Discover Ecuador Tour 17 Days

This is the arrival day for all of our tour participants, depending of your flights , you can have a day exploring one of the UNESCO heritage sites in world (Quito's Old Town) or simply rest at the Hotel before our Tour Guide meet you at the Lobby at 6:30 pm for our Orientation meeting and briefing before the starting of the tour. During this meeting you can clarify everything, you might be concern or curious to know about the tour overall. Even that Guidecuador, don't provide any activity this day, we can still assist you arranging a full day in Quito or surroundings if you let us know in advance.

On this day we will explore Quito’s Old town and its beauty. We will use public transportation to get there. While in the old town we will visit the Presidential Palace, Main Square, the Cultural Center, Sagrarium Church, San Francisco Church and the famous Street knonw as ”La Ronda”, at this point we can all enjoy a special ice cream with local rum, tequila or one of the local fruits flavors. Then we will take a bus to go visit Panecillo Hill located at 10,000 ft. This is the best viewpoint in town! After, we will ride a local bus towards to the Equator site (It will take us 1 hour approx. to get there) There is two Equator Sites, so we will see both! The first one is a Museum known as a Inti Ñan, where you will see experiments related with the 0.0.0 latitud. The second one is a monument refering to the French Expedition leaded by Condamine, who came to stablish the Equator on 1736. Here we can stop for some lunch. Finally we will take the local bus back to the Hotel for overnight.

It is time to say goodbye to Quito! We will take a local bus towards Otavalo City, it will take us 2 hours approx. Once we arrive, we will check in at the hotel, then you will have plenty of time to explore the beautiful village surrounded by volcanoes. So, the rest of the day will be on your own….

CUICOCHA LAKE FULL HIKE Early in the morning , we will depart towards Cotacachi Cayapas Ecological Reserve, it is located 20 miles away from Otavalo. Once we arrive, we will visit shortly the museum to clarify the entire trail around Cuicocha lake. The total hike is 10 miles, the time approx. is from 3 to 5 hours, it is a little bet active but we are sure you will love it. This is one of the most beautiful protected areas in Ecuador and the views up there are fantastic. However, the starting of the hike will be at 10,000 ft and the highest reached point will be 12,500 ft. but it is still possible to do with no issues at all. This hike is the main attraction of the day, after this, we will take a bus back to Otavalo for overnight.

On this day, we will start at 6:00 am to be on time for our journey towards to Tena City. It will take us pretty much all day, considering that we will take two local buses to get there. Once we arrive to Tena, we will have some lunch, then we will finally take a taxi to the Jungle lodge. Normally, we get there by 4:30 pm, so you will still have some time to enjoy the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the hotel pool or walking around the lodge. At night, we will have briefing and dinner, that is also included at the lodge.

Early in the morning, we prepare our gear: boots and raincoat, so we can be ready to begin the adventure! We will board a canoe and start our journey through the enchanted Amazon Jungle along the imposing Napo River. Arrive to Misahualli, where we make a short stop to check our papers with local Marina. Continuing, we arrive to Arajuno River. Visit to Animal Rescue Centre, which is specialized in the rescue of wild animals for specie conservation and reintegration into the wild. Afterwards, we will enjoy a delicious lunch. We’ll have the opportunity to swim in the river or just rest surrounded by a wonderful natural atmosphere. After, we will visit a Quichua family and learn about their millenary culture and traditions such as making of typical drink “chicha”, and the use of the “serbatana” (blowpipe for hunting). Then, we will return to the Lodge by foot over secondary jungle pads. At night, after dinner, we’ll have a meeting around the fireplace to share our day’s experiences.

After breakfast, we depart by canoe upstream for ten minutes, arriving to a small shore where we begin a fun and thrilling one hour walk, marvelling ourselves with the jungle’s secondary forest diverse flora and fauna. After our short walk, we’ll find ourselves in a breathtaking cascade “Las Latas” where we will take a refreshing bath in its clear crystal waters and enjoy the surrounding views, which mixed with the jungle sounds. We return to have lunch at the lodge. After, we put on our “wet gear” (boots & rain coat) to start an exciting walk in the jungle forest, and discover the secret wonders of the mysterious hidden jungle, finding amazing plant species with medicinal properties, which will be fully explained by our expert native guide. We’ll also observe a great variety of insects, short monkey groups weaving around the giant trees, and dozens of curious colorful birds whistling beautiful notes delighting our senses. After about 3 hours of walking, we come back to the Lodge.

After breakfast, we will take a taxi back to Tena city for our bus ride towards to Baños, it will take us 3 hours approx. which means that you will have the rest of the day at leasure. The estimated time of arrival in town is at 11:30 am. Baños is a place to enjoy and offers many options as tours or relax. We will also help you if you need to arrange a tour or you can also discover the town on your own.

On this day, you can relax or maybe book a tour, for sure we will help you if you need some assistance. However, the tours recomended in Baños are as follows: White water rafting at Pastaza River ( Class III ) – Modearte 4 hours tour Canyoing at Rio Blanco or Chamana – Moderate 3 hours tour BIke Rental to visit the Waterfalls avenue – Easy 3 hours tour Hike towards the Tree House – Demanding 4 hours tour Horse Back ride – Moderate 3 hours tour Motor Bike Ride – Moderate 4 hours tour There is much more in town and for sure you will find an activity that fits in your plan.

Early in the morning, we will depart from Baños City towards Chimborazo volcano (This part of the tour will be run with public transportation, it will take 3 hours to get there approx.). It is going to be the highest altitud that you will experience on the entire trip and who knows the highest elevation that you have been before (5,000 meters above sea level), this location is very high but it is fine for you to experience the altitud a little bet! At the Park, we will arrive up to the first basecamp located at 4,700 mts. from there we will start the hike up to the highest point well known as Whymper refuge. From above, you will enjoy the great Andean views, then we will continue our transportation towards to Alausi City for overnight.

On this day, you will take the famous train ride trough the Andes well known as the Devil’s Nose. This part was the most diffcult to be built by the Railway Company to connect Guayaquil and Quito City at the end of XIX. During the ride you will enjoy the breathtaking views and admire the famous ZIG ZAG rail part, surrounding by the mountains to go down towards Sibambe Station. This ride will take 2 hours approx. After this, we will take a public bus ride for 3 hours towards Cuenca City. Once we arrive, we will go to the hotel for check in and at night we will take you to the Pubs area for some coctels after a long day.

This day we will lead you trough the picturesque streets and plazas of Cuenca City! Get ready to enjoy and explore the magical Heritage Site declared by UNESCO since 1999. This is a city that offers many options for everybody in the group, we will give you some advises that you can do on your own in the afternoon.

On this day, we will take a public bus ride to Guayaquil City, it will take us 4 hours approx. Once we arrive to the hotel, you will get reay to explore Guayaquil’s downtown and Las Penas Viewpoint. This city is modern and huge close to 3 million people, but it is nice to walk around after a long bus ride. Remember that Guayaquil is at the coast site located at 4 meters above sea level. So, it will be warm enough after the days at the Andes.

Early in the morning, we will take a public bus ride to Puerto Lopez, normally from Guayaquil takes around 5 hours. On this day we don't have any other activity planned besides of enjoying the beach or relax at the hotel pool. Late in the afternoon, we will do the coctel show at the hotel and you will get to know more about our local coctels.

On this day, we will visit the famous island called Silver Island or Isla de la Plata, located at 40 miles away by speed boat from Puerto Lopez. This island is well known for having some of the Flora and Fauna that can be seen at the Galapagos such as: Blue Footted Bobbies, Albatros, Frigatte Birds, Red Fotted Bobbies and some other ones. On this tour you will hike on the Island for 2 hours spotting the animals mentioned above, also if we are lucky, we will see the humpback whales that come from all over the world to the Ecuadorian Coast for their brieding season and matting too. The whale watching season is between May until September every year and Machalilla National Park seems to be good an safe for them. You will also snorkel near by the Island to see a great diversity of fish and other marine life. After this, return back to Puerto Lopez for overnight. At night we will go for some salsa clases.

This day is free for several relax, walk around town, visit a local community, visit Los Frailes beach and much more. If you like adventure, we can arrange a biking tour or a Diving Tour as you can tell Puerto Lopez has so many things to do, we are sure you will find an activity that will fit in your idea.

Free morning. 1:00 pm check out and transportation to Manta City Airport to take a flight to Quito late in the afternoon, then transportation to the Hotel in Quito. Unfortunately, we have to say goodbye after we arrive in Quito. However, if you desire to add one more night in Quito City or extend your staying in Ecuador, we can always help you out with free advise to make sure you optimize the time and continue exploring this paradise called Ecuador. TRANSFER OUT IS NOT INCLUDED IN PACKAGE