Enchanted Galapagos Lodge

The team is actively restoring native habitat by removing invasive species and replanting Scalesia trees — an endemic, endangered flora essential to the island's fragile ecosystem. Landscaping uses only native plants, providing food and shelter for local wildlife, and guest interactions with wildlife strictly follow Galápagos National Park guidelines.

Organic kitchen waste is composted on-site, returning nutrients to the soil that grows much of the lodge's food. Recyclable, non-recyclable and compostable streams are meticulously separated. Single-use plastics have been almost entirely eliminated — refillable amenities arrive in glass, and guests are gifted reusable water bottles.

Indigenous weavings from mainland Ecuador, artisan-made décor and locally sourced woodcrafts give every space a sense of place. Guests are invited deeper through visits to traditional farms, the Puerto Ayora fish market and the Charles Darwin Research Station — and through cheese tastings and chocolate workshops grown from the lodge's own land.

Every member of the team is from the Galápagos — chef, guide, housekeeper and manager — fairly compensated and integral to the lodge's identity. Purchases, from produce to supplies, are overwhelmingly local, reinforcing a circular economy and reducing dependence on the mainland, with a clear intent to expand opportunities for women as the business grows.

School children, including those with disabilities, are welcomed for cheese-making and chocolate workshops, and community members use the lodge for celebrations — building a shared sense of ownership. Small in scale, these gestures reflect a profound ethic: tourism as a bridge, not a boundary.

Privately owned by a mother and her children, and purchased with personal savings, the lodge is grounded in transparency and ethical business practice. Profits — once they materialise — will be equitably shared among shareholders and staff, in accordance with Ecuadorian law. The future vision includes solar power and expanding regenerative gardening toward full energy self-reliance.