Country by country, project by project, our teams are getting back to work, reviving activities that had lain dormant, with the emphasis on respect for the social and natural environment, and with meticulous management of resources in each case.
In close collaboration with local players, suppliers and associations, the Quichua community of Ahuano in the Amazon region of ECUADOR and the QUITO-based QUIMBAYA TOURS team, headed by Leonardo Castillo DMC, have forged an excellent working relationship.
The Quichua Community is made up of around 60 families and 300 people living in the municipality of Ahuano, in the province of Napo.
The land they occupy belongs to the Community, but each family has its own plot where they live from growing manioc, bananas, cocoa and corn.
© Quimbaya Latin America
© Quimbaya Latin America
Hunting, fishing and, more recently, tourism are also part of the community’s activities.
The Quichua Community of Ahuano created the Amawta Association with the aim of promoting and conserving the community’s cultural traditions through ecotourism and youth education.
An alliance between the Ahuano Quichua Community’s Amawta Association and Quimbaya Tours Ecuador has been established to exchange and share needs and knowledge.
Leonardo tells us what it's all about:
“Our main objective was to be able to offer our passengers participatory tourism, committed to respecting the natural, social and cultural environment of the community.
The Amawta Association sought to fulfill its economic and educational objectives towards families and younger generations through eco-responsible tourism, respectful of their traditions and way of life.
Together, we imagined a meeting between the community and our passengers.
© Quimbaya Latin America
The meeting begins with a welcome from the community representative, who then presents the Great Community House and its ancestral construction methods, using materials largely sourced from the jungle.
Music, dance and gastronomy are all part of the encounter.
© Quimbaya Latin America
Families and visitors share and visitors learn about the indigenous culture, helping community members, especially children, to identify with their own culture.
Our visitors know how much their visit to the Community contributes to the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of the country and our indigenous peoples, and that’s what’s important to us all.
For our passengers, this encounter will remain forever engraved in their hearts.”
Leonardo Castillo
Country Manager – QUIMBAYA TOURS ECUADOR
