Ricancie Amazon community cultural trip, 5 days

1st day: Quito - Ricancie community tourism network
On the first day, we meet in the RICANCIE central office. After receiving detailed instructions about the program, we travel by car for an hour to the trailhead for the community of Machacuyacu. After a half-hour hike, we arrive at the cabins, where we get settled in and have lunch. In the afternoon, community members will demonstrate traditional traps and the making of Kichwa handicrafts. After dinner, we listen to a discussion of the history of the community and of RICANCIE.

2nd day: Ricancie community tourism network
After breakfast, we participate in a community minga, or accompany a family to their farm. After lunch, we walk to the Sacha Huasi (jungle camp) through the community’s agricultural plots, primary and secondary forest, during which we get explanations about the use of land and the products it produces. We arrive late in the afternoon, where we can enjoy a beautiful view of the Misahualli River valley. After dinner, we listen to Kichwa stories and myths around a campfire.

3rd day: Ricancie community tourism network
Today is the most difficult, but also potentially the most productive, of the program. We wake up early and have breakfast in the forest. We then return to Machacuyacu (2 hours), where we rest and have lunch. We then leave on foot for Capirona. Near the Port of Misahuallí, we cross the Napo River. We continue walking through farms and forest until we arrive, three hours later, at the banks of the Puni River. On the other side are the cabins of Capirona, as well as a welcome cocktail and dinner.

4th day: Ricancie community tourism network
We begin with breakfast and a discussion about the impacts of community tourism on the lives of the people of Capirona. Later, we participate in the making of chicha, and practice using the blowgun. We have lunch at the cabins, and in the afternoon we hike through primary forest and see medicinal plants, gathering spots for animals, and giant ceiba trees. We return to the cabins by canoe along the Puni River. After dinner we have a departing program.

5th day: Ricancie community tourism network - Tena - Quito or Baños
After breakfast we leave by motorized canoe on the Puni and Arajuno rivers to the Campococha bridge (1.5 hours), and then travel by car to the RICANCIE office in Tena. We arrive around noon, which is early enough to catch a bus to Quito or Baños.

Tour operators offering this tour:

Ecuador tours and Galapagos cruises : www.latintrails.com

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