UNIVERSIDAD DE ESPECIALIDADES TURISTICAS NATIONAL TOURIST GUIDE TRAVEL THROUGH GREEN PASTURES 2 days – 1 night 3 Dutch (35 - 40 years) AGRICULTURE EXPERTS Written by: Jessica Sinchi Teacher: Sergio Lasso Quito, Ecuador November, 2014 AGROTOURISM IN PICHINCHA AND SANTO DOMINGO DE LOS TSÁCHILAS PROVINCES AUTHOR: JESSICA NOEMI SINCHI CAMPOS APPROVED BY: Signature: ________________ Signature: _________________ Professional guide: Efrain López Tutor: Sergio Lasso Signature: ________________ Signature: _________________ English teacher: Cesar Cacuango Career Coordinator: Paola Freire DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my parents for their unconditional support throughout my life. Thanks to my siblings thanks for all the support and love they have shown me throughout my career; You are one of the most beautiful blessings from God and I want to thank to my two great love ones Israel and my little boy Mateo for all their unconditional love for me and their patiently waiting for my return home. 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to sincerely thank my supervisor, Prof. Efrain, for his guidance and support throughout this process of graduation. Also I would like to thank to Paola, Cesar and Sergio, especially, I express my heartfelt gratefulness for their guide and support that I believed I have learned from them. To all my friends, thanks for their friendship, it has been a wonderful experience. I cannot list all the names here, but you are always in my mind. Finally, I would like to leave the remaining space in memory of my grandma (1934 - 2014), a wonderful person and very important part of my life. This thesis is only a beginning of my journey. 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY What is Agrotourism? Agrotourism describes the act of visiting a working farm or any agricultural, horticultural or agrobusiness operation to enjoy, to be educated or to be involved in activities. Agrotourism is a form of tourism in which rural culture is harnessed economically to provide various tourism options. It has some resemblance to ecotourism, but its purpose is not to attract tourists to nature, but into cultivated landscapes. "Landscapes grown" this is a key term. To farmhouse is essential to first develop a culture of healthy crops as a result of plant protection, efficient, profitable and competitive crops. No tourist will want to be on a farm or ranch badly cropped, messy, unhygienic with no cultural or technological value. Therefore, the logical order is to learn and educate all those involved in the implementation of a clean, healthy, productive agriculture and, if possible, with added value to the project, with these features, is becoming something worth. Agrotourism in Ecuador Much of the rural landscape in the coastal plain is of plantations. A huge range of tropical fruits as well as coffee and cocoa are grown. It is possible to visit several haciendas to understand a little more about the history and current realities of agriculture in the area. Several agencies organize tours and you can also deal directly with some haciendas. However they tend to be in quite isolated locations. The use of greenhouses to grow crops high efficiently and productivity is a good practice. These can be produced efficiently: Tomato, uvilla, peas, cucumber, pepper, babaco, strawberry, escargot, flowers and so forth. Activities people can do in farms or ranches The activities that can be done in the farms or ranches are: tour for families and school children, day camps, hands-on chores, self-harvesting of produce hay or sleigh rides and overnight stays including breakfast. Some people become involved in agrotourism as a way of supplementing their income. Others desire an opportunity to educate the public and to introduce people into farming. 1 1. Introduction The Republic of Ecuador, it´s located in South America, between Peru and Colombia, it has an area of 256.370 km² and represents one of the most diverse countries on the planet. Its combination of high abundance of animals and plants in relation to their size and their different characteristic microclimates make this country prone to unique species. In the high due to the rainfall and uniform temperatures, have made this country one of the 17 most megadiverse countries in the world, according to the Environment Programme of the United Nations. It has three continental regions, Coast, Mountains, Amazon and Galapagos Islands. When we speak about farmhouse, we must leave the cities to go into the tropical rainforests of Santo Domingo and the moorlands of Mejía Canton, reaching very small villages by paved roads. Getting in touch with nature you can observe the lifestyle that lead farmers in each region and you will note the differences on how they live, due to the benefits of their land the villagers do not need to go to big cities to buy food because in many cases it is supplied by their own production. I want to show you a little part of Ecuador, a place which is known as the number 23 province, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas. It was amazing to travel to this area of my country. Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, is one of the newest province, it was declared on November 6th 2007. It this region is in the interior of the coastal lowlands, agriculture and stock-farming are important activities. Crops as bananas, cacao, oil palm, rice, soybean, sugar, cotton, tobacco, coffee, tropical fruits are produced for both export and domestic markets. More than 1,000 km of coastline with wonderful beaches, cliffs, lovely bays, national parks and protected areas and a well-developed tourist infrastructure along the coast offer excellent opportunities to relax and entertain in a tropical paradise. Whale watching, eco touring and community tourism are the booming activities of recent years. The route Quito-Aloag-Santo Domingo has many attractions to offer like an incredible view and natural scenery that can be appreciated from high mountain forests to cloudy forests and the transition of climate and humidity creates a variety of habitats and that is why this zone has a large percentage of biodiversity. 2 2. Justification The group of tourist who I am going to travel was three Dutch agriculture experts from 35 to 40 years old, who are characterized as uncomplicated and solidary people, who enjoy the good weather, specially sunny days and new experiences so based on their profile, I decided to design a tour in which the tourists can feel part of a community and can see how rural people work daily in their crops. I went several times to Machachi because there are plenty of farms and ranches that practice agrotourism and I could find some of them which practice that activity but the chosen ones were the best to make this decision I visited all of them and I asked what activities they offer, then I realized that most of the farms just offer horse riding to Corazón Mountain, Cotopaxi and Illinizas volcanoes and they don't do agrotourism although they say in their websites that the tourists can do agricultural activities. To get to Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas from Quito we will take Panamerican highway heading south until Machachi then we come back to Aloag and finally Aloag - Santo Domingo, this route offers the best landscapes due to the fact that it is possible to see how the vegetation changes between the highland and the coast region. Talking about services, we will travel in a van because it has more space than a vehicle. Cafe de la Vaca in Machachi is the place for having breakfast but unfortunately we could not have breakfast there because it was so crowded, but we stopped at “El Hornero” and we had a delicious breakfast. Sur Campestre is a restorant in Machachi and we luch there, also offered us agrotourism activities and Kasadsa Eco Lodge hosting service, the dinner and breakfast, all these places are known for their good service. 3 3. PICHINCHA PROVINCE TO VOLCANO’S ROUTE 3.1. History of Pichincha It was created according to the Colombian Territorial Division of June 25th, 1824 covering the territories that nowadays have the provinces of de Cotopaxi y Esmeraldas, but there were some changes when the Ecuadorian Republic was created. In 1847, it was divided to be created the Esmeraldas province, and in 1851 it suffered a new fragmentation with the creation of Leon Province (Cotopaxi), being formed by the Cantons Cayambe, Mejía, Pedro Moncayo, Pedro Vicente Maldonado, Puerto Quito, Rumiñahui, San Miguel de los Bancos, Santo Domingo and Quito, that is its capital. It covers an area of 13,253 km2, with suitable fields for agriculture, for corn, potatoes, wheat, barley, legumes, grasses, flowers, citrus, sugar cane, avocados, custard apples, banana and herbs production. It occupies the valley of Guayllabamba with land elevations such as Cayambe, Saraurcu, Cerro Tips, Sincholagua, Ruminagui, Illiniza, Corazón, Atacazo, Antisana, and Pichincha with its two main peaks: Rucu Pichincha and Guagua Pichincha. Its hydrography constitutes its two main rivers: Guayllabamba, with its tributaries San Pedro Pita and Psyche; and Blanco, with it is tributaries Mindo, Nambilla, Saloya and Yambi. It has been developed important industries such as textile, plastics, pharmaceuticals, metalworking, sausages, toys, paints, motor vehicles, among others. Archaeological evidence founded in the province of Pichincha confirm that this region was inhabited by people who had technical and aesthetic knowledge; these people were are Collaguazos, Pillajos and Quijos; In any case, it should be noted that it was around this region, called Quito, where the Ecuadorian nationality was formed. 4 3.2. General Information of Quito Capital: Distrito Metropolitano Quito Area: 4.215 km2 (421.498 has.) Altitude: 2800 masl Temperature: from 15º C to 8º C. Population: 2,2 million according to the last census (2010) 3.3.