Visit an endangered tribe in the Amazon Ecuador

Why? To glimpse a unique culture but to do it sensitively and responsibly. Understandably many struggling minority tribes don t want to be gawped at by tourists passing through the arrow firing Sentinelese of the Andaman Islands being a case in point. But for some such groups tourism is providing a cultural lifeline and travellers staying at lodges or booking tours owned and run by the tribes themselves are helping to keep endangered traditions alive (and protect their much threatened environment from developers) while also giving visitors an authentic insight into how the peoples have existed for centuries: everybody wins. The indigenous peoples of Ecuador s Oriente seem to have mastered this kind of community eco tourism; there are several well regarded options. For example the Cof?n one of the oldest Amazonian tribes now numbering just 2 000 have been running community based ecotourism in northern Ecuador since 1978. Trips here include canoeing and piranha fishing sleeping in traditional thatched huts and trekking into the wildlife dense rainforest with Cof?n guides with optional overnight camping trip for the adventurous minded.