1. December 28, 2019 – January 9, 2020 + one week online (Dec 16 – 21)
NAU in Ecuador Robert Neustadt, Prof of Spanish and Director of Latin American Studies
December 28, 2019 – January 9, 2020
+ one week online (Dec 16 – 21)

2. ANT 399 (Anthropology Special Field Studies), or SA 301 (Cultural Understanding), or SA 305 (Social Political Worlds)
3 credits
Counts towards the Minor in Latin American Studies
SPA 497 Independent Study is a possibility.

3. Foci: Indigeneity and Sustainability
Ecuador is an Andean country
with an incredible diversity of
indigenous culture and
geographical variety.
We’ll go from the mountains and the capital city to the Amazon!

5. Quito (9,350’), best preserved colonial center in Latin America
We’ll even visit the
Presidential palace!

7. Mountain/ urban indigenous (and mestizo) people

8. Student residence Quito

9. We’ll visit the equator, the “Center of the World,” and a small community in a Cloud Forest, Yunguilla
Yunguilla
Stay with host families. “Humble”
dwellings, but equipped for “tourists.”
Organic gardens and orchards, fruit jams.
Cheese production.
Activities with host families
Celebrate New Years with the community!

11. Otavalo (8,307’), town and market
Lunch with an indigenous family
Eat cuy (if you want). No problem if vegetarian.

13. Baños de Agua Santa (5,971’)

14. El columpio del fin del mundo
Volcano Tungurahua

15. Shell (3,501’) Between Quito and Shell, Pass through the “Avenue of
Vocanoes.”

16. Small plane from Shell to Sharamentsa (over the Amazon).

19. Then canoe to the Achuar Lodge

20. Achuar Lodge (787.4’)

21. Amazonian indigenous culture Visit indigenous homes and school children

23. Pastaza River: Night tours, monkeys, alligators, parrots, macaws, pink river dolphin, amphibians . . .

24. Indigenous view of nature and sustainability
Because the Achuar depend on the rainforest for all of their basic needs, they have a profound respect for nature. A collective stance against companies depleting the rainforest’s natural resources for oil, timber, and water (just to name a few) has protected their home.
The Achuar identity is rooted in the belief that they are one with their environment.

25. Visit Kapawi lodge. Community development
Visit Kapawi lodge Community development Sustainability Visit nearby Achuar communities

26. Kapawi Ecolodge set the standards for community ecotourism in Ecuador, promoting practices that protected wildlife, generated local employment and empowered local communities. Kapawi Ecolodge was built respecting Achuar construction styles and using building materials from the forest.
Energy is generated 100% from solar photovoltaic panels, while local building materials are still used to preserve the Achuar style.

27. This Amazon jungle area is one of the most remote and well-protected parts of the western Amazon Basin. It is a remote and pristine region, untouched by logging, mining or petroleum extraction.

28. Cost: $3,152 + airfare rt (Quito)
Tuition & fees (3 credits of ANT 399, or SA 301 or SA 305 counts towards LAS)
All internal transportation covered
All lodging covered
Most meals covered
(Might want to bring some donations for low-income communities, schools etc.)

29. What will we learn?
Learn about and see different indigenous and mestizo traditions and cultures in Ecuador Explore the concept of indigeneity: What does it mean to “be indigenous”? Issues of environmental sustainability (UN Declaration of Indigenous Rights and the Ecuadorean Constitution) Learn about history of oil extraction & indigenous struggle against it “Ecuadorean” history (from the Inca) Spectrum of different ecosystems from Andes to Amazon Spectrum of different lifestyles from urban to village