Welcome to Quito! The biggest, best-preserved colonial city in 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.

After breakfast, we leave Quito driving southwards along the beautiful Avenue of Volcanoes, while getting the chance to see the colorful Andean fields. On our way we will reach 12,000 feet. After arriving at the Cotopaxi National Park, we will go hiking around Limpiopungo lagoon of the foothills of the Ruminñahui volcano, From here we will have the best views of the Cotopaxi Volcano, which is the highest active volcano in the world.

In the afternoon we will continue our drive towards the Llanganates National Park, which is known as the sacred mountain, until we reach the town of Baños, 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. This town is 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. In the afternoon we will have some time to explore the town and then we will enjoy the best nightlife.

This morning we will hit the road of the waterfalls. The first stop will be at the Bride’s Veil waterfall, where we will take the Tarabita (cable car) to get across the Pastaza River. Then we will hike down to the Pailon del Diablo waterfall, the second highest in Ecuador. Later, we will go deeper into the jungle inside the Llanganates National Park. The name “llanganates’ ‘ comes from the local native language and means “beautiful mountain”. 600 years ago, the Incas hid here their golden treasure. Explorers spent many years looking for this treasure, but some of it has disappeared in this thick pristine jungle.

During a 3-hour hike through the tropical jungle, we will climb along several white-water waterfalls. This is a humid and warm area which will make our experience even more demanding, so get ready to wear your rubber boots and enjoy the magnificence of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Our local native guide will tell us about the incredible nature and wildlife we will see. We will spend the night at the Local Basic Jungle Lodge.

We will 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 will 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.

Today our challenge will be a 5-hour hike around the Cuicocha crater lake, with breathtaking views of the active volcano and of the amazing valleys located in Cotacachi-Cayapas ecological reserve. On this trek, we will reach an altitude of 11880 ft and hike 9 miles around the crater.

At the end of our hike, we will take a boat ride to the center of the crater to observe the activity of this volcano, watching bubbles coming up from the center of the caldera. In the afternoon we will drive back to Quito. 

Morning City Tour of Colonial Quito UNESCO old town and Free afternoon to explore Quito or take an optional day tour. ADVENTURE JOURNEYS can help you to organize a day trip or city tour.
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 your Galapagos adventure.

Today we will 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 will board 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 Moreno and a short briefing about the next few days, before the adventure begins.

In the afternoon we will 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 will 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 will also have 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 speed boat to Kicker Rock, also known as the Sleeping Lion (Leon Dormido) because of its resemblance. This site is located off the coast of San Cristobal. The remains of a lava cone eroded by the sea, two vertical rocks rising 500 feet above the ocean, form a small channel that is navigable by small boats. This Galapagos Islands natural monument has become a favorite sight due to the many tropicbirds, frigate birds and boobies that fill the sky in this area. Beneath the sea, the crystal waters offer a brilliant show of colorful tropical fish, such as rainbow fish, and sharks, like hammerhead-, reef- and white tip sharks. After lunch, we visited Cerro Brujo beach. This appropriately named island is ripe with noisy, frolicking, jolly sea lions who will welcome us to their home with open fins. This island also offers great snorkeling opportunities as well as the chance to see blue-footed and Nazca boobies.

In the morning, we will take a short flight to Isabela Island, the largest island in the archipelago and the place where the most volcanic activity in the Galapagos is reported.

The island is formed by six shield volcanoes, Alcedo, Cerra Azul, Darwin, Ecuador, Sierra Negra and Wolf, five of them still active, and therefore the island is one of the most volcanically active places on earth.

In the afternoon, we will head out on our mountain bikes to explore the beautiful coastline on an exclusive trail, taking us through an incredible ecosystem with a wide variety of wildlife. We will start with a visit to the Wall of Tears, a massive wall built with lava rocks. This site dates back to the ’50s, when Isabela was used as a penal colony and prisoners were forced to build the wall to keep them from going mad, because of the isolation they experienced.

As we continue our ride along the coast, we explore pristine, white sand beaches, mangrove forests and lagoons. This area is filled with birdlife, including American oystercatchers, herons, flamingos, finches and many shore birds, as well as the ubiquitous sea lions and marine iguanas.

After dinner we can enjoy a breathtaking sunset on the beach of Puerto Villamil.

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. These are great examples of the dramatic geological events that have forged the Galapagos Islands over millennia.

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

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, which is 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 will return to Puerto Ayora to spend the evening in Galapagos’ most populous town.

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”!