Conservation & community projects in the Amazon
| country: | Ecuador |
| departures: | Departure dates are flexible and can be arranged to suit you but will depend on accommodation availability |
| price: | From £790 (14 days) - £935 (21 days) excluding flights. Children under 12 years are half price. We recommend children should be 8 years and over. |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
read 1 travellers review
the amazing things you'll be doing
A unique combination of adventure travel with conservation and community projects providing immense variety and a real insight into this wonderful country. Perfect for the adventurous traveller aged 28 upwards including families with children, wishing to ‘give something back’ and the golden oldies!
Traveling off the beaten track and venturing deep into the Amazon jungle is an exhilarating and breath taking challenge. Stretch the old concept of ‘cultural exchange’ to its limit by grasping the chance to live with indigenous families sharing their lifestyles and daily activities whilst working on simple but often life changing projects.
Under the guidance of the Yanapuma Foundation you will travel from Quito to the edge of the Amazon rainforest to live and work at Chichicorumi located near Tena the epi-centre for white water rafting before venturing deeper into the rainforest, by canoe, to the isolated village of Wachimak a place seemingly untouched by the western world. You will assist in their sustainable development projects that encompass both community and conservation based projects all directed at making these communities more self-sufficient and helps them reach their long-term goal in becoming a destination for low-key ecotourism.
All development initiatives are chosen and led by local people ensuring that projects are well managed and needed by the community.
Chichicorumi a fascinating and stunning place with its ancient trees and meandering rivers accessible by canoe. Much of the forest in this area is being devastated by logging companies and international awareness is paramount in not only protecting this environment but also the fragile lifestyles & eco-systems of its inhabitants. Live among a wonderful, fun-loving indigenous family learning about their traditions and customs and helping the local community improve their standard of living by participating in developing various income-generating schemes. Help to reverse the trend of urban migration by creating jobs for young people and maintaining the fast disappearing traditional ways of life such as thatching and growing medicinal plants. At the end of the day cool off with a refreshing dip in the River Napo, splashing around with the community’s energetic and playful children and help to run after school clubs to entertain and teach. In your spare time you can visit the Orient’s spectacular waterfalls, trek through unspoilt rainforest and experience the thrill of white water rafting on Amazonian rapids.
CommunityRun after school fun club for local children Construction of traditional dwellings Development of an Ethnographic Museum Medicinal gardens maintenance Construction of thatched cabanas for use as an eco-lodge
Conservation Helping develop and maintain the Botanical Gardens Preserve traditional building methods by helping local people to collect and use sustainable materials from the jungle rather than concrete and corrugated iron sheeting Develop a system for dealing with litter
Adventure Kayaking, tubing and swimming in the Napo river White-water rafting, canyoning, caving, or jungle tours.
Wachimak is a village one hour down river and a further one-hour trek through the Amazon rainforest. Generally, visitors to Wachimak will take part in community activities, go hiking to places of interest in the jungle, learn about their culture and relationship to the environment, medicinal plants, animals, etc.
Community Teaching English/general subjects to school children Teaching English to guides Working in day care centre with younger children Teach health/nutrition/hygiene education
Conservation Ecological and cultural research Construction and maintenance Helping on small farms in the jungle
Adventure Jungle hiking Fishing Canoeing Explore the Galapagos Islands and Pacific Coastline during independent travel
Traveling off the beaten track and venturing deep into the Amazon jungle is an exhilarating and breath taking challenge. Stretch the old concept of ‘cultural exchange’ to its limit by grasping the chance to live with indigenous families sharing their lifestyles and daily activities whilst working on simple but often life changing projects.
Under the guidance of the Yanapuma Foundation you will travel from Quito to the edge of the Amazon rainforest to live and work at Chichicorumi located near Tena the epi-centre for white water rafting before venturing deeper into the rainforest, by canoe, to the isolated village of Wachimak a place seemingly untouched by the western world. You will assist in their sustainable development projects that encompass both community and conservation based projects all directed at making these communities more self-sufficient and helps them reach their long-term goal in becoming a destination for low-key ecotourism.
All development initiatives are chosen and led by local people ensuring that projects are well managed and needed by the community.
the project
In a two or three week period it will not be possible to do all the projects described. It is very flexible and you can choose which projects you wish to work on, which will be the most suitable for children and how much time you want to spend on them. Chichicorumi a fascinating and stunning place with its ancient trees and meandering rivers accessible by canoe. Much of the forest in this area is being devastated by logging companies and international awareness is paramount in not only protecting this environment but also the fragile lifestyles & eco-systems of its inhabitants. Live among a wonderful, fun-loving indigenous family learning about their traditions and customs and helping the local community improve their standard of living by participating in developing various income-generating schemes. Help to reverse the trend of urban migration by creating jobs for young people and maintaining the fast disappearing traditional ways of life such as thatching and growing medicinal plants. At the end of the day cool off with a refreshing dip in the River Napo, splashing around with the community’s energetic and playful children and help to run after school clubs to entertain and teach. In your spare time you can visit the Orient’s spectacular waterfalls, trek through unspoilt rainforest and experience the thrill of white water rafting on Amazonian rapids.
Community
Conservation
Adventure
Wachimak is a village one hour down river and a further one-hour trek through the Amazon rainforest. Generally, visitors to Wachimak will take part in community activities, go hiking to places of interest in the jungle, learn about their culture and relationship to the environment, medicinal plants, animals, etc.
Community
Conservation
Adventure
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrive Quito to be met by Yanapuma staff and escorted to overnight accommodation, and briefed. |
| Day 2: | Bus to Tena (6 hours), to be met by local representative and escorted to Chichicorumi. Introduction to site and community, swim in Napo river. |
| Day 3: | Chichicorumi. AM: Tour of museum, zoo, and medicinal gardens. Help with animals. PM: Upriver in dugout canoe to swim. Practice panning for gold. |
| Day 4: | Chichicorumi. Cross river in dugout canoe and hike to visit community of Boca Chica. Evening: Learn about traditional healing and shamanism. |
| Day 5: | Chichicorumi. Help in museum/zoo/gardens. Evening: Cross river to island in dugouts for bonfire under the stars. |
| Day 6: | Chichicorumi. To Tena for rafting/kayaking. |
| Day 7: | Chichicorumi. To Tena to visit Amazonian park and wildlife centre. |
| Day 8: | Wachimak. Leave Chichicorumi early by bus to Los Rios (2 hours). Meet representative from Wachimak and proceed downriver in canoe for 1 hour, followed by 1-hour hike to village of Wachimak. Introduction to community. |
| Day 9: | Wachimak. Hike through primary forest to waterfall to swim. |
| Day 10: | Wachimak. Am: Visit local school and day care centre PM: learn about local agriculture, visit rainforest farm. |
| Day 11: | Wachimak. Hike to spot monkeys and other wildlife and learn about natural forest products and medicinal plants. |
| Day 12: | Wachimak. AM: Fishing in local river. PM: Producing traditional medicines and learning about traditional healing and shamanism. Evening: Performance of traditional music and dance. |
| Day 13: | Bus to Quito. Leave Wachimak 5 am to take canoe upriver to buses to Tena and Quito. Arrive Quito circa 5 pm. |
| Day 14: | Depart Quito airport. |
travellers' tales
Mountain biking down the volcano Cotopaxi, near Quito and dying my hair red with the Bua community was the highlight. (more)
a taste of volunteering trip - what's it all about?
This type of trip is ideal for people who are unable to take very long periods off work but who are interested in volunteering to work with communities in need, or in wildlife conservation. These shorter trips combine volunteering with an opportunity to see the main sights in destinations. Find out more about 'taste of volunteering'how this holiday makes a difference
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We work closely with the Yanapuma Foundation who focuses on changing the life of the local people and the surrounding conservation. As a company we work closely with our overseas trusts all believing that the conservation of tomorrow comes from the improvement of eco-tourism, community and conservation – the three are interconnected and if improved together they will lead to long term sustainable development. As a result we expose our travellers to these three elements giving them a taste of this relationship and their future. Our travellers work on valued and worthwhile projects which are more often then not simple but life changing.
Project work includes a mix of rewarding community and conservation projects – anti poaching patrols, snare collection, helping in schools, AIDS awareness, monitoring game movement and helping the safari lodge etc. Hands on projects working alongside committed communities are a powerful way to educate the next generation of travelers. Foodstuffs are bought locally and resources such as heating in camps where possible is done in an environmentally friendly fashion e.g. solar panels. In addition rain water is collected for drinking water. Clothes washing is done where possible with bio-degradable soap. Litter is collected and disposed of properly. We ensure that all our programmes work with the full agreement of local elders and that volunteer’s work side by side amongst the community. More often living in the community. We pay the communities for looking after volunteers and every volunteer has a donation to the community included in the cost – currently £80 per person. This is used to buy materials to build classrooms, pay for education fees and so on. We also work alongside local charities as often as we can support their aims. We ensure that approximately 60% of the cost of each volunteers scheme is paid to the project leader in-country to cover all their in-country costs. This includes paying local communities for food and accommodation where appropriate.  In addition we pay communities a donation and source all food, drink, equipment, fuel locally thereby enhancing the local economy. The hosts employ as many staff as they can. Sometimes this income supports numerous relations. We also recognize that volunteers spend their own money on drinks, transport, souvenirs, services (taxis), medical care, park fees, activities e.g. rafting, diving, climbing etc which are major contributors to local suppliers incomes and the overall economy. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |