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| About Our Tours | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Our tours take place mostly in national parks, nature reserves and small rural communities. We prefer to deal with small community-managed eco-lodges rather than big five-star hotels. We work with and visit rural communities and employ people from these communities. Also, we visit places that are managed by Ecuadorian conservation agencies and we make use of their services and infrastructure. Moreover, wherever we go we try to make as small of an environmental impact as possible. Finally, during our tours we spread the message of the great importance of conserving Ecuador's natural and cultural heritage. Our tours mostly take place in the three southernmost provinces of Ecuador: El Oro, Loja and Zamora-Chinchipe. A very important aspect of our tours is that these are designed to take advantage of the great natural, cultural and ethnical diversity present in Southern Ecuador. Our tours incorporate aspects of rural tourism, ethnic tourism, cultural tourism and adventure tourism. This is done in order to make our tours as diverse, interesting and complete as possible. Southern Ecuador is a region of great beauty and diversity that has been overlooked by Ecuadorian travel agencies and tour operators. In this region you find places such as Vilcabamba, the world-renowned valley of longevity, and the Podocarpus National Park, one of the best places in the world for bird watching. Moreover, in this region you find ethnic groups such as the Saraguro and the Shuar. The region is highly biodiverse with three areas of high endemism (a high concentration of globally unique species): the Tumbesian endemic area and the Eastern and Western slopes of the Andes.
Camping on the banks of the Nangaritza River, Zamora Chinchipe Province, Ecuador We give our clients the unique opportunity to travel off-the-beaten path and visit remote and beautiful places. Also, our clients have the chance of tasting traditional Ecuadorian cuisine, prepared under strict health standards. Thus, we believe that our tours are adventurous and exciting from toes to palate! Types of Tours Ecuador Tierra Viva (ETV) presently offers eco-adventure tours and eco-expeditions that are between four and eleven days long . ETV also offers universities and colleges all over the world the chance to carry out field courses (educative and scientific tourism) in Ecuador by providing all the logistical support needed in order to carry out a successful and productive field course.
View from Rumi Wilco Eco-lodge Tour Dates Most of our tours run all year long and on a weekly basis . Please contact us for specific departure dates. For more information on our tours please go to the eco-adventure tours and/or eco-expeditions links. Our field courses for universities and colleges run all year long. Specific dates for these courses should be chosen by each institution. For more information on these field courses please go to the field courses link. Transportation Our tour price includes all the transportation you will require while you are on tour with us in Ecuador. Hence, you will not need to worry about the costs of your transfers from or to the airport, bus transportation, train transportation or boat transportation, whichever is the case. Please note that the cost of the plane ticket to Ecuador is not included in any of our tour prices. Room and Board Our tour prices includes all your room and board expenses while you are in tour with us. Depending on the tour you choose, you will be spending at least one night in a tent. We provide the tents and all other essential camping equipment that you will need. The only essential thing you need to bring with regards to camping equipment will be an above 0 degrees Celsius sleeping bag. Feel free to bring any extra camping equipment but remember to pack as light and compact as possible because first we will be constantly on the move and second, there is a 22kg weight restriction on all national flights. You may find our things to bring list handy, so check it out! With regards to food, during our tour you'll have the chance to taste traditional Ecuadorian cuisine. If you have any dietary needs please let us know in advance. Breakfast is usually served at hotels, lodges and restaurants. The standard breakfast meal is a continental breakfast; however, in some cases the breakfast in complement with fruit or other food ingredients. Please note that you should expect to be served box-lunches during any given tour. Our box lunches usually consists of fruit, vegetables, snacks, bread, jam, cold cuts and cheese. Also, these box-lunches are usually served on the vehicle or as a pick-nick format. Customers do have a say on the ingredients of the box-lunches; nonetheless, this type of meal will remain light and basic. Dinners are more hearty meals an consist of an entré , a main course and a beverage. Dinners are most of the time served at restaurants and lodges, and usually there is a set menu for a given group. When eating at a restaurant the group's menu will have a small sample of the standard menu of the restaurant. In the case you do not like the sub-menu, you can always choose an alternate dish from the standard menu. However, in this case ETV can not incur in the extra costs of the meal and will pay for the equivalent of the original set menu. When dinners are served at lodges, there is only one set menu to choose from; however, minor modifications can be made (i.e chicken instead of beef). Exceptions to the meal plans can always be made; however these need to be arranged well in advance and prior to purchasing a tour. The cost of alcoholic beverages are not included in any of our tours. However, during some meals there will be a courtesy round of drinks. Travel, Medical and Accident Insurance Please note that Ecuador Tierra Viva does not provide travel, health or accident insurance. Thus, we strongly recommend that you purchase some type of insurance before you tour with us. A standard travel insurance costs around $35.00 US. It is important to note that the safety of our clients is of outmost importance to us. Hence, we follow strict safety standards and we avoid engaging our clients in potentially harmful activities. Airport Pick-up and Transfer Services If you require it our staff will wait for your arrival at the airport and then take you to your hotel. Just contact us to arrange this type of transfer service. |
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