The Otavalo market is South-America’s most famous Indian fair. We get an early departure from Quito through dramatic mountain scenery northwards. You will have ample time to stroll along the narrow cobblestone streets filled with Otavalo Indigenous people wearing blue ponchos, white trousers and long braided hair and to explore their handicraft market, with its wonderful textiles, native paintings, ceramics, jewelry, tapestries and more at bargain prices. Continuing the trip, we will go to Cotacachi, which is famous for its leather articles.

Then we will first visit Cotacachi Cayapas ecological reserve to see the breath taking scenery of the crystalline-clear waters of this active volcano and the amazing surrounding landscapes. We will enjoy 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.

Hands on cultural experience – AJ Sustainable Sacha WarmiKuna women project

For lunch, we will head to Pijal, a small village located in the heart of the Andes to visit one of the AJ sustainable projects called Sacha WarmiKuna (women from the mountain). This is one fantastic effort developed by AJ and the local women with the main purpose to support their families and encourage the position of the women in the local society, providing them an alternative side work beside housekeeping, as a new option for an in-come. Once at the project you will experience an unforgettable cultural encounter, immersing yourself in the true spirit of the South-American woman and their skills for textiles and a deep culinary knowledge coming from the past generations. You will be part of the preparation of “Aji”, a local spicy salsa which is part of their identity, you will also share precious time with them and a tasty traditional lunch in which local women have used the fresh products harvested the same day from the surrounding organic fields. Later we will learn more about the weaving process of their textiles.

Don’t miss the amazing opportunity to have the chance to give back, by buying handmade scarfs here.

Today we will visit a true paradise on earth for those who love the wildlife, Ecuador has so many unique species but one of the most amazing ones is the spectacled bear with his calm nature and amazing way of living. The canyon where we will be looking for this animal, is the only place where the human was able to finally understand the behavior of the spectacled bear, there are 45 bears that migrate from this canyon to the Cayambe-Coca reservation.

We will head to this bear sanctuary very early in the morning to make the most of the day, once we arrive we will start our search for this magnificent animal; the first stop are the viewpoints located around the sanctuary, this is the place to start since the bear is not very active in the morning because of the heat and as they have a thick fur, they are looking for shadow in the threes, this first sighting will be around 400 meters.

After lunch we will go down the valley, where the canyon is already providing with shadow to the bears and they start to move around, we will have to be quite and have patience, but it will be so worth it once we came across of what we are looking for, the once in a life opportunity of take pictures of the spectacle bear up to 60 meters.

After this we will head to a homestay where we will enjoy our dinner and rest.