Kutuku Protected Forest

Coangos Shuar Community

Kuankus is the aboriginal name of a river and the small Shuar community that guards the entrance to the authentic Cave of the Tayos. The unusual interest of researchers, adventurers and outsiders from all over the world for the cave, motivated the indians to organize themselves legally to manage it from tourism. A series of services have been developed in recent years in Coangos (Spanish name), by their community members. Traditional cabins and a system of showers are available to visitors. But mainly, each group that arrives is received with a dinner prepared by the typical food restaurant to later witness a show of traditional dances that represent war, marriage or gratitude to mother earth. Other options include hiking trails through the jungle or rafting down the Amazon rivers with modern equipment and implements. This completes an offer with all the resources and benefits for visitors. For the Shuar, community tourism means responsibility with the environment and sensitivity towards all forms of life. This is one more of the dozens of community tourism experiences that are growing in the Amazon region of Ecuador. With promotion and diffusion, Coangos strengthens its image as an ancestral site, seeking to position itself as an enchanting and magical place. The local ethnic population wants to achieve with tourism a form of income and sustainability, leaving behind the past when outsiders took advantage of the myths around the Cave of the Tayos. Coangos is a small town of only 80 inhabitants, located between the Santiago and Coangos rivers. However, the territory it possesses is extensive and is divided into Coangos Alto and Bajo, Cueva de los Tayos and Puerto. The local means of access are by canoe, horse or on foot because the population is in the middle of the Amazon jungle.