Writes of Nature: Ecuador
February 16 – March 2, 2026 (tentative dates; actual dates tbd)
At a Glance
February 16: Quito, orientation and introductions
February 17 – 22: Ba˜ños de Agua Santa, lectures and writing
February 22 -26: Amazon Rainforest, guided forest activities, lectures, and writing
February 26 – 28: Quito, rest, museums, lectures, and writing
February 28 – March 2: Otavalo and northern highlands, final lectures and writing
*Detailed itinerary and more information coming soon.
Field Sites
Quito
Your group experience begins late in the afternoon on February 26 at boutique hotel Casa Foch in La Mariscal district. You’ll have an orientation and dinner as a group that evening, with the program’s first activities commencing the next morning. The first full day of the program begins with a morning lecture on Ecuador’s biogeography and an introduction to nature’s rights. Write with your fellow participants, then depart for Baños de Agua Santa by bus (4-5 hours).
Baños de Agua Santa
Baños is a tranquil spa town in central Ecuador, often referred to as the gateway to the Amazon region. With easily walkable streets, excellent cafes and restaurants, fresh air, and dramatic scenery, it’s the perfect place to dig in as a writer and get work done. Baños is a cloud forest ecosystem, with incredible nature reserves nearby that will serve as a living laboratory for exploration and reflection. Daily lectures from local experts will explore socio-environmental themes, and you’ll write as a group and individually as you engage with these topics on a personal level. Nightly readings allow for participants to share and celebrate the daily work. Take advantage of the local thermal pools—bathing at dawn is a ritual—or spa services for a refreshing and nourishing experience.
In mid-June, 2024, communities in the nearby Rio Pastaza valley were devastated by landslides. EcoStudio Foundation is supporting the relief efforts organized by Fundación EcoMinga, a partnering Ecuadorian NGO whose staff and their families were directly affected by the disaster. As writers and travelers, we will learn about this and other environmental disasters facing the region, the ethics of tourism in today’s world, and innovative support systems for frontline communities. If it is not responsible to travel to Baños in early 2026, this portion of the program will be relocated.
Amazon Rainforest
After five days in Baños, depart for the Amazon basin by bus (6-8 hours), you’ll leave the cloud forest behind and descend to the humid tropical rainforest of the upper Amazon basin. In the port town of Coca, you’ll meet your hosts and travel by outboard canoe to Mandari Panga, a Kichwa-owned and operated ecolodge just outside Yasuní Biosphere Reserve. For four nights, you’ll stay at Mandari Panga and immerse yourself in one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. Over 99% of Yasuní is primary forest and original vegetation, with some areas boasting an astounding 650 different species of tree per acre. Researchers have documented 4,000 plant species, close to 600 species of birds, 500 fish species, and around 170 species of mammals in the reserve. During your time at Mandari Panga, local guides will lead you on hikes, which range from easy to moderate in difficulty, through the dense primary forest, and on canoe trips down the Tiputini for unparalleled wildlife viewing.
Yasuní Biosphere Reserve and the surrounding forests lie atop sprawling oil reserves that contain roughly a billion barrels of crude. This region and its people has long been exploited by extractive industries, and the legacy of oil exploration here is unavoidable. Ecotourism, as practiced by Mandari Panga and others in the Amazon basin, represents one of the very few viable economic alternatives these communities have to working for the oil companies. The research and conservation efforts sponsored by lodges in the region contribute to the protection and preservation of these irreplaceable forests.
Otavalo and Northern Highlands
After your time in the Amazon, fly back to Quito for a couple days of rest, during which time you’ll visit museums and other cultural sites, write with your fellow participants and individually, and attend lectures from experts. For your final weekend in Ecuador, you’ll journey to Otavalo, which has its origins in pre-Inca Indigenous groups of the region. Otavaleños have largely managed to maintain their distinct ethnic identity through the brief Inca control of the region and centuries of Spanish dominion that followed. Famous for its Andean textiles, the Otavalo artisan market (8,323’) is located around two hours north of Quito and is the largest Indigenous crafts market in South America. Distinguished for their colorful weavings, Andean banking system, and international marketing expertise, Otavaleños travel all over the world to sell their textiles and can be recognized by their distinctive native Andean dress. Near Otavalo are the towns of San Antonio de Ibarra, known for wood carving, and Cotacachi, known for leather products. These rural towns of specialized artisanry lie between the volcanoes Imbabura and Cotacachi, which have deep spiritual significance to the people of the region. While in Otavalo, you will rest and relax after your journey, attend final lectures, and write with your fellow participants before returning home.