Welcome, this blog is about environmental issues, ecotourism, culture, and education in a beautiful and remote area of Northern Ecuador.
I’m Sandra from France. After I graduated with a Master in ethnology, I decided to discover the world and to be immersed in other cultures. I have traveled, worked and volunteered overseas in Canada, Guatemala, Australia, New-Zealand and Asia (Malaysia, Nepal, Laos and China) during four years. I decided to teach English to children who don’t have the chance to get the education we beneficiate in occidental countries. I discovered the Omprakash Foundation who provide education to those who lack it. The Foundation gave me a grant in September to live in Intag 6 months. I will teach English, basic computer skills and digital photography which will serve the cross-cultural exchange with other schools in the world. I invite you to browse the different categories (environment, pen-pal exchange and narrative) relative to this project that I am realising in collaboration with Ned Creswell, the coordinator of Intagtour. I hope this blog will become the place where the children and inhabitants from Intag will share their way of life and arouse your interest.
Aiste Manfredini said,
December 28, 2009 at 2:55 am
Hi Sandra,
I spoke to Ned Cresswel and I was just wondering if you could tell me about some of your experiences that you had with Intag in Ecuador (ups & downs) because Im planning on volunteering there with a friend so it would be great to hear from someone who has had been with the program. Thank you so much!
Teresa said,
April 12, 2010 at 2:51 am
Hello Sandra,
I’ve been following your blog with interest. I’m an Irish girl living in Spain working in an English bilingual school here. I’ll be going to teach in the Intag area in July and August and am very excited to go as part of this project. At the moment I’m trying to get myself a little better coordinated and would like to hear from you as to what you think I should bring that would be useful as a teacher and perhaps talk about the possibility of making contact through my school and the students there through the internet.
Hope you continue to enjoy your work and congratulations for your great blog.
Ned said,
November 12, 2010 at 9:07 pm
Welcome to Dita and Hana from the Czech Republic, and to Tess from France. We hope you have a great time in intag!
Ned said,
December 9, 2010 at 9:40 pm
important visa and phone news from Intagtour.com
Visas: Ecuadorean law has changed over the last few months: those entering the country are given a free 90 day stamp in their passport, but it is no longer renewable without charge.
Visitors requiring permission to stay longer in Ecuador can buy a 6 month visa at Quito immigration office. The price is around $240.
Intagtour now has a satellite phone, which is great news for friends of the project. The number, including international and national codes, is 593 06 3017543. This number will get you through to Ned, the guest house manager. Best times to call: between midday and 1.30pm, and between 5 and 8pm, ecuadorean time.
sandra said,
December 16, 2010 at 11:39 pm
Friends of the Intagtour project will enjoy the photos in our new companion website, http://www.cloudforestadventure.com
Many thanks to Celia Cresswell and her brother-in-law Andy for designing and producing this fantastic website
Ned
Hana Kasalova said,
January 3, 2011 at 12:22 am
Hi there,
My recommendation is to bring enough books with you, raincoat, wellies and open mind and soul. The nature is breathtaking, the people are very nice even though they have quite different life style than what we are used to. The rain has been a pain in the a.. therefore it is very important to make yourself busy enough for not get too much annoyed with the local weather. Otherwise it is one of the best life and travel experiences. Good luck and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hana XXX
Freya said,
May 24, 2011 at 1:31 am
Hola,
After finishing my time at Intag tour i thought id leave some comments for future volunteers. I chose to do mainly farmwork as having not much spanish when i started i found the prospect of teaching a class a bit daunting. However the great thing about intag tour and what Ned emphasises when you arrive is that you are in complete control of what type of volunteering you want to do, who you want to stay with and how long you want to stay. The communities are very isolated in the stunning mountains and cloud forests which means a loooong bus journey there but also true immersion in the real ecuador. Ive been travelling for 5 months in S.A and have done 2 previous volunteering placements but after Intag i felt i knew the culture from a more insiders point of view. What youll quickly realise which other volunteers said is the people live very differently from what most tourists are used to which means getting used to waking early and sleeping at 8pm and having to sometimes pass time finding things for yourself to do. Some days were hard work clearing a whole field of maize for a new crop of frijoles and others were needed to be filled with walks, reading and practising my spanish on my family. If you get the chance ask Ned to show you the Cascade walk- tricky but worth it. I was made to feel at home really quickly with my family who just adopt you temporarily as their own. The one thing i found hard at first was the food as usually im quite healthy and it was largely beans, potato and more potato so at first my family thought i just didnt eat. They found me really funny when i cooked porridge in the morning and sometimes just had a salad but by the end Karina the mum was cooking porridge for me before id come down for breakfast and had the fridge filled with salady things. I agree with hannah books, waterproof everything and more books. In the rainy season everything gets soaked and we had huge storms where the power would go out for 2 days and rain came through my roof onto my bed (just giving the reality). Also by the end if you cant already speak spanish youll definitly able to hold a conversation. The nearest village Cuellaje is quiet and the 2 ladies that run the hotel are lovely and kept giving me Chirimoyas and avocadoes from their gardens. Another volunteer Maya worked in the school in Cuellaje and when she was leaving the kids were crying and giving her loads of presents- so theres opportunities there to if you prefer to live a bit closer to civilisation
. have an amazing time!!!
Freya X
Myriam said,
June 21, 2011 at 3:49 am
I used to do my thesis there, I am from Ecuador even me never knew about it but i was the most experence in my life cuz i used to have everything in my home Quito but when i moved to Intag i discovered many interesting things like nature, people, culture it is amazin to know it can be together at the same place, i just to invite to share this amazing and undiscovered place from this small but green country call Ecuador.
Sorry for any mistake.
Bienvenidos a mi pais