It’s easy to get Sacha Lodge, located in the Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador. All you have to do is take a small plane from Quito, the capital, to a little airport in Coca. Then, you hop a boat for a two-hour trip down the Napo River, a tributary of the Amazon.
Then you hike for a half hour through the jungle to a dock, where you step into a dugout canoe and paddle across a lake filled with piranhas. Once on the other side, it’s just a few steps to the main lodge, where you will get a warm welcome.
When I say I like to travel with "groups," this is what I mean. You do not wander the mysterious rainforest, with its toucans, sloths and howler monkeys, on your own. I made my way to Ecuador solo but I had signed up for various 
tours and stays, with Latin American Escapes. So I was alone, but I wasn’t alone. My favorite "place" to be.
At Sacha Lodge, we were split into small groups for hikes into tarantula land, a climb up a huge tree for exotic bird watching and for hikes into the jungle to spot blue butterflies, squirrel monkeys and more.
We ate meals as a group too, although we got friendly with pretty much everyone staying at the lodge.
The point is, you can go to the deepest, darkest, remotest places alone. Without being alone.
Read more about the trip here.
Photos: By John Shively, M.D., a nice guy I met at the lodge, who gave me a disk with his lovely photos.
Boldly Go Solo 
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