Ecotourism in Junin

EcoJunin, Junin’s community run ecotourism project is a major source of strength in the struggle for a sustainable Intag. Started in 2001, EcoJunin has brought tourists and activists from the Americas, Europe, and Asia to Junin. The bamboo lodge they have built to house tourists serves as a visual icon of the struggle, appearing in much of the region’s publicity about ecotourism in Intag. Visitors have the opportunity to experience life in the subtropical and cloud forests of Junin. Visits to local coffee and sugarcane farms, hikes through the mountains, and swimming in pristine rivers all complement the cultural immersion experience of a trip to Junin. EcoJunin employs about 50 people from Junin and surrounding communities. When working for the project, residents make twice the local daily cash wage. This is tremendously important because the region is both cash and job poor. Sustainable economic projects are key to keeping young people in Intag and out of urban poverty. EcoJunin is one of the only ways women in the area have a chance to earn cash and a bit of economic autonomy. International presence, aside from bringing money to Intag, brings international witnesses to the struggle and a visible show of solidarity to the people. International presence has proven effective in deterring human rights violations and violence perpetrated by Ascendant and its employees. Equally important, international presence in Junin shows the people who have to live on the front lines of the struggle that people care and are helping in the fight as well. For people who have a week or two and the means to make a trip to Junin, a visit to EcoJunin is a direct way to make a financial contribution to the struggle, directly affect power relations through their presence, and make a show of solidarity to those living the struggle.

How to visit Junin

To get to Junin sounds complicated, but it really isn’t. Just have faith and give yourself tons of time! From Quito: Take a bus to Otavalo. Either go to the terminal terrestre (3.00 by cab) and ask for an otavalo bus there, or ask a cab driver to take you to meet a bus for Otavalo on the Avenida Occidente. (Quisiera ir a la Avenida Occidente por un bus a Otavalo). Stay the night in Otavalo, trust me, the one day trip sucks. Hostal Los Andes is right on the Plaza de Los Ponchos (where the tourist market is) and across the street from Cafe Donuts. Stay there, it’s nice and clean and has hot showers and english movies ($6.00/night). The day before you want to go to Junin, or at dawn the day you want to leave, go to the bus station in Otavalo and at the ticket window ask to buy a ticket for the Intag bus. During the dry season (june – sept), you can ride the bus all the way to Chalguayaco Alto. During the other months only to Garcia Moreno. The bus ride will take 3-5 hours. If you go all the way to Chalguayaco, just keep on walking up the same road and stay on the main road all the way to the roadblock (45min walk).