Welcome to Quito! The biggest, best-preserved colonial city of America was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. The city is considered the Cultural Capital of South America and the second most important city of the old Inca Empire. Depending on your arrival time, you can spend your day exploring the old town of Quito and the surrounding area. Adventure Journeys can help you to organize a day trip. In the evening, one of our trip leaders will meet you at the hotel for a welcome briefing and there will be plenty of time to discuss details and answer any questions you may have regarding the adventure. Our first day is an informational and acclimation day.

Cotopaxi snow-capped volcano is our main goal today. After breakfast, we will drive through the Andes enjoying magnificent views of the Avenue of Volcanoes. Once we reach the Cotopaxi National Park, we will have our first acclimation hike around Limpiopungo Lake at 13000 ft (3800 mt) above sea level and see wild horses, wild bulls and some bird species. From here you can enjoy a spectacular view of the Cotopaxi volcano, one of the world’s highest volcanoes.

In the afternoon we will get a transfer to the town of Baños, which is located at the entrance of the Amazon. Here we can enjoy the best night life by drinking cocktails and dancing Salsa.

This morning, we mountain biking from the Llanganates National Park down to the Pastaza River Canyon, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the cloud forest. The road brings us through some Andean farms and a beautiful canyon with many waterfalls. While descending into the jungle, we will have a breathtaking view of Baños, very well known for its spectacular location right on the foothills of the Tungurahua volcano, active since 1999, which is the main attraction of this region. At the end of our biking experience we will hike down for 20 minutes to see ¨Pailon Del Diablo¨, the second largest waterfall in Ecuador.

In the afternoon, we will continue our journey to the Amazon rainforest to visit a small village called Misahualli, or ¨monkey town¨, an amazing place where monkeys have adapted to live together with people, and we finally head to an eco-lodge to spend the night.

We greet the day by preparing our gear to paddle the wild waves of the Jatunyacu River, located one hour away from the entrance of the Llanganates National Park. The beauty of this river will inspire you and reveal the magic of the Amazon rainforest. After a very important safety briefing from our rafting guides, we will start our class III rafting expedition down the Jatunyacu River, well known for its clean water and awesome rapids. We will have a lot of fun playing some games and also exploring one of the canyons. The end of the journey offers us a stop for a picnic, prepared by our guides. We conclude our day with a drive back up to the Andes, stopping to visit the paradise of hummingbirds in Guango Reserve and finally continuing up to the volcanic hot springs resort, where we will spend the night.

In the morning, we will put rubber boots on to explore the magic of the thick cloud forest, enjoying a 3 hour hike during which you will have plenty of opportunities to see an incredible diversity of birdlife, including toucans, hummingbirds, jays, hawks, parrots, quetzals, cook of the rock, etc. Flowers are abounding in this region, so have the cameras ready for photos of orchids, bromeliads, ferns, etc.

After the hike, we will soak in the volcanic hot springs at the Papallacta Spa Resort, enjoying the view of the majestic Andean mountains. Later on, we will transfer back to Quito. In the evening, one of our trip leaders will meet you for a welcome briefing and there will be plenty of time to discuss details and answer any questions you may have regarding your Galapagos adventure.

Today we get ready to explore the most amazing archipelago in the Pacific coast and the place where Charles Darwin based his theory of the evolution of species. We boarded a morning flight from Quito to the island of San Cristóbal. Once we arrive, we will have a transfer to the hotel in the town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and a short briefing about the next days, before the adventure begins.

In the afternoon we head to “La Loberia”, which is the home beach for large Galapagos sea lions. We can spot them launching over rocks or just lazy dozing in the sand. We also get to see yellow warbler birds, frigate birds, and several species of Darwin finches along the beach. In between the rocks we can find marine iguanas, which you can only see in Galapagos. We also have the time to go for a refreshing swim, explore the waters with our snorkel equipment and enjoy the beach.

In the morning, we will take a boat to Kicker Rock, located off the coast of San Cristóbal, also known as the Sleeping Lion (Leon Dormido) because of some resemblance. This is the remains of a lava cone eroded by the sea, two vertical rocks rising 500 ft (150 m) above the ocean form a small channel that is navigable by small boats. This Galapagos Island’s natural monument has become a spectacular site due to the many tropical birds, frigate birds and boobies that fill the sky in this area. Beneath the sea, the crystal waters offer a brilliant show of colorful fish, such as rainbow fish and sharks, like the hammerhead and white tip. After lunch, we will spend some time on the beach and travel back to the hotel.

After driving up from Puerto Villamil to the trailhead, we will prepare our backpacks and hike into a young forest ecosystem, a world of recent geological history. Our destination is the rim of Sierra Negra Crater, an active volcano which last erupted in October 2005. Upon arrival, we take breathtaking views and explore the circumference of the massive, lava-filled crater, over six miles across at its widest point. If we feel energetic enough, we can continue our hike to Volcan Chico, a secondary crater that has a wild landscape of puffing fumaroles and colorful lava formations, great examples of the dramatic geological events that have forged the Galapagos Islands over millennia.

In the afternoon, we return to Puerto Villamil and we go kayaking in Tintoreras to watch sea lions, penguins, turtles and marine iguanas.

Today, we explore the amazing formations of lava created by the last eruptions of the Volcanic Island along the seashore. This magical place has been used by the staff of BBC /National Geographic for their documentaries. It is a labyrinth of lava arches inside the breakers with crystal clear water full of huge sea turtles, eagle rays, sea lions, fish, white tipped reef sharks and more. Turtles navigate their own highway from the mangroves to the open sea through “Los Tuneles”. Over here, we will have the best snorkeling opportunity with all these beautiful animals, including the curious Galapagos penguin playing around.

Before or after the trip, you can enjoy some optional activities such as snorkeling at “Concha de Perla” or just relax on the exotic white-sand beaches of Isabela Island. We recommend you to take some time to visit the giant tortoise breeding center.

In the morning we will embark on a fast boat from Isabela to Santa Cruz Island. Once we arrive, we will check in at the hotel. We will have time to visit the Charles Darwin Research Station to learn more about many of the endemic species we met during our adventure, as well as the ongoing conservation and management efforts on the Galapagos Islands. In the afternoon, we will head to the ‘El Chato’ Reserve in the highlands of Santa Cruz, home to the famous Galapagos tortoise. Hiking through El Chato’s beautiful scenery with those lumbering giants is an unforgettable experience! We also see other highland wildlife such as pintail ducks, egrets, flycatchers and finches on our hike. We can also observe frigatebirds which gather to wash the salt off their feathers at a freshwater lake.

We return to Puerto Ayora to spend the evening in Galapagos’ most populous town.

Today, you can experience the Galapagos at your pace! As an option, you can go on a self-guided exploration walk through a dry forest to Tortuga Bay (about 3 ½ miles long), a beautiful white sand beach and nesting side to thousands of marine turtles. This beautiful place invites swimming or snorkeling. Alternatively, you can join any of the optional activities (at an extra cost), such as a trip to Floreana Island, Bartolome Island or a scuba-diving day trip, just to mention a few.

After our final breakfast on the Galapagos Island and the last photos taken of sea lions, we will have a transfer to Baltra’s airport in time to catch the flight back to the mainland.

Today our trip will end and you will have your International departures. Take with you your memories and photos and leave a piece of your heart, as you will want to return to Ecuador soon to experience more of this enchanted land. We wish you a “buen viaje”!