Ecuador. Life with the community

Where: Ecuador

Who: Taddart

An entire region involves visitors with crafts and agriculture

Light is certainly the first astonishing thing in Ecuador: shining from lands and mountains, green from plantations and forests, white in front of a baroccan church. Nature is sovereign, in the Country nominated among the seventeen in the world classified as megadiverse by the group Conservation International. And in the nature are the roads to wonder for 2/3 weeks with the responsible french tour operator Taddart : from vulcanoes to nature reserves, the Napo river, along the Pacific Ocean shore, in the natural park of Machalila. But you will come back with the memory of villages, markets and people.

From Quito to the beauty of the diverse northern Imbabura province, from the Andean markets and indigenous cultures, to the magic of the cloud forest, in the most biodiverse country in the world you will meet old cultures: Tens of communities are welcoming, in familiar distilleries, among the coffee plantations in Los Manduriacos, or at night at Los Cedros Reserve. In San Josè de Magdalena you will visit the Luffa Atelier , the Museum of farmers culture, you will spend the night in the community bungalows.In the Intag Valley you will meet the El Rosal feminine association, making soaps and beauty creams with aloevera, you will walk to the waterfall, and spend the night dancing and singing. There are 9 communities in the Amazonas region, to discover herbs and small rivers beaches, legends and tradition. The local associations Unorcac and Ctgv represent 55 communities in Cotachi and Los Maduriacos. To find out all about them and the way community tourism has been organised in the north west region of Ecuador, read "From Aloe to Community tourism", with the interview we received from Iván Suárez Prócel, local guide and community tourism promotor.