Ecuador's Wildlife
Duration: 13 days
Highlights: Quito, Amazon Rainforest, Zuleta, Otavalo, Cotopaxi National Park.
An action-packed itinerary in Ecuador with fantastic opportunities for wildlife spotting in rainforest, cloudforest and volcanic national park.
Itinerary
Day 1 - Arrive Quito
Arrive in Quito this evening to begin your adventure. Transfer to your hotel.
Rich in history, Quito is the second highest capital city in the world, founded in 1534 by Spanish Conquistador Sebastian de Benalcazar. For nearly three centuries, the arts
and intellectual societies flourished under Spanish colonial rule until 1809, when Quito established the first self-governing junta in the colonies. Liberator Simon Bolivar led
the country as part of the Republic of Greater Colombia until 1830, when the Republic of Ecuador announced its independence with the adoption of the Constitution signed
in Riobamba. Due to the city’s preservation of its blended past, UNESCO declared Quito a World Heritage Site in 1978.
Overnight: Swissotel Quito
Day 2 - Quito
You will begin with a city tour of Colonial Quito, which will help you understand some of the reasons why Ecuador's capital has earned its honour as a world cultural site.
Marvel at the city’s ornate churches such as the Church of San Francisco, dedicated to Quito’s patron saint and rich in art treasures, fine woodcarvings and altars of gold
leaf. You will also visit La Compañía Church, a colonial jewel. This baroque masterpiece has an elaborate façade and a glittering interior created with seven tons of gold.
Lunch will be offered at a local restaurant and in the afternoon we invite the group to attend a lecture by Randy Borman.
Randy Borman has spent most of his life in the rainforest. He was born in Shell Ecuador in 1955. His parents were American missionaries who moved to Ecuador in the early
1950s to live with the Cofán. They learned the Cofán language and culture so that they could translate the Bible into the Cofán language. Raised as a Cofán, Randy spent
most of youth in the village of Dureno where most of the Cofán lived. Randy went to high school in Quito and attended a university in the United States for two years before
returning to his home in the Ecuadorian forest. Randy returned to find that roads had been bulldozed into the jungle, and where once only 500 Cofán lived there were 30,000
colonists. Randy travelled down river, deeper into the Amazonia, to establish a new hunting camp and home. Other Cofán families followed and a new village, Zabalo, was
founded. In part because of his leadership, strategic, and hunting skills, and in part because of his Western education, Randy is a Cofán leader, a proud nation of over 700
people trying to live with one foot in the old world and the other foot in the modern, Western world.
You will meet Randy Borman and hear about his personal experiences after a visit to the Mindalae Ethnographic Museum. This museum holds a complete exhibition of
handicrafts and home utensils elaborated in what is now Ecuador. The museum holds more than 700 pieces from different Indigenous peoples of Ecuador - ceramic, natural
fibers, musical instruments, fishing and hunting weapons.
This evening you will be transferred to the Casa de la Musica, where a very special performance of the SINAMUNE Foundation Orchestra will be arranged exclusively. This
organisation is run by an Ecuadorian musician who created a national system of music for disabled children. He has arranged a true orchestra that will delight you with the
masterpieces of classical composers as well as traditional Latin American music. Sit back and listen.
Overnight: Swissotel Quito
Meal Plan: B
Day 3 - Quito - Sacha Lodge
You will be transferred to the airport as your journey to the Amazon basin begins with a 45 minute flight over the Andes mountains from Quito, Ecuador’s capital, to the port
town of Puerto Francisco de Orellana.
Here a shaded motorised canoe awaits for a 50 mile, 2½ hour trip down the Napo River, a tributary of the Amazon itself. Upon arrival to our 5,000-acre private reserve, you
will take your first walk along a raised boardwalk through dense flooded palm forest where several species of monkeys are often sighted. The path leads to Pilchicocha Lake,
where dugout canoes await to cross you over to the Lodge.
After a welcome cocktail and orientation briefing, you will be shown to your comfortable rooms, which provide 24 hour electricity, private bathrooms with hot water showers,
ceiling fans and porches with hammocks overlooking the jungle. Later, there is usually time to take a walk, swim, bird watch or visit a small lookout with a scenic view of the
lake and cabins before sunset.
Overnight: Sacha Lodge
Meal Plan: B,D
Day 4 - Sacha Lodge
Guests will be divided into small groups for activities, which will be led by both a native guide with expert knowledge of the rainforest’s medicinal and other useful plants, and
a bilingual naturalist guide educated in the biology and ecology of the area. Each group can decide on its own wake-up and breakfast time, as well as the difficulty and
duration of their morning outings.
During the first morning you will follow trails through pristine terra firme forest, where 150 foot kapok trees tower above and roots form huge buttresses to give them support.
For the adventurous, it is also possible to follow a path along fallen tree trunks and a steel cable zip-line through rich swampland.
After lunch you may visit our butterfly farm, where you will be shown how these beautiful insects are bred and raised, and later be free to wander through “the flying room”,
where hundreds of colourful butterflies including spectacular blue morphs flutter from flower to flower. Later, paddle along an ancient oxbow lake hidden at the end of one of
our forest trails, where luxuriant lianas, bromeliads and palm trees thrive.
After dark, you may search for caiman (of the alligator family) on our lake, or take a walk to experience the jungle and its creatures after dark.
Overnight: Sacha Lodge
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Day 5 - Sacha Lodge
A must for all guests at Sacha Lodge is a visit to the 135 foot observation tower. Situated on a hill and constructed around a giant kapok tree for stability, this tower allows
you to climb into and above the rainforest canopy for a magnificent view of the surrounding area. Be it shortly after sunrise or before sunset, from the tower’s ample platform
it is possible to observe toucans, parrots, and dozens of other colorful bird species in the treetops. With some luck, noisy howler monkeys, foraging squirrel monkeys or the
gentle three-toed sloth may also be seen, especially with the aid of a powerful telescope provided by your guides.
The tower may be reached on foot via a half hour walk through terra firme forest, which is an easy way to get there at or before sunrise. However, no one can miss out on at
least a one-way trip to or from the tower along Orchid Creek, Pilchicocha Lake’s natural black water runoff to the Napo River. In a dugout canoe guests may follow this
winding stream through untamed palm forest for about an hour, a trip that many choose to repeat.
In the afternoon you make take some time to fish for the infamous razor-toothed piranha, and later follow strategically raised boardwalks through seasonally flooded forest
where walking on the ground would be nearly impossible during most of the year. Keep an eye out for the anacondas!
Overnight: Sacha Lodge
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Day 6 - Quito - Otavalo
After breakfast you will walk back out to the Napo River for the trip to Puerto Francisco de Orellana, and the flight to Quito.
Upon arrival in Quito you will be transferred to Otavalo for a two night stay at Hacienda Zuleta.
Overnight: Hacienda Zuleta
Meal Plan: B,L
Day 7 - Zuleta
Spend the day exploring Zuleta Hacienda. Built in 1691 it is the centerpiece of a 4,000 acre working farm that was once owned by two Ecuadorian presidents, and currently
belongs to their descendants. Besides the farming area, the family hacienda has a remarkably successful condor-recuperation and raising project, archaeological remains
from 800 AD, a dairy and cheese factory, an organic garden, a tree nursery, a trout farm and an embroidery workshop owned by the indigenous community that live and
work in the area.
Overnight: Hacienda Zuleta
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Day 8 - Zuleta
Spend the day with your guide exploring the area around Zuleta. Visit the nearby Caranqui pyramids, watch artisans at an embroidery workshop. Optional activities include
cooking classes, mountain biking and horseback riding (available at an additional cost).
Overnight: Hacienda Zuleta
Meal Plan: B,L,D
Day 9 - Otavalo - Quito
Today you will stop at the famous indigenous market in Otavalo. Your guide will encourage you to try the traditional bargaining for your purchases. You will also visit the fruit
and vegetable market.
Lunch will be offered at Hacienda Cusín, and you will be welcomed by a group of young Indian dancers who will perform traditional Andean dances for you.
Return to Quito in the afternoon.
Overnight: Swissotel Quito
Meal Plan: B,L
Day 10 - Cotopaxi National Park
Today you will experience an active visit to the Cotopaxi National Park. This is a high altitude nature and wildlife refuge established around the highest active volcano in the
world. It offers one of Ecuador's best mountain biking experiences as it crosses through a unique paramo ecosystem under stunning volcano scenery. A support vehicle, a
naturalist guide and high quality mountain biking equipment are included in this incredible volcano experience.
Depart from Quito driving south through the inter-Andean valleys until you reach the Cotopaxi National Park entrance. Explore the park looking out for wildlife while driving by
many volcanoes in the area such as Ilinizas, Sincholagua, Rumiñahui and Pasochoa. You will reach Limpiopungo Glacier Lake where you will jump on a mountain bike to ride
through spectacular highland plateaus while observing highland (paramo) vegetation and fauna, such as llamas, wild horses, ducks, gulls and even the magnificent Condor.
The ride is mostly downhill to compensate for the high altitude until you reach the Pucara Inca Ruins. Included: Private transportation, professional biking guide, quality
mountain bikes (Shimano Deore 27 speed, front suspension, disc brakes), gloves, helmets, lunch and snacks.
Return to Quito arriving in the afternoon.
• Travel time: 2 hours each way
• Riding time: 3 hours
• Season: All year
• Altitude: 3900 m to 3600 m
• Average temperature: Day 10-18°C/Night 5-9°C
Overnight: Swissotel Quito
Meal Plan: B,L
Day 11 - Quito
The cloudforest near Quito offer great options for moderate whitewater rafting in Class III to III+ rivers. These rivers are born high in the Andean volcanoes and thunder their
way westwards to the tropical rainforest of Ecuador's coast. The Toachi flows within a spectacular gorge with high lush-green walls. As you exit the gorge the Toachi merges
into the Blanco, where water flow increases to produce continuously exhilarating white-capped rapids. The combinations of these two rivers provide the best tropical water
rafting west of the Andes year-round.
Depart from Quito towards the coast at 7 am. You will descend on a dramatic mountain road through the Andes all the way down to 500 metre above sea level. After a
safety briefing youour whitewater adventure begins. Depending on water levels you will run up to 30 kilometres of the best whitewater west of the Andes. On your way you
will learn about the tropical ecosystem and be on the lookout for wildlife such as egrets, cormorants, kingfishers, and may also be able to see the southern river otter. Snacks
and a healthy river beach lunch will be served by your guides and support team. Return to Quito, arriving in the late afternoon.
Included: Private transportation, professional rafting equipment, personal safety gear, wholesome lunch and snacks, and American Canoe Association (ACA) certified raft
guides.
• Travel time: 2 to 3 hours each way from Quito
• Rafting time: 3-4 hours based on water levels
• Season: All year
• Altitude: 600m to 300m
• Average temperaure: Day 18-34°C
Overnight: Swissotel Quito
Meal Plan: B,L
Day 12 - Quito
After breakfast you will have a ‘behind the scenes’ visit to the studio and art collection of Mr. Osvaldo Viteri - one of the most outstanding and well known artists in
contemporary Ecuador. During his illustrious career he has taken part in more than 50 solo exhibitions and over 120 shared exhibitions, both within Ecuador and
internationally including London, Bonn, Venice, and numerous Latin American cities. In addition, Osvaldo is the owner of one of the largest private collections of colonial
religious art, and during the visit, not only will you tour these historic works from his collection, but also view his own working studio. Mrs. Viteri speaks perfect English, so she
is the hostess of this visit and she personally guides visitors around their home.
This afternoon you will have some time at leisure for last-minute shopping.
In the evening we offer you a farewell dinner at one of the best local restaurants in town, which can be enhanced with the performance of an opera singer or one of the best
guitar players in Ecuador – Mr. Luis Rameix.
Overnight: Swissotel Quito
Meal Plan: B,D
Day 13 - Depart Quito
This morning you are transferred to the airport for your flight home.
Meal Plan: B