Before travelers even arrive at Santa Lucia, they've been completely submerged into the cloud forests of northern Ecuador. Just getting to the lodge requires a 90-minute-plus uphill hike through jungle brimming with colorful birds and exotic mammal species.

Why build a lodge on the top of a remote hillside in the middle of the Ecuadorian wilderness? Good question. Santa Lucia was the brainchild of a group of campesinos (local farmers), who own the land upon which it now sits.

Before travelers even arrive at Santa Lucia, they've been completely submerged into the cloud forests of northern Ecuador. Just getting to the lodge requires a 90-minute-plus uphill hike through jungle brimming with colorful birds and exotic mammal species.

Why build a lodge on the top of a remote hillside in the middle of the Ecuadorian wilderness? Good question. Santa Lucia was the brainchild of a group of campesinos (local farmers), who own the land upon which it now sits. In 1988, the government proclaimed the land protected, so the imaginative agrarians conjured up a new plan that would not only bring in a livelihood to this remote area but also conserve the forest: ecotourism. It turned out to be a wise bet.

Started in 1999, the lodge, a simple but attractive wooden affair with private rooms and bunk rooms, now attracts birdwatchers, wildlife aficionados, jungle lovers, and scientific researchers from institutions like Earthwatch, not to mention a host of international volunteers who help maintain the place. In 2008, the lodge opened five new private cabanas for couples and families seeking more privacy. The lodge and cabanas are clustered in a small clearing with an adorable organic farm, which the staff harvests for meals, and half-wild-looking gardens.

Nearly 13 miles of rugged hand-built trails, including an old pre-Inca path, lead past lush ferns, banana plants, bromeliads, and orchids, amidst which one might spot tanagers, toucans, or even a Cloud-forest Pygmy-owl. There are nearly 400 species of birds in all and some 45 species of mammals, including pumas, wild pigs, and the endangered Andean spectacled bear.

Many people have left their loving mark on this community-owned retreat, and the charming curiosities and pet projects they've left behind dot the trails, like an orchid garden, a long tree swing that sends adventurous hikers careening through a clearing in the forest, and a traditional organic sugarcane-processing house.

The lodge's group of owners is committed to sustainability and helps facilitate conservation research projects. They grow their own organic veggies, bananas, and shade-grown coffee, and have implemented a reforestation project of old depleted agricultural land by planting 8,000 native trees.

The cloud forests are often, well, cloudy, but when the mists do lift, the reward is a brilliant view over unmarred greenery from Santa Lucia's high nook. Just that itself is worth the hike.