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Ecuador Impact – Culture and Community

From 2,190$ per traveller. Excl. flights

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Overview

Experience the heart of the Ecuadorian Andes through a meaningful service-learning expedition. Begin in the vibrant city of Quito before journeying to a rural Andean community where you’ll contribute to long term development projects supporting health, education and food and water security. Immerse yourself in local culture through language lessons, traditional music and dance. Along the way, reflect on your impact, connect deeply with community partners and discover the rich traditions of this remarkable region.

Highlights:

Community‑Led Impact: Work alongside partner communities on long‑term development projects that support education, welfare, and food and water security in rural Andean regions.

Cultural Immersion: Experience Ecuadorian traditions through language lessons, local music and dance, and meaningful interactions with community members.

Otavalo Market Experience: Visit Otavalo, home to the largest artisanal market in Latin America, where you can explore local crafts, practice bartering, and connect with the region’s entrepreneurial culture.

Student travellers standing with local people in Ecuador playing traditional instruments

Traveller student working on a project in Ecuador with a view of the mountains behind her

Student travellers walking in a field near volcano Cayambe in Ecuador

student travellers planting trees on a school project in Ecuador

A hummingbird on a flower with misty mountains in the background in Ecuador

What's included

Expedition Leader

All meals

Unlimited drinking water

All accommodation mentioned in the itinerary

All activities mentioned in the itinerary

Entrance fees for all sights mentioned in the itinerary

All transfers mentioned are in private vehicles

Project costs and management

24 hour support throughout expedition

Camps International t-shirt

Local Expedition Guides

Day to day

Day

Activities

More Details

Day 01

Arrival

Arrive into the buzzing city of Quito where you will be met at the airport by a member of our friendly Camps crew. We’ll transfer you to your accommodation in the city where you’ll spend your first night.

Day 02

Transfer to Camp + Orientation

Today you will travel to our Andean camp, your home for the next part of your expedition. The journey will take you through spectacular landscapes and across the equator, where we will stop to learn about the Coriolis effect and its intriguing impacts at this particular point on the globe. At the camp, the Camp Manager will introduce you to camp life and then give you a briefing on the projects while walking through the community – the group will have the opportunity to set their own goals for those projects within a broader set of objectives. Each evening will also involve a Reflection session in which the group think about what they are doing, how they are learning and what the potential impacts of their activities are on their host community. 

Day 03

Community Project Work

Over the next few days, you will get stuck into community development project work. In Ecuador, young people are moving to the city to find employment opportunities, leaving rural communities fragmented and isolated with a labour and skills shortage. The projects that you will be working on aim to improve basic health and welfare, increase food and water security and improve education facilities for local communities. In the evenings, you will get a taste of the local Ecuadorian culture through such things as language lessons and dances performed by local people.

Day 04

Community Project Work

This is a day to ensure that the goals the group have set themselves are met. Working alongside ‘maestros’ from the community, you will start to feel a great sense of pride and satisfaction as you see the progress you are making. The projects are established through lengthy dialogue with the leaders of the community and are focused on their own priorities; it is work done with the community in every sense and over the years we have, together, been able to complete substantial and impressive results alongside the local residents.

Day 05

Panorama Trek and Culture Evening

Our camp sits in the shadow of the Cayambe volcano, an almost 6000-meter glaciated peak. Today we will trek to higher land behind the camp to get an even better view of that mountain and to explore a little bit of the Andean culture - learning how these people have lived on and with this land for many generations. In the afternoon, there will be the chance to finish any outstanding project goals before a special evening of local food, music and dance wraps-up your time in this community.

Day 06

Otavalo Market

This morning we will say good-bye to new friends before heading to Otavalo, home to the largest artisanal market in Latin America. In the market, you will have the chance to buy souvenirs to take home and practice your bartering skills with the famously entrepreneurial Otavaleño people. After lunch in the town, we will head back to Quito for our final supper.

Day 07

Departure

Departure day, as you head to the airport to bring a close to your expedition experience.

About Camps International

Camps International is an award-winning expedition specialist that offers life-changing responsible travel experiences for schools throughout Africa, Asia and South America. We uniquely own our ground operations and develop long-term projects from our permanent camps that are co-located within the communities we work alongside. Our permanent presence in our destination countries allows us to maximise benefits to the people and wildlife that need it most by committing year round to our projects, so you can be confident that the work you do will have a lasting impact on areas that you visit. This also means that we have unrivalled safety systems in place to deal with emergencies. Camps International is proud to have attained LotC and BS8848 accreditation.