Ecuador Treasures Bucket List 8 Days Tour

DAY 1 QUITO ORIENTATION MEETING & BRIEFING This is the arrival day for all of our tour participants and depending of your flight arrival times 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 as you might be concerned or curious to know about the tour overall. We can still assist you arranging a full day in Quito or surroundings if you let us know in advance.

DAY 2 COTOPAXI BIKE TOUR Early in the moring, we will drive 1 and half hours to the entrance of Cotopaxi National Park. On the way you will enjoy the views of the famous Avenue of the Volcanoes. It is the first encounter with the nature and the altitude. After this, we will continue our drive towards Limpiopungo lake over 12,800 ft., this is a magical place right between Cotopaxi and Ruminahui volcanoes. We will drive at 15,000 ft. up there if you feel ok with the altitude we can plan hiking up towards the basecamp at 16,000 ft. If not also you can admire the majestic Cotopaxi. After this you will get ready to start the MTB tour all the way down to Limpiopungo Lake. At the end you will enjoy a delicious lunch with a marvelous view of the Andes. Finally, we will drive to our lodgging place, a fantastic place to take your camera and wait for the sunset with a cup of hot coffee or tea provided by the hostel. Then dinner.

DAY 3 TREKKING TO CHUGCHILAN Today it is time to check out right after breakfast and be ready to start the hike from Insilivi towards Chugchilan village. It is going to take at least 4 to 6 hours and the total distance will be 12 miles, it will take longer than a regular hike because the high elevation in most of the walk, it will go between 10,000 to 12,000 ft. in some parts, so you can feel a moderate fatige but nothing that you have to worry much. During this hike, you will see how our local communities live and farm, because the complete hike is trough villages and crops. You will also enjoy a delicious lunch in a village, and finally, we will arrive to Mama Hilda Hostel in Chugchilan town for overnight. Normally, we end this day by 3 pm, so you will have some time to explore the little town on your own. Dinner will be served at 7:00 pm, then briefing for next day.

DAY 4 QUILOTOA LAKE VISIT - BANOS After breakfast, we will drive for 30 minutes towards Quilotoa Lake, located at 12,000 ft. above sea level. At this point you will get ready for a hike down to the crater that should take 25 minutes approx. At the lake it is possible to rent kayaks a paddle for 30 minutes or 1 hour with an extra cost , depending of your level of experience, however this kayak is relatively easy. Then it is time to decide if you want to hike up or rent a mule, if you decide for hiking, it sounds great by we advise you that it will take you at least 1 and half of a very steep slope. Or if you hire a mule it is much smooth, you riding for only takes 30 minutes. After this adventure, we will continue towards Baños City, 3 hours far from Quilotoa. Along the way, we will have stops shuch as Ice Sorbet tasting, viewpoints and much more. Finally, we will arrive to Baños city for overnight in a wonderful hostel and enjoy some of the Baños Night life.

DAY 5 RAFTING TOUR - TRANSPORT TO THE JUNGLE LODGE Early in the morning, we will start our tour visiting some Banos City sights like the local market, the main Church , the Melcochas tasting. Then we will continue towards the Famous Waterfalls Avenue ( it is the route to the Jungle with more than 30 waterfalls) on this tour we will visit the most beautiful ones as follows: Agoyan ( here you can do zipline with an extra cost ) , Manto de la Novia ( here you can go across Pastaza Canyon by cable car , known as Tarabita ) , Pailon del Diablo ( at this poitn we will walk donw to see the largest waterfall and discover its 6 balconies few feet away the water). Then we will drive to Cumanda village , this is going to be the starting of the Rafting tour down to Pastaza River ( it is 14 miles total , it will take around 2 hours ) Finally it is time to drive 2 more hours to an impresive jungle lodge near by Tena City and in front of Napo River.

DAY 6 JUNGLE EXPLORATIONS - FULL ADVENTURE Waking up with the noise of the jungle wildlife is something that is considered a welcome to the most diverse forest in world. After breakfast, we will take a motor canoe ride on Napo River visiting some villages like Misahualli known as The Monkeys Town (there is Capuchin Monkeys all over the place), then we will continue the canoe ride to Arajuno River, where you will visit the AMAZOONICO Rescue Center, where you can see some animals from the jungle such as parrots, parroquets, macaws, ocelots, snakes, caimans and a lot of different type of monkeys. Then, we will have a picnic lunch near the shore of Arajuno River. After lunch we will take a motor canoe ride enjoying the landscapes and nature, we will stop at Tiyu Yaku Kichwa Comunity, where you will see all about their way of living, ceramic and local cuisine. Finally, we go back to the hotel.

DAY 7 JUMANDY CAVERNS TOUR - TRANSPORTATION TO PAPALLACTA On this day, we will depart early towards Archidona Town where at the food market you will try the famous ChontaCuro or Jungle Prawns, to get enough energy to visit The Jungle Caverns. The Caverns are located near by this town, this ones were natural created by millons of years and a lot of water filtered from the surface. This tour under the Caves takes approx. 1 hour and you have to be ready to get all wet and admire those impresive stalactites. Then, you will enjoy a typical lunch near by the place, after this we will drive to Papallacta village for relax and enjoy the rest of the afternoon admiring the landscapes or having a massage at the Resort SPA. Briefing and overnight.

DAY 8 RELAXING DAY AT PAPALLACTA - TRANSFER OUT INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT Today is your last day in Ecuador with us, so you can choose besides taking a free morning to relax at the resort pool or SPA, or take a very nice hike around the area . In both cases the check out Time is at 1:00 pm, then we will drive to Quito's International Airport for your flight back home. 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.