The Global Meaningful Travel Map

Matavén Deiyu

Travel deep into the Matavén rainforest with Piaroa communities, sharing forest life, traditional food, and cultural knowledge while supporting conservation.

OUR EXPERIENCES

We are Indigenous Piaroa communities from the Matavén jungle in eastern Colombia. We welcome travelers to our territory to share our way of life, our rivers, forests, and ancestral knowledge. Visitors travel with us by canoe, walk through the forest, and learn about our food, crafts, and traditions. Along the way they hear our stories, taste our traditional foods, and experience the sounds and rhythms of the rainforest. These journeys allow visitors to understand how we live in balance with nature while supporting our community and helping us protect the forests and rivers that have sustained our people for generations.

ABOUT US

Our mission is to strengthen and recover Piaroa cultural heritage by encouraging intergenerational dialogue and ancestral practices. Through community-led tourism, we create opportunities for young people in our territory, helping them value their culture and protect the forest from extractive and illegal economies, ensuring our traditions and knowledge continue for future generations.

This project is the result of a seven-year collaborative process between the community association Matavén Deiyu, Fundación Etnollano, the responsible tourism private sector through the Colombian Association for Responsible Tourism (ACOTUR), and the public sector through ProColombia. Together we have worked to strengthen a community-led tourism initiative that has received several national and international recognitions.

IMPACT

Our main impact has been the recovery and transmission of Piaroa cultural knowledge among young people and children. Through tourism activities, elders share ancestral stories, traditional practices, and cultural values, encouraging intergenerational dialogue. Young people are learning traditional skills such as weaving, which are now used in new ways, including in the construction and decoration of our guest cabins.

We have also strengthened traditional food knowledge. Youth are learning how to cultivate cassava and prepare casabe and mañoco, foods that are central to the food security of many Amazonian Indigenous communities.

Tourism has created a new community-based economy that offers alternatives to extractive and illegal activities such as mining. By generating local income linked to culture and nature, the project helps young people see value in their heritage and find opportunities within their own territory while contributing to the protection of the forest.

DETAILS

To learn more, contact: camilo@fundacionetnollano.org

What are your minimum and maximum group sizes?
4 minimum, 8 maximum

Do you require visitors to pre-book?
Yes

Do you have group rates?
Yes

Do you pay commissions to travel advisors?
No

What languages do you offer your services in?
Spanish, English. Other languages such as French, Italian, and Portuguese may be possible with advance booking and additional cost.

When are you open?
Weekly hours: 9am–5pm. Seasons: Dry season December–April / Flooded season August–November.

What accommodations do you make for people living with disabilities?
Our project received the Colombian Tourism Quality Award in the Inclusive Tourism category for the initiative “La Urbana Interpretive Trail in the Heart of the Forest – A Community that Listens to its Heartbeats.” This project was designed to welcome travelers with visual impairments, creating a sensory experience where the forest is discovered through sound, touch, smell, and taste. Through this process, our community has developed knowledge and experience in hosting travelers with visual impairments. At the same time, our activities take place in a remote rainforest environment. While accommodations are comfortable, they are basic and adapted to the local context, and we currently do not have infrastructure designed for travelers with reduced mobility.