National Geographic Adventure had a rundown on top eco-lodges around the world in its November issue. Since Costa Rica played a part in starting the whole trend back before it was mainstream, naturally there are a few in the Americas. Here’s a link to NGA’s site, with an ecolodges interactive map.

Balancing green building and operation practices while also trying to be luxurious is not an easy task. Thankfully some try harder than others. Quick aside: two years ago I was on an African safari in Botswana with a very high-end company and when I asked what they did with all those plastic bottled water bottles being handed out to guests. “Burn them,” the manager replied. “The nearest recycling center is a three-hour flight away in another country.”

“Then why don’t you just give people reusable bottles with your logo on them and provide pitchers of purified water?” I asked.

“Hmmm, hadn’t thought about that,” the manager replied,” scratching his head.

Thankfully, there are more than a few operators that manage to make it work. Here are the ones we have reviewed that are featured in the article.

Lapa Rios Ecolodge – Costa Rica

The Lodge at Chaa Creek – Belize

The Lodge at Pico Bonito – Honduras

Sometime next year we’ll also have a review of Kapawi Ecolodge and Reserve in Ecuador and someday I hope to check out Uno Eco Lodge on the rim of the Copper Canyon in Mexico.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 1st, 2008 at 5:45 pm and is filed under Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, environment, Honduras, Travel industry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.