RESERVA RIO GUAYCUYACU Ecuador

Location: Guaycuyacu, Ecuador

RESERVA RIO GUAYCUYACU is a family farm at the junction of two rivers in the rain forested foothills of northwest Ecuador. Location:E 0º 13' N, 78º 55' W., elevation: 500-700 m above sea level, annual rainfall: 2700 mm. Temperatures range between 16-31º C. Our land includes 15 hectares of primary forest (with an adjacent 35 has. in our care, and other large areas nearby), with remaining acreageÊin croplands, pasture and second-growth forest. The Rio Guaycuyacu flows down between steep forested cockscomb ridges, forming waterfalls and pools before it joins the Rio Guayllabamba.

Resident animals include monkey, ocelot, jaguarundi, kinkajou, tayra, agouti; spiders and snakes, butterflies and beetles. 200+ species of birds are on our list of sightings, among them four species of toucans. Characteristic plants include copal, rubber, pambil palm, tree fern, passion flowers and bromeliads.

AGRICULTURE:Most of the 8 hectares of cultivated land at Rio Guaycuyacu is planted in fruit trees from all over the tropical world, over 500 different species. New species and varieties are constantly being added and propagated. Our interest is in sustainable agriculture, using cover crops, alley cropping, and selective regeneration. Besides the orchards and nursery, there is a vegetable garden, other subsistence crops, and ornamental, culinary and medicinal plants.

WORK: We would expect you to work in the mornings, usually with us, at farm tasks. The machete is the main agricultural tool, but farm chores are varied and include seed collection and processing (aka picking fruit and eating it!)orchard and nursery work, food preparation (making jams, vinegar, chocolate, bread, tempeh etc.), construction (often using native materials like palm and bamboo), crafts, botany and natural history, gardening. We encourage you to participate in both household and community life. Your stay could, if you wish, include some time spent living and working with any of several campesino neighbor families on their farms nearby.They raise cattle, pigs & chickens, and grow subsistence crops, and have much local knowledge and love of nature. You may also choose to work on your own projects, and you will have plenty of free time.

for more info visit our website: http://www.guaycuyacu.net/