Three generations of the Gualinga family, one lodge, one forest

“Sinchi Wayra means strong wind in Kichwa. Our family is part of the Sani community, and we have made a choice: to protect our home, and to show you why it is worth protecting.”

Edwin Gualinga Jr., local manager

Edwin Gualinga Sr. trained as a carpenter in the 1980s and spent the next decades building houses and community buildings for the Sani. When ecotourism came to the Napo, he became a guide. From 2000 he worked for Sani Lodge, where he also helped build the women's association project. The community elected him president.

In 2017 Edwin, an engineer and master carpenter, started the family lodge. He spent six years building it with his wife Margarita, their nine children and friends, using wood from across the Napo River.

The beams and planks were cut by hand with the skills the family uses to build canoes. The roofs are woven palm leaves from a swamp two kilometres away. The first version had a dining area, a kitchen, bathrooms and five rooms.

In 2023 the lodge opened and Edwin Gualinga Jr. took over the day-to-day running. In the first year, more than 150 guests stayed with us.

Edwin has guided since 2010 and was vice president of the Sani community in 2023. He still guides when he can.

In 2025 we built five new cabins from local wood, worked by hand in our own carpentry shop. More and more guests came, so in 2026 we added two more: today the lodge has seven cabins and four standard rooms. We also bought a faster, more comfortable canoe with a stronger engine and full seats for the long ride from Coca, and added longer tours, up to nine days.