La Reserva Manabi: Amenities & Infrastructure

Our features enhance and preserve Ayampe’s local biosphere

At La Reserva Manabi, all of our community amenities and infrastructure have been planned to enhance and preserve the natural beauty of Ayampe and the local biosphere.

We’ve worked closely on our environmental plans and policies with our friends in the town, and we’ve made a commitment to them to always preserve 35% of the land at La Reserva Manabi as designated green area.

The green areas include a nature trail system for recreational activities such as hiking, jogging, mountain biking, bird watching and even micro-farming.

Read on to learn more about La Reserva Manabi amenities and nature friendly infrastructure

Amenities at La Reserva Manabi

Community Recreation Pavilion

Our community area features a recreation pavilion and restaurant where community members can gather to socialize. This area will serve as the centralized location for classes like gardening, sustainable living and yoga.

We’ll have schedules of activities, including classes for the kids of the community to come and learn about nature conservation.

We also plan classes about the local plants, animals, sea life and birds with nature tours of the surrounding jungle.

Community Organic Garden

Our organic garden is located right next to the community pavilion. It contributes to and maintains the biodiversity apparent along the coastal region near Ayampe.

Here our residents can grow many local fruits and vegetables including bananas, oranges, passion fruit, papaya, potatoes, cilantro, beets and tomatoes. The garden will be nourished with grey water and soil from a nearby community compost.

The farm gives the community a place to gather and socialize. It’s a place to learn and teach the fundamentals of gardening on the coast of Ecuador. We can share the knowledge with each other, and reap the fruits of our labor enjoying the crops we grow.

Maintained Hiking & Biking Trails

Our hiking and biking paths are a trail network that winds through the entire 70 acres at La Reserva. Trails run through the jungle with benches where residents can stop and take in the surrounding natural beauty.

They offer a great opportunity for residents to get out and exercise, while taking in all the sights and sounds the jungles of Ayampe have to offer.

Many points along the paths have some of the most amazing ocean views along the entire coast. During May through September it’s common to spot a breaching humpback whale near the rocks off of the Ayampe beach.

The trails are constructed using natural materials including local gravel. The paths will be maintained on a regular basis by a local ‘machetero’ (machete man) who keeps the paths free of vegetation and overgrowth.

Walk 10 Minutes to World Class Surf

Ayampe is home to some of the best surf in all of Ecuador.

Ayampe and the neighboring town of Las Tunas are beach breaks. Within 15 minutes north and south of Ayampe there are many left and right point breaks. This offers wide options for all surfers.

Surfing in Ayampe offers opportunities for beginners to learn to surf, all the way to the more elite surfers who can get shacked right in the backyard of La Reserva Manabi.

The Norton's La Reserva Story

Diane and I have traveled throughout Europe, Central and South America. We were very impressed with the La Reserva vision, location and cost. We liked the town of Ayampe and the friendly people. La Reserva Manabi personnel took care of our needs making it a very smooth transition.

This is our new vacation home. It is peaceful, relaxing, adventurous— a new and exciting time in our lives. We are living our dream!

Learn more >>

Infrastructure at La Reserva Manabi

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Home & Structural Engineering

Building Foundations

All home model designs and custom resident designs approved for the La Reserva community must be built to withstand heavy environmental conditions.

After working with one of our preferred architects and choosing quality construction materials, we conduct a soil test to identify the structural support needed for the building. All homes are also designed with drainage systems to divert water around the house.

Homes are designed to have a footprint of 15% of the entire size of the lot or less. For example: if the lot size is 1000 square meters, the permitted footprint of the home is up to 150 square meters in size. This helps maintain the natural beauty of the lot, integrates our community in the jungle, and helps us reach our goal to leave at least 35% of the community untouched.

Home Engineering

At La Reserva Manabi, we take pride in building high-quality homes. We achieve this by using materials we carefully vet from reputable suppliers in Puerto Lopez and the surrounding areas.

The wood we use is locally grown and harvested. Concrete on the Ecuador coast is often subpar because suppliers mix it with beach sand. We make sure the concrete we use is also of the highest quality by testing for purity.

Native bamboo is abundant, and its tensile strength is among the highest in the world. It is forgiving when it comes to ground movement and a popular building material in regions that can be seismically active.

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Our Builders

Our builders have proven track records in Ayampe with many finished homes and satisfied clients.

They guarantee their work with warranties, and allow you to make installment payments as construction progresses. This gives you the peace of mind to ‘pay as you go’ as work is completed.

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Water & Sewage

Residential Water

Ayampe is a fortunate place to own real estate. Because the local climate here is more tropical than most other areas of the Ecuadorian coast, the water table here fills more frequently, and the lush onsite vegetation keeps water in the ground longer.

Water at La Reserva Manabi is provided by water tanks on the hill above the community. We’re also laying brand-new water pipes through the entire project.

Water used for cleaning and showering comes from the public water tanks at the top of the hill. This water can’t be used for human consumption without being filtered. That’s why all of our approved home designs feature high quality water filtration systems.

Grey water taken from sink and shower drains is directed by our homes directly to your property’s gardens and fruit trees. This keeps your home eco-friendly, makes the plants lush and healthy, and helps conserve usable water.

Community Water Management

A few years back – during the initial community design phase – our architect measured the entire project topography using GPS. This information guided us when we were making the decisions about how to mark off the lot parcels. We only sell land for residential use that is not in the path of a hillside water runoff.

All La Reserva properties divert rain down the hill to the Ayampe river using drainage pipes in the ravines. All of our gravel roads also have ditches on both sides. These designs help guide rain runoff down the hill and away from our homes.

During the government’s project approval process, we’re required to submit a plan for all property drainage. We’re happy to say that La Reserva Manabi has passed inspection and is in compliance.

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Community Underground Power

Above-ground cables disturb the natural jungle vegetation and mar the natural beauty,so at La Reserva Manabi we’re laying our power cables underground.

We’re also using low level LED lighting on the roads and in the neighborhoods to reduce light pollution and maintain high efficiency power usage. This reduces energy consumption and maintains the gorgeous view of night sky and stars above the Ecuadorian coast.

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Community Road System

Gravel Construction

Our community roads that branch off of the main road and lead to our lots are crushed gravel. This is a very sturdy method of construction used throughout Ecuador.

The gravel road construction process also includes grading and adding layers of dirt, then gravel. Although the road is compacted down during construction it remains porous enough to filter the rain without being damaged.

Crushed gravel roads are especially common along the coast because they filter the rainwater easily, efficiently and naturally without damaging the road itself. As a bonus, they also repel weed growth!

Nature Friendly Streets

Much consideration was given to the environment and jungle preservation when developing our roads. Gravel roads enhance the natural feel of our community so much more than concrete roads would.

We also discovered that – by creating bigger lots – we could get the community access necessary while also also reducing the amount of roads.

Community roads are nearing completion, with the last bit of gravel to applied within the next few months. All property bulldozing for roads is finished. The existing roads will be the only ones built from here on out.