 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Contact:
Segundo Pascual Tacuri
Coordinador
Organización UCASAJ
Parroquia San Juan
frente a la gasolinera
Ecuador
Tel: +593/32-933-286
Fax: +593/32-606-774
corporacion@cordtuch.org.ec
www.cordtuch.org.ec
Recommended by:
Fundación EcoCiencia, Ecuador
info@ecociencia.org
www.ecociencia.org
Type of accommodation:
Bed & breakfast, lodge, inn
Campsite
Features:
Conference rooms
Hot water
Private bathroom
Restaurant (comedor)
Telephone
Television
Number of rooms: 4
Year founded: 2006
Number of employees: 12
Percent of employees who are local residents: 100 %
Type of destination:
Farm, ranch (rural)
Historic site
Indigenous community
Mountain
Able to accommodate:
Families/children
Seniors
Singles
Volunteers
Description of the area:
The San Juan Parish Union of Farmer Organizations (Spanish acronym UCASAJ) consists of 23 indigenous communities of San Juan parish in the Riobamba canton of Chimborazo province in Ecuador. The Center is 18 kilometers (11 miles) from the city of Riobamba, via the Chimborazo refuges; the communities are in the buffer zone of the Chimborazo Wildlife Reserve. The region is at 9,843 – 12,467 feet above sea level with an average temperature of 54 - 61º F.
UCASAJ is a gateway to knowledge - wisdom, legends and traditions of the indigenous cosmovision. Visitors who explore these communities can learn about the local lifestyle; colorful clothing and native language helps the local people keep their culture alive. This prodigious land has a great variety of agricultural products with agroecological gardens that are a venue for learning about the Pachamama. These hardworking people make their area worth visiting by nationals and foreigners.
Available activities:
Adventure, sports
Biking
Eco / nature / wildlife
Educational, research, volunteering
Horseback riding
Mountain climbing
Spiritual / religious
Tours
Visits to conservation projects
Walking / hiking
How to get there:
Making a difference:
Twelve of the UCASAJ communities work on developing community-based tourism, conducting the administrative and operations tasks themselves; providers live in the commons nearby. The expenses of the Center are income for the families of the communities that provide products or services; surpluses are reinvested in the maintenance and ongoing improvement of the center, support to the development of tourism projects in the communities, permanent training of the local talent, and other actions meant to improve the quality of life for the people and their communities.
The women jealously preserve their way of life through music and dance groups and they perform in the different communities; they also promote handmade goods and, with organic agriculture, they are revitalizing healthy eating and the sovereignty of their families.
Their territorial heritage includes water sources for the communities and the urban center; this motivates the conservation of the paramo, slopes and native forests. In this way they return to the earth part of what it gives them to live.
General rates:
$$$ -- From $50 to $100.
“Sharing indigenous life” is a two-day package and the price per person varies depending on group size. For more information about this package write corporacion@cordtuch.org.ec.
Date this information was provided: August, 2009.
