby mountain ranges covered by rainforests.
The cabins are made with local materials respecting the natural environment and the traditional architecture.
The electricity in the lodge comes from solar cells. (The village San Miguel do not have electricity). The area is outside the range of telephone and mobile (cell) telephony. Instead there is a simple radio connection with the office in Rurrenabaque.
Around the Eco-Lodge are several paths through primary forest. One of them reaches a waterfall that feeds a natural pool. Another goes through a 180 meter long narrow rock canyon and passes by a "salitral" where the animals come to eat the salty soil. A visit to the village of San Miguel is a part of a stay in the Eco-Lodge. Showing how the Tacanas live, build their houses, make their handicrafts and what they grow in their fields. Among their crops is the sugar cane that the visitors will learn to squeeze in the wooden mill allowing them to afterwards drink the sugar cane juice.
The inhabitants of San Miguel del Bala have built the Eco-Lodge and the entire infrastructure, and they have been trained in gastronomy, guiding, administration etc. They use the income from the community-based project to better their lives - education, health, and such - and to preserve the incredibly rich biodiversity in and around the Madidi National Park. Their way of living and the way they manage their lodge is sustainable and will allow their children and grandchildren to live maybe even better than they are living.