Difficulty Information
This tour is classified as Category C.
The difficulty of our travels varies greatly. In addition to this there is the fact that difficulty is a very personal perception. To give an impression of the difficulty of a particular holiday we have developed a classification system.
Category A: Easy travel, suitable for everyone. Short distances, good hotels, and low travelling speed.
Category B: Feasible for anyone who prepares for the trip. Sometimes longer distances, good hotels or camping facilities, some adventure nights, average travelling speed.
Category C: Feasible for anyone who is well-prepared and flexible, but some parts of the journey are difficult, distances may be long or require a day’s walk, there may be some basic facilities.
Category D: Reasonably difficult trip because of long travel distances, often-primitive facilities or tents, long walks.
Category E: Difficult journey. The traveller knows him/herself and is well prepared, he or she realises that the holiday can be demanding.
The Ecuador tour falls into Category C. Any reasonably fit person can make this journey. There are quite some days with long hours of travelling, sometimes on bad roads. Keep in mind the journeys will pass through developing countries, with a much lower standard of living than you are used to at home. It is possible the weather or a lack of proper road maintenance causes a road to be inaccessible and we will have to take an alternative route. This makes a flexible and positive attitude more important than physical fitness.
Nature of the trip
Ecuador is the most relaxed country in the South American Andes. The journey takes us along snow-capped volcanoes, through valleys you can view from the roof of a train and along Indian villages where time has come to a halt. We spend the nights in attractive local hotels. You will alternate between the heights of the Andes and the steaming jungles of the Amazonian region, where our journey takes us on a jungle tour. You will visit the country’s largest and most colourful markets and you will stay on the coast, where you can enjoy marvellous beaches, islands teeming with birds and splendid nature areas. If you want, you can extend your trip to visit the world-renowned Galàpagos islands.
Day-to-day schedule
Day 1 -
2: Quito
The tour starts at noon in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. The city is situated at a (literally) breath-taking height of 2850 metres, surrounded by impressive Andes peaks. It lies at the foot of the Pichincha volcano, which has two peaks that tower above the city of Quito: Rucu Pichincha of 4700m and Guagua Pichincha, an active peak of 4794m. You will need time to adjust to the thin air, so make sure you take it easy. We will stay in the newer part of Quito, near the Avenida Amazonas. This area is home to most of the exchange agencies, restaurants, bookshops, internet cafes, bars and other places to go out. The atmosphere is relaxed and easy-going.
Day 3 -
5: Quito - Papallacta - Tena
Today we will travel through the Amazonian rainforest. Be prepared for a long day of travelling through varied landscapes. You will cross a pass at 4060m. On the way you will visit Papallacta, where you should have time to enjoy the lovely hot springs.
After lunch we drive to Tena along a bumpy road to the jungle lodge. The beautiful green jungles surround the charming lodge. There is no electricity in the bungalows and the social areas, but if you need to charge an electronic device, there’s a working generator at your service and in the evening you can sit in the restaurant and listen to the night sounds of the jungle in candlelight or with an oil lamp. You will stay here for two nights.
The lodge is the departure point for all the jungle tours. During the walks through the jungle you will explore the abundant vegetation of the tropical rainforest. The guide will point out medicinal plants, trees and exotic flowers. There are plenty of options for walks in the nearby Selva Vida reserve (a protected part of the rainforest). The walks are organised in consultation with the jungle guide, the travel guide and the group, and will be taken by the whole group. In this reserve, you can visit AmaZOOnico, a shelter for jungle animals. You will find many native species, including monkeys, toucan, agoutis, snakes, alligator and tapir. Other optional activities are a visit to a Quichua community, to see demonstrations of the use of a blowpipe and the making of the local drink ‘chicha’, as well as the making of handcrafts; you will also hear stories about the other customs and traditions of the Quichua jungle Indians. They can tell you a lot about medicinal plants and their uses, and about the animals of the rainforest. Other options include going for a swim in the Napo River or search for gold on its shores. You can also choose to go on a night walk through the rainforest.
Day 6 -
7: Tena - Otavalo
We will drive to the attractive Indian town of Otavalo. The mostly Indian population of Otavalo is dressed in artfully woven traditional costumes, which you will also come across at the market. The women wear richly embroidered blouses and gold-coloured necklaces, while the men are dressed in white with blue ponchos. Some of the men have now changed over to jeans; however, they have kept the traditional hair dress: a long black ponytail or braid under a black hat. Thanks to their talent for trade and travel, the Otalaveños are the most well to do Indian tribe in Ecuador. The musicians playing Andes music out on the streets of European cities almost all come from Otavalo. The Otalaveños are also renowned for their weaving craft. At the Plaza de Ponchos, the central square, you can buy woven tapestries, hammocks, jumpers and of course ponchos. On a Saturday, a famous and lively market is held throughout the city, it’s an ideal place to buy some pretty souvenirs. Don’t forget to look around the livestock market in the early morning.
Around Otavalo you can go horse riding, walking, mountain biking and rafting. Lago San Pablo, a long lake just south of town, and the Peguche waterfall are also great destinations for a walk or a bicycling trip. Other possible excursions include a visit to the surrounding villages of Cuicocha, Cotocachi and San Antonio de Ibarra. These villages are known for their excellent textile, leather and woodcarving crafts, and the scenery of volcanoes and lakes is of outstanding beauty. In a few hours you can walk around the Cuicocha Crater Lake.
Day 8: Otavalo - Quito
After a visit to the Saturday market, we will drive back to Quito in two hours. Here, you can enjoy a meal in one of the many restaurants and go out to explore the nightlife.
Day 9 -
11: Quito - Cotopaxi - Baños
On the way from Quito to Baños we will visit the Cotopaxi National Park, the site of the highest active volcano in the world (5897m), where you can take great pictures, if the weather allows it. Then we will continue our journey to Baños, a town that got its name from the many existing hot springs in the area.
Baños is situated on a splendid spot at the foot of the Tungurahua volcano surrounded by woody hills and waterfalls. It lies at a height of only 1800m to the east of the Andes range. The relaxed atmosphere and the temperate subtropical climate make it the perfect place to spend a couple of leisurely days. You will spend the night in a small hotel in the town centre, in the vicinity of attractive restaurants and bars.
The surroundings suggest beautiful trips – on foot, on horseback or by mountain bike. You could go on a bicycle trip that incorporates a number of impressive waterfalls to the village of Rio Verde. Just outside Baños is a small zoo, where you can see the Andes condor, Galàpagos turtle and tapir, among others. Thrill-seekers can go rafting. After all these excellent activities you can relax in the sulphurous thermal baths, from which Baños has taken its name. In the evening, you can choose from one of the many restaurants and go and listen to panpipe music in a peña or go dancing in a typical salsoteca.
Day 12: Baños – Chimborazo – Riobamba
This will be a long but exciting travelling day. You will visit the Chimborazo reserve, the site of Ecuador’s highest volcano, the Chimborazo (6310m). If the weather is fair, you can take marvellous pictures here. Those who are keen can climb the volcano, leaving from the coach parking space, to the Refugio Whymper mountain hut at 5000m, from where you have a magnificent view. Among the animals living in the reserve are vicuñas (a rare species of lama), fox, wolves and wild horses. This is a unique opportunity to go for a high altitude walk, a literally breathless experience! Finally, we will drive to the town of Riobamba, at the foot of the Chimborazo Volcano.
Day 13: Riobamba / Excursion Guamote
Today you can make an excursion to the wonderful local market of Guamote. The town of Guamote lies in the Andes mountains, approx. 240km south of Quito. It is the capital of the district of the same name, which with 9 other districts makes up the province of Chimborazo. Handsome Indigenas flock to the town on market days (Thursdays!) to offer their wares for sale – on foot or on horseback. The traditional costumes are a feast for the eye. A visit to this weekly market is a special experience. The colourfully dressed Indians come from the remote highlands to gather in the village livestock market where pigs, cows and horses are traded, there’s another part for vegetables and fruit, and another for all types of utensils.
Day 14 -
16: Riobamba – Cuenca
Today you have the option to travel from Riobamba to Alausi on the local train if Wednesday, Friday or Sunday, further in the direction of the area nicknamed the ‘Devil’s Nose’. If the weather is good, you can sit on the roof of the train wagon to enjoy the magnificent views. The conductor also comes up to inspect tickets, and sweet-sellers make their way between the passengers, groping for balance. You pass through fields and pastures where the hardworking population still wave a good-natured hello to the passengers on the train roof. It is a spectacular train ride, with the train criss-crossing through the rocky landscape, dotted with cactuses. At a snail’s pace, the train snakes its way through the Andes. The railway continues all the way to the coastal town of Guayaquil, but as a result of various natural disasters (including the phenomenon of “El Niño” in 1998, when the whole coastal plain of Ecuador was flooded), the best part of the railway has become impassable. The railway descends to the Devil’s Nose and slowly ascends to Alausí where a bus is waiting to take you to Cuenca over a stretch of the Panamericana Highway, badly in need of some maintenance. If we have time, we will pay a visit to Ingapirca, the best-preserved monument from the Inca era in Ecuador. The most remarkable sight of the whole complex is the ruin of the Sun Temple that the Incans built at the top of a hill to worship Inti, the sun god. In the evening, you will reach Cuenca.
Cuenca is the third city of Ecuador in size and after Quito is, without doubt, the second most beautiful historic city of Ecuador, nominated as Human Heritage Site, just like Quito. You will have a chance to explore the old colonial part of town at your leisure. On the cobbled streets of the city centre you will find stately houses with large patios, charming squares and a variety of churches and cathedrals. To Ecuadorian standards, the historic city centre of Cuenca has been restored exceptionally well. The city is rightly known as the cultural capital of Ecuador: there are a lot of galleries and museums. The most important museum is the Museo de Arte (Art Museum). The Inca ruins at the edge of town are not really worth seeing. Just beyond, you will find the museum of the Banco Central del Ecuador, which hosts, among other things, a good collection of pre-Columbian objects.
During your tour, you will come across lots of little shops selling crafts from the surrounding Indian villages. Apart from the jewellery and pottery, note the hats, which became known as ‘Panama hats’, which originate from here.
Day 17: Cuenca – Guayaquil
We will leave the Andes range behind us, to arrive in the tropical lowland of the Costa. We will stay in the town of Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city and port, with almost 2.6 million inhabitants. It is also the country’s economic heart. The lively and chaotic atmosphere is typical of the costeños, the coast-dwellers who live a more nocturnal life than the inhabitants of the highlands. Go for a walk along the renovated waterside Malecon 2000 or visit the colonial neighbourhood Las Peñas. In Parque Bolivar you will find a pleasant place to rest and look at the freely roaming iguanas. The new Parque Historico has various animal species found on the coast and an overview of the customs and traditions of the costeños.
Day 18 -
20: Guayaquil – Puerto Lopez
We will travel along the coast to the town of Puerto Lopez. Puerto Lopez is a pleasant fishermen’s town with pretty beaches. You can take an optional excursion to Isla de la Plata here, nicknamed Mini Galapagos. This uninhabited island is part of the Machalila National Park, and is home to the famous blue-footed booby, albatross and frigate bird. Alternatively, you can go on a ‘whale-watching’ excursion. From June to September, the humpback whales flock to the shallow coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to give birth to their young. If you are keen to be active, you can join a walking or horse-riding excursion to the mainland Machalilla National Park. Behind the bone-dry coastal strip lies a dry tropical forest, where various species of succulents and cactuses grow.
Day 21: Puerto Lopez - Quito
Today you will leave Puerto Lopez and travel back through Guayaquil to Quito.
You will then have some free time to leisurely explore the old city of Quito, with its narrow alleys, markets and baroque churches around the grand central square, the Plaza de Independencia. The long metropolis really consists of two cities, separated from each other by the parks named Alameda and El Ejido. South of these lies the historic city centre, with its characteristic plastered houses, narrow alleyways and richly decorated cathedrals from the colonial era. Among the most important are The Cathedral, on the Plaza de Independencia, the church and the monastery of San Francisco, the oldest church in Quito, La Compañia, one of the most beautiful and richest churches in the city, the Santo Domingo and the Basilica, the city’s youngest church. The last one is an impressive construction. Its construction began in 1926 and it still is not complete. Few people know that you can take an elevator to bring you high up in one of the church towers, for a magnificent view over the city! It is actually a good alternative for a trip to the El Panecillo hill, on the southern border of the old city. On this hill there is a statue of the Virgen of Quito, and it commands a grand view over the surrounding mountains. To go here, however, you do wise to take a taxi, as the walk to the top is not only tiring due to the altitude, but also a bit unsafe.
On the northern side of Ejido Park you will find the modern city centre. Its core is the busy boulevard of Avenida Amazonas, with lots of restaurants with outdoor seating and souvenir shops. Also, the neighbourhood around the Amazonas offers many shops and galleries and it is the centre of Quito’s nightlife. The city’s best museum is the Museo del Banco Central, offering a good exhibition of china objects, statues, an Indigenous mummified person and deformed skulls, as well as a number of gold ornaments such as splendid ancient pre-inca gold masks. A few scale models show scenes from life in Quito in the past, and its situation among the volcanoes. On the upper floors, there is an exhibition of period furniture, religious paintings and woodcarvings.
For daredevils, it is the thing to venture on the spectacular rafting trip in a dinghy down the rapids of the swirling Rio Toachi or the Rio Blanco. Another option is to take out a mountain bike for a ride on the steep sides of the Guagua Pichincha towards the misty forest. Or it may appeal to you to go for a walk on the crater of the now extinct Pululahua volcano, with its 4km easily the largest crater in South America. On the crater floor, some farms have been built, and in the middle of the crater there are some smaller volcanic formations: El Pondoña, El Chivo (the goat) and El Pan de Azucar (Sugar Loaf). There are many species of orchids and the place is swarming with colourful birds and butterflies. Or visit La Mitad del Mundo, the monument on the Equator where you can stand with one foot on the northern hemisphere and one on the southern. On this spot, a good 20km north of Quito, a French expedition led by Charles Marie de la Condamine determined the exact position of the Equator in 1736. You will also find an ethnographic museum with exhibits about the various Indian tribes of Ecuador, a planetarium and a highly realistic model of Quito in the colonial era.
Day 22: Quito - tour ends at noon
The tour ends at noon today in Quito, but rather than being about ‘Goodbye’ your thought should be ‘Go further’!
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