Responsible Tourism
The below section on our home page has been reserved to post news regarding community travel projects, these are efforts by indigenous communities and families to promote their surroundings, this benefits not only the people directly involved but all of us as well. Many hectares of rainforest are saved every year because and Amazon tribe decides to stop cutting trees and run their own lodge. If you have a community project you want us to promote for free, please email us all the details at:
editor@southamericatour.net
Homestay with an indigenous family
UNORCAC - Rural development with an intercultural identity
Cotacachi's Union of Rural Indigenous Organizations (UNORCAC in Spanish) is an intercultural organization that represents more than 43 indigenous as well mestizo and Afro-Ecuadorian rural communities. The objective of the organization is to improve living conditions of its members through development projects and programs such as agro-ecological production, reforestation, environmental conservancy, legal assessment, indigenous health, intercultural bilingual education, cultural revival and rural tourism.
UNORCAC expects to contribute to the construction of a more fair and equal intercultural society, reducing poverty levels, empowering self-management, gaining a democratic inclusion of the communities and strengthening their own resources, their ancestral wisdom and their social organization.
RUNA TUPARI NATIVE TRAVEL CIA. LTDA. Rural Tourism with indigenous identity UNORCAC, together with the indigenous communities, founded the community service agency called RUNA TUPARI NATIVE TRAVEL , a phrase that in the native language, Quichua, means, "meeting the Indians."
In order to develop well rural community tourism, it is necessary to involve directly the indigenous communities in the search for the development of sustainable tourism. We want to show the tourist a unique life style as well as a different cosmos vision. This encounter will allow the visitor to experience direct contact with nature, to share with local people and have the opportunity of learning from them, in other words, a more human style of tourism, where authenticity and nature are the foundation.
UNORCAC and the indigenous communities, together with the Native Guides Association and the Rural Lodges Association are owners of the agency. This means that RUNA TUPARI directly helps rural development with intercultural identity, in a global and evenly balanced way.
RUNA TUPARI NATIVE TRAVEL guarantees you will have a trip with a point of view different from any other. With this objective in mind, we offer accommodations in our Rural Lodges located within the communities. Here the tourist may share the indigenous culture, enjoy a change of environment, experience a different life style, and take pleasure in the nearness of nature and traditional living.
We also offer Professional Native Guides for different kinds of excursions, such as trekking, community visits, horseback riding, biking, Andean climbing and walks in Intag's cloud forest, among others.
Email: nativetravel@runatupari.com
Adress: Plaza de los Ponchos, Sucre y Quiroga; Otavalo-Ecuador
Telefax: (593 6) 925-985
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