Eco-Friendly Farmstays is run by CRACYP, a local charity.  The idea is simple - you stay with a local farming family, in their home.  This is a great opportunity to see and experience how people live in this warm, tropical part of Ecuador with its wealth of agricultural produce.  Accommodation is basic - you'll have your own room but will usually share bathroom facilities.

The farmstay families and farmhouses are all different and each has its own charm.  The farms have different crops - often sugar cane, bananas, plantains, cacao (chocolate), oranges or maize - and most families also grow a little coffee for the house.  They might also have mango, papaya, avocado, mandarins and yucca growing in the farmyard.  Many families have a few chickens and perhaps a piglet or some guineapigs and rabbits.  Some keep cattle for milk, cheese and meat.  Your host family will be happy to show you around their farm or smallholding.

CRACYP (which stands for Rural Forestation and Progress Network Corporation, in Spanish) is a reforestation charity and this form of eco-tourism is just one of our sustainable rural development projects in Ecuador which are improving the quality of life in local villages.  We pay a fair price to the local families whose homes you will stay in and also to the people in the local community who help us by supplying transport, horses, meals or guiding services for your farmstays holiday.

Tree-planting is included in some way in all our development projects.  In this case each night of your farmstay holiday includes the cost of one tree seedling.  Better still, YOU get to plant it, so you will know that you personally have made a lasting difference to the local ecosystem and to reducing global warming.  Alternatively, you can also boost the local economy by paying a village labourer to plant your tree seedlings for you. 

Farmstays holidays are fun and make ideal vacations for families with children.  Read on through this website for more about the holiday activities you can enjoy on a farmstay, some ideas for farmstays tour itineraries and how to book a farmstay in Ecuador.  

The Eco-Friendly Farmstays team look forward to welcoming you to a farmstay holiday soon - check our guide to the year for an idea of when to visit Ecuador or think about a farmstays Christmas vacation.