Stap foget lo Ibu Rano

Imbu Rano Lodge is where you can literally “chill out” and let the fresh mountain air of Kolombangara’s beautiful intact tropical rainforest revive your senses.  

At 4oo metres above sea level, nestled amongst forest giants,  Imbu Rano Lodge not only offers a cool respite from the heat but a unique mountain experience far removed from the palm trees and coral gardens of other tourist destinations in the Solomon Islands.

Mount Rano never fails to impress visitors as they step onto the wide covered verandahs at Imbu Rano Lodge. Whatever the mood, whatever the time of day, the mountain vista is majestic and awe-inspiring.  

But Imbu Rano Lodge also plays an important role as gateway to the Kolombangara Conservation Protected Area.  Rather than just peer from the edge, you can immerse yourself in the dripping, verdant forest.

From the lodge, you have a choice of half-day or full-day walks, walking through mossy roots knee-deep in leaf-litter or rock-hopping beside the rushing waters of the Vila River. The lodge is also the starting point for two unique volcano hiking experiences – the trip to the centre of the crater, or the greatest challenge of them all, the hike through the cloudforest to the rim of the caldera and up Mount Veve, via Mount Tepalamenggutu, the two highest peaks on Kolombangara Island.

Go to the Activities page for more information about these terrific walks.

Imbu Rano Lodge is owned by Kolombangara Forest Products Limited (KFPL), the company certified by the UK-based Forest Stewardship Council to carry out sustainable plantation logging on Kolombangara. KFPL and KIBCA together manage bookings for the lodge in a unique partnership which beautifully demonstrates the compatibility between sustainable eco-tourism and conservation.

KIBCA hopes to play an even stronger role in managing the lodge in the future. As a small community-based NGO which relies on funding provided by the American Museum of Natural History and United Nations Development Program for its daily survival, revenue from eco-tourism will contribute to KIBCA’s ongoing financial viability. 

Through eco-tourism KIBCA wants people around the world to know about the beauty and wonder of its Protected Area so that together we can ensure it never falls prey to unsustainable logging activities and remains the proud heritage of the people of Kolombangara.