15 Days Classic Highlights Ecuador and Galapagos Islands

15 Days Classic Highlights Ecuador and Galapagos Islands

This Ecuador complete classic tour will show you all the highlights of this so diverse country. During this 15 day tour, you will visit the 3 main regions of Ecuador: the Andes, the Amazon and the Galapagos. In the Andes you will visit the highlights from the nature, the culture and the colonial history. In the Amazon you will try to spot as many animals as possible and you can even visit a local tribe! At the Galapagos Islands you can enjoy the white beach and the blue waters, while seeing sea lions, flamingos, iguanas, many special birds and many tropical fish!

Itinerary

Day 1: ARRIVAL

Stop At: Quito Old Town, Quito Ecuador
At arrival at Quito airport, you will have a transfer to your hotel.

Duration: 1 hour

No meals included on this day.
Accommodation included: Hotel Casa Aliso or similar

Day 2: CITY TOUR QUITO – EQUATOR LINE – PULULAHUA CRATER

Stop At: Quito Old Town, Quito Ecuador
Today your Ecuador complete tour will start! In the morning, you will be picked up at your hotel, to start your Quito city tour. At first, you will go to the Panecillo Hill, with the famous Virgin of the Apocalypse statue, inspired in the original Bernardo de Legarda sculpture from the Colonial Art School of Quito. You will have an amazing view over the city. Then you will visit all the highlights: the la Basilica church, the main squares and the San Francisco church. After a typical Ecuadorian lunch, you will go to the Middle of the World Museum called Intiñan. Here you can do experiments, to prove the effects the equator has on gravity. After this, you will also visit the Pululahua crater before going back to Quito.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
Accommodation included: Hotel Casa Aliso or similar

Day 3: QUITO – TENA

Stop At: Tena, Ecuador
You have the morning off to visit for example the Teleferico (cable car), the Guayasamin Art Museum or other highlights of Quito. At 4:00 PM semi-private transportation will pick you up to go to your lodge in Tena, Suchipakari Lodge or similar. After a long drive (3-4 hours from Quito) you can relax in the beautiful and spacious common areas of the lodge. The lodge is built in a rustic native design, surrounded by gardens with colorful and big jungle plants and flowers. Later a delicious dinner will be served in a romantic candlelight-setting at the restaurant. Afterwards you can enjoy a special welcome drink and a relaxing chat with the administrator to coordinate and discuss next day’s activities.
Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Suchipakari Amazon Lodge or similar

Day 4: “AMAZOONICO” RESCUE CENTRE – QUICHUA FAMILY VISIT – CHOCO MAKING

Stop At: Tena, Ecuador
After breakfast you will go to Misahualli where you stop to have a check by the marine police (don’t forget your passport). From there you will go further into the jungle to arrive at Rio Arajuno. Here you visit the AmaZOOnico Rescue Centre for animals. This is a center specialized in rescuing wild animals for conservation and reintegration into their natural habitat. On the way to the lodge you visit an indigenous community, where you will get to know a local Quichua family. They will show their ancient customs. After this interesting introduction in the Quichua culture, you go back to the lodge. In the lodge you join a workshop on the process of how to make Artisan chocolate and you will taste it with delicious fruits. At 08:00 PM you will have dinner at the lodge.
Duration: 10 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Suchipakari Amazon lodge or similar

Day 5: “LATAS” FALLS – JUNGLE TREKKING PRIMARY AND SECONDARY FOREST

Stop At: Tena, Ecuador
After breakfast you go by canoe upriver and after about 10 minutes you arrive at the banks of the Napo river where you start to have an entertaining walk of about 40 minutes, observing the flora and fauna of secondary forest. At the end of the journey you arrive at a breathtaking waterfall: “La Cascada de Latas”. You can have a refreshing bath in its clear crystal waters and you can enjoy the surrounding views. For lunch you go back to the Lodge. In the afternoon you go on another hike in the secondary forest where you can find several species of medicinal plants and insects of all kinds. With a bit of luck you can see monkeys in the trees and lots of birds. After dinner in the lodge you will have time to sit at the campfire.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Suchipakari Amazon lodge or similar

Day 6: RETURN TO QUITO

Stop At: Quito Old Town, Quito Ecuador
After breakfast you go back to Quito in private transportation with a Spanish speaking driver.

Duration: 5 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Hotel Casa Aliso or similar

Day 7: OTAVALO PRIVATE TOUR

Stop At: Otavalo Market, Plaza de los Ponchos, Otavalo 100450 Ecuador
At 08:00 AM the guide picks you up at your hotel and you will go to Otavalo. First you make a stop at Lago San Pablo to enjoy the delicious local Cayambe biscuits. From there you go to the Condor Rescue Centre to enjoy a flight show of the Ecuadorian raptors. Please note that the Condor Rescue Centre is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. If it is closed you will make an extra stop in Cotocachi leathertown. Before lunch you will visit the Otavalo Poncho Market (biggest on Saturdays). You will have lunch at a local restaurant and in the afternoon you visit the Peguche Waterfall where you do small hike of about an hour. After this activity you go back to Quito.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
Accommodation included: Hotel Casa Aliso or similar

Day 8: QUITO – BALTRA – SANTA CRUZ HIGHLANDS

Stop At: Santa Cruz Island, Ecuador
Early in the morning you fly from Quito to the Island of Baltra. At the airport in Baltra, you will meet up with the English speaking guide, who will take you to the port of Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz Island) but before you get there you stop at one of the ranches in the highlands to visit to giant tortoises in their natural habitat. You will walk around and take some pictures of these amazing animals before getting to the village.

Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
Accommodation included: Hotel Silberstein or similar

Day 9: SANTA FE

Stop At: Santa Fe Island, Ecuador
After breakfast you will travel to Santa Fe Island which is also called Barrington Island after Admiral Samuel Barrington, is a small island of 24 km² which lies in the center of the Galapagos archipelago. Geologically, it is one of the oldest islands in the archipelago, since volcanic rocks from about 4 million years old have been found here. After a 45 minute boat ride, you will arrive to the bay of Santa Fe. There you will have a very nice snorkeling activity, if you are lucky, you can spot some birds on the rocks. After snorkeling, you will go to Playa Escondida or Garrapatero in Santa Cruz island and have a wet landing there, where you will have approximately 1 hour to discover the beach and after you go back on board and you will have your lunch.
* Wet landing: It means that the boat gets close to the beach and from there you will disembark in the see, it is recommended that you bring extra clothing, as you might get wet.

Duration: 7 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
Accommodation included: Hotel Silberstein or similar

Day 10: CHARLES DARWIN RESEARCH STATION (OPTIONAL) – ISABELA

Stop At: Isabela Island, Galapagos, 010850 Ecuador
In the morning you have time to visit the Charles Darwin Station or Tortuga Bay by yourself. At 2 PM you will take the public speedboat to Isabela (about 3 hours). Upon arrival, you will head to the Flamingo Lagoon, which is the largest coastal lagoon found in the Galapagos and is one of the main reproductive sites for the grand majority of flamingos.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Hotel San Vicente or similar

Day 11: TINTORERAS AND WETLANDS

Stop At: Las Tintoreras, Puerto Villamil Ecuador
Early in the morning after breakfast you will have a tour to The Wetlands, here you will visit the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center, where you will spot small and giant tortoises in their natural habitat. The next activity is a visit to The Wall of Tears.
* Please have in mind that the total length of the walk in The Wetlands area is approximately 3 to 4 hours.

After lunch you will have a little break and then you will visit Tintoreras Islet. It is called like this due to a large crack, in which white-tip sharks known as Tintoreras come daily to rest at the bottom. You will go to the pier of Puerto Villamil, here you will board a boat for 10 minutes to cross to the islet which is located across the bay. It will be necessary for passengers to use walking shoes or sneakers (closed shoes) to cross the volcanic rocks. You can also observe penguins, sea lions, marine iguanas and you can go snorkeling with colorful tropical fish while enjoying the beaches of Isabela.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
Accommodation included: Hotel San Vicente or similar

Day 12: SNORKELING IN LOS TUNELES

Stop At: Los Tuneles, SE Isabela Island Nr. La Union Rock, Puerto Villamil 200250 Ecuador
Early in the morning, you will go on boat ride from Puerto Villamil. The max group size is 10 participants per guide. You will explore the brilliant scenery in Los Tuneles which is considered the most beautiful place to snorkel in Isabela Island. This exciting activity takes approximately about 6 hours including the boat rides and a snack before a short hike. The departure time is between 07:00 AM and 11:30 AM and depends on availability and National Park regulations. So, depending on when you will go to Los Tuneles, you can choose to explore Concha Perla by yourself before or after this, since it is very close to the dock. If you would like to do the optional snorkeling there, you can get the snorkel equipment from your hotel and get to chance to spot even more animals.
Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch: Snack provided
Accommodation included: Hotel San Vicente or similar

Day 13: BALTRA – QUITO

Stop At: Quito Old Town, Quito Ecuador
Early in the morning, at 6 AM, you will take the public speedboat back to Puerto Ayora. From here you will go by taxi to Baltra airport, from where you will depart to Quito.
Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Hotel Casa Aliso or similar

Day 14: PAPALLACTA HOT SPRINGS

Stop At: Termas de Papallacta, Km. 65 vía Quito - Baeza, Papallacta 150753 Ecuador
After breakfast at 08:00 AM our guide will pick you up at your hotel in Quito to go to the Papallacta Hot Springs. On the way you will pass through the highest point in an Andean Road reaching 4000 meters above sea level and if the weather is good you can see the amazing Antisana volcano. You will hike about one hour around a river where you can discover Andean flora and fauna (3.500 m). After that you have time to enjoy the Papallacta Hot Springs. You will have lunch in a local restaurant and drive back to Quito. It’s possible to make a stop at the Mercado Artesanal to do some extra shopping before you go home the next day.
Duration: 6 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
Accommodation included: Hotel Casa Aliso or similar

Day 15: AIRPORT TRANSFER

Stop At: Layover Stay Quito Mariscal Sucre Airport, Nuevo Aeropuerto Internacional de Quito Tababela S/N Aeropuerto Mariscal Sucre, Quito 170150 Ecuador
Today you will have a transfer back to Quito airport.

Duration: 30 minutes

Meals included:
• Breakfast
No accommodation included on this day.