Ecuador, jungle lodge: Up-close wildlife encounters meet fine dining

It's still dark when we start the ascent – 199 breathless steps up a metal spiral staircase that corkscrews into the forest canopy. As we climb, the volume increases, the background insect chatter joined by an avian chorus of shrieks, whistles and whoops. When we reach the summit – a wooden platform cradled high in the lichen-covered embrace of a giant kapok tree – a crimson sun peeks over the horizon, bathing the mist-swathed canopy in soft, golden light. In return, the jungle responds with a glorious orchestral crescendo of sound. It's sunrise in the Amazon.

This magical moment comes courtesy of Sacha Lodge, a remarkable property surrounded by the largest private reserve in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Getting here is not a trivial matter. From Quito, it's a 40-minute flight to Coca, then a 1½-hour speedboat ride up the Napo River before a two-kilometre sweat-soaked trek through the jungle. Finally, we clamber into open canoes for a 30-minute paddle through wetlands harbouring anacondas, piranhas and caimans.

To reach this viewing platform for sunrise, we had to be up at 4am for a canoe ride across a lake and up a narrow, meandering creek. Paddling the boat is Ernesto, our Quichua guide, who I can only assume has special powers because we make the entire journey in total darkness. The reward is we get to watch the jungle wake up.

Everywhere we look, there's activity and commotion. Flocks of cobalt blue tanagers dart through the treetops while a pair of toucans squabble noisily in the foliage above us. Two slate-coloured hawks wait patiently in a distant cork tree while metres away a cinnamon-throated woodcreeper sneaks up a branch picking off insects.

Thanks to our keen-eyed guides we spot dozens of birds including kites, parakeets, aracaris and caciques. The reserve is home to more than 600 different species and at times it sounds as if they're all talking at once. My favourite call is that of the russet-backed oropendola, which sounds uncannily like a cartoon waterdrop.

This sunrise outing is one of many activities. Morning excursions normally start at dawn and finish around 11am after which there's free time until lunch. The next activity departs late-afternoon and often there's an outing after dinner. During the welcome briefing, lodge manager Fausto Cornejo explains that the bleary-eyed dawn starts are necessary to "get in rhythm with the forest ... because activity in the jungle starts very early".

Accommodation is in a sprawling network of wooden huts connected by elevated walkways. Rooms are spacious with verandahs, modern bathrooms with flush toilets, large showers and floor-to-ceiling windows. Breakfast and lunch are served buffet-style in the Balsa Lounge, an open-sided thatched building overlooking the tannin-stained Lake Pilchicocha. Dinner is served a la carte in a separate two-storey bar and restaurant.

Thanks to a recent overhaul by Peruvian chef Julio Avendano​, the menu now incorporates more ingredients from the Amazon. Many of these are included during a lavish, twice-weekly lunch where guests sample local delicacies such as yucca cream soup and palm hearts and catfish. Dinners are unexpectedly upscale, with a typical three-course menu comprising grilled octopus followed by beef tenderloin with confit mushrooms and passionfruit souffle for dessert. Not bad for the depths of the jungle.

Given that every part of the property – every table, sink, generator, beam and plate – had to be brought in by canoe, its very existence is nothing short of a miracle. It was founded by a visionary Swiss entrepreneur called Arnold "Benny" Ammeter, who acquired a 500-hectare parcel of land in 1991 and opened a rustic six-room lodge a year later. Since then it's expanded to 26 cabins on 2000 hectares and is now protected within a national park.