Hey,

For anyone´s who interested in getting off the beaten path, let me recommend www.intagtour.com, a new community tourism intiative about 4 hours west of Otavalo, in the cloud forest. It´s spearheaded by an englishman, Ned, so english is spoken, but it´s completely a community effort.

The area´s super safe (and malaria free), and you´re more likely to have your camera returned than stolen. It would be a great destination for anyone looking for something different, or even for families looking for a unique expereince.

The community offers single and multi day tours of the nearby cloud forest reserve, along with tours of organic farms, tradiitonal cookery, and trout fishing. Also, everything´s really cheap because the money goes directly to the community (I paid $10 for an all day tour, with lunch, of a farm and nearby waterfall)! It would also be a cool place just to sit back, relax, and chill.

For more info, look them up online at www.intagtour.com