Intag III

Jul 2nd, 2007 by Gary A. Scott

Our last two Ecuador Living Updates introduced the Intag and explained that Ecuador was named by National Geographic Magazine as one of the top ten adventure destinations for 2007. One reason for this is a huge national forest called Intag not far from where we live in Cotacachi. This area is not only the home of excellent organic coffee, but is filled with adventure as you learn here in the second of this series on Intag from Steve Marchant, our man in Ecuador, about his recent journey to Intag. Few know it and even fewer go there, but just 15 miles away from temperate, warm Cotacachi lies the hidden, little known tropical valley of the Intag. It is almost a hidden valley, because though close, Intag is a bone-jarring two and a half hour ride by car. Intag is not easily accessed but those who make the effort and sample its delights return again and again.

Steve and two Ecuador Living readers traveled to Intag and the last two updates in this series shared the delights in their journey. Here is part three of this series from Steve’s recent trips there.

Intag Adventure

The Intag is full of surprises. I had always imagined this would be a wonderful area for adventure. As a well travelled guy I’ve seen a bit of adventure. At 46 years of age and with a young son to think about I’m not quite as disposed to reckless adventure as I once was. No more parachute jumps. No more shark tail tugging. No more flinging venomous snakes though the air.

I am disposed to a bit of white water rafting, mountain biking, scuba diving or anything where the fun/thrill benefit considerably outweighs the risk/danger factor.

One recent, sunny morning, I had the lovely surprise of an invitation from Cotacachi Municipality . They asked, “would I be interested to come with tourism students and guests for some scuba diving, rafting and ‘rappelling’. I accepted immediately because that’s right up my street as we Brits like to say.

Rappelling had me intrigued. I also wondered where we were going scuba dive. What follows is a photo essay. The pictures do the talking.

One intriguing thing about Ecuadorian culture is the great family orientation. Team building exercises come very naturally. On this trip the first thing we did split in to teams and hike Lake Cuicocha . This is nothing new for me but was an experience for those students who had never seen this paradise before, especially those from the coast.

I discovered that the very lake was where we were going to dive. This lake is supposed to be really cold! This didn´t stop some guys from wanting to get a head start.

I can happily report that the lake was pleasantly warm, or at least a tad warmer than my expectations. The visibility is remarkable and the instructors were very patient and professional.

Cuicocha Crater Lake is often considered part of the Intag; at least you have to pass it to arrive in the Intag. To me the Intag only comes after the rough roads and Nangulvi which is where we headed and you’ll see next update.

Steve.

Here are our upcoming Ecuador courses:

July 17 - July 22, Tues. - Sun. Import-Export Course.

http://www.garyascott.com/catalog/impex/

Sept. 26 - 30, Weds. - Sun. Condensed Super Thinking + Spanish with Free Oct

1 - Mon. Andes Extension & Real Estate Tour.

http://www.garyascott.com/catalog/sp/

Nov. 9 - 11, Fri. - Sun. International Business & Investing Made EZ.

http://www.garyascott.com/catalog/IBEZec/

Nov. 12 - 14, Mon. - Weds. Andes Extension & Real Estate Tour.

http://www.garyascott.com/catalog/andeanext/

Nov. 16 - 18, Fri. - Sun. Andean Shamanic Tour.