Westworld Alberta
Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/68789
confetti of iridescent butterfl ies. My room, a short walk through an Avatar-like landscape, is breezy and open-plan, with a net-draped bed, polished hardwood fl oors and a claw- foot tub with a view of the river. Outside there's a natural-stone freshwater plunge pool, expansive deck and outdoor solar- heated shower. The only thing missing is electricity. After a brief moment of First World panic, I realize that all I need is candle- light (amply supplied) and a book. The thick timbers and screened walls frame a view of the treetops, which are atwitter with hum- mingbirds and twitching with insects whose bodies articulate in ways I didn't think were possible. When evening falls, we guests head with moth-like predictability toward the electric glow of the lounge for cocktails and to trade stories of zip-lining, rafting and hik- ing – just three of the adventures the resort can organize for guests. The following morning, I take a tour with Andreas, Pacuare's general manager, to see fi rst-hand the extent of the environmental credentials that have earned the lodge fi ve leaves, the top accolade of the country's Certifi cation for Sustainable Tourism author- ity. At the bottom of a leafy ravine, a small turbine shed hums energetically as water plunges 55 metres to a paddlewheel genera- tor. The six kilowatts it produces is just enough to power the 100 garden lights, kitchen, lounge and office or the single power-hungry air conditioner for the wine cellar. (I suppress a pang of guilt at having enjoyed a glass of Pinot Noir with last night's meal.) To round out the tour, Andreas points proudly to a bio-digester they are testing: soon it will turn septic waste into methane cooking gas. It's not often that beauty and (macaws) Robert Harding/All Canada Photos, (pool) courtesy Nayara Hotel Spa and Gardens WESTWORLD >> JUNE 2012 23 practicality go hand-in-hand, but this place is the whole package. While organized nature tours are the lodge's specialty, these also occur spontane- ously. I follow a blue morpho butterfl y a short distance into the dense jungle, coming upon a foot-long stick insect and a false fer-de-lance (a harmless snake whose defense mechanism is to resemble the country's deadliest). In the dense canopy above, a troupe of howler monkeys (relocated from farmland by lodge staff) call happily across treetops bejewelled with hummingbirds and toucans. The follow- ing day, I backtrack upstream, via a road more treacherous than the river, and kayak the Pacuare in an infl atable canoe. After raft- ing, the autonomy of the canoe adds to the excitement – although when I flip it end- over-end I have no one to blame but myself. After taking my reluctant leave from the