Travel magazines highlight indigenous tourism opportunities and this spurred me to cover vetted, recent excursions with indigenous people. Guatemala, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Peru have specific activities that are culturally immersive and very meaningful. Interacting with indigenous people supports their communities and livelihoods and it gives us an understanding of the natural resources of their land.Once you start to look up indigenous excursions, the computer cookies start appearing and I find this helpful. Pinterest is a great place to start creating a board of a destination. Adding pins to your board to save and read later is a great way to not get overwhelmed with too much information at once. What I appreciate about indigenous tourism is that it’s not “touristy”, obviously, and you truly embody the traveler spirit vs. the tourist one. Some excursions could be considered borderline touristy and you’ll learn to read through the fine print to avoid those. Coffee farm tours, chocolate making tours, etc…are often a way to sell products but you still learn a lot of information and get an opportunity to “shop local.” Weaving cooperatives in Peru exposed us to Andean wool dyeing rituals and buying textiles in a calm environment rather than a huge market.

In Ecuador, the Quilotoa Lagoon excursion included a stop at a hut of Sasquisili indigenous people. We were welcomed into their earthen dwelling, a mere hut with a thatched roof. Guinea pigs scampered on the dirt ground (which became dinner once they were grown.) We observed their environment and listened to their demonstration on potatoes (although we couldn’t understand them.) The toddler boy was excited to see our tour guide since it was a familiarity to him to have travelers come by their hut. If there was any doubt that the family members were actors or authentic, the evidence was on the face of the toddler. His cheeks were so chapped by the sun and wind at the high altitude of this Andean community. It was obvious he lived in that thatched roof shack in the highlands.

Purchasing products at their cooperatives can often guarantee you authenticity. For example, “baby alpaca” textiles are often advertised at many markets in Peru and Ecuador but they are not often really baby alpaca wool. However, tour guides can tell you which markets have these authentic items made from baby alpaca.

In Cuba, our tour company arranged for us to stay in casas particulares which are people’s homes (rather than staying at resorts). We also dined in paladars (family run restaurants). This is a way to support the local people rather than the government. You can wake up to the smells of breakfast right inside the casa kitchen. At a nearby rainforest, we came upon locals performing a Santeria ritual involving the sacrifice of chickens in order to use their blood for a cleansing tradition.

In Guatemala, we visited a Mayan womens’ cooperative where they demonstrated wedding rituals. We learned how to make coffee from seed to cup and homemade tortillas.

In Peru, the local families of the Maras community mine the salt ponds called Las Salineras. Tourists can watch this process and buy salt crystals and other products from the vendors. It was very difficult to narrow down which photos and examples I could share but this variety scratches the surface of indigenous tourism excursions of a few, particular countries. Other than the typical cooking classes or wine tours of certain countries, consider delving into these unique opportunities. Be open to the ones of happenstance, too. Although I’m a planner, I have often appreciated the serendipitous ones we stumbled upon. In Ecuador, I almost didn’t get out of the car to see San Pablo Lake on a rainy day on the way back from Otavalo. Thank goodness I changed my mind or I wouldn’t have witnessed this……indigenous Quechua women cleaning quinoa in a lake. There was so much to take in—the ritual itself, the age and energy of the elderly women, the ornate jewelry worn to do such manual labor in bare feet….but most of all the surreal sky and mysterious waters.Schedule some indigenous tourism in your visits. It can be a game changer to appreciating and enjoying a foreign destination. Venture out into the local communities to expand your global awareness.

photos by Gina Kingsley