G Adventures – seven-da y Loca Ecuador – Amazon Jungle

A personal favourite of G Adventures founder Bruce Poon Tip, the seven-day

Local Living Ecuador – Amazon Jungle, ventures into the Amazon rainforest. The trip originates from the very first tour the company ran in 1990 and is still operated with the same community today. Travellers spend four nights in a homestay with an a local Quichua family in their small village in the Amazon. During their time in the village, travellers take walks with the locals, who show them their way of life and teach them about medicines of the rainforest, and spiritual ceremonies. G Adventures has been bringing groups to the community every month for over 30 years, which Poon Tip said has transformed and culturally preserved the community, allowing them to live their traditional life in the Amazon. Today, 11 different G Adventures tours in Ecuador visit the Quichua village. Using the money from tourism, the community has been able to fight off drilling by miners and won a battle in court against a government mandate that children learn Spanish as their first language, which would have meant giving up their native tongues.