Amazing Ecuador Adventure Tour

Day 1: WELCOME TO ECUADOR
Welcome to Quito! Meet with your English-speaking guide/driver at the airport and transfer to the hotel.

Day 2: HORSEBACK RIDE IN COTOPAXI NATIONAL PARK
Explore the Ecuadorian Andes on a full-day guided horseback riding adventure with a certified guide from Quito. After a convenient hotel pickup, travel to Cotopaxi National Park, where you will receive a safety briefing before a horse is assigned.

Let your private guide tailor your tour according to your skill and experience level, and set out together on a three-hour drive up the slopes of the panoramic Cotopaxi volcano. Horses and equipment for riding and a menu lunch at a local hacienda inside the National Park are included. After horseback riding, a hike in the National Park is optional.

Day 3: HIKE IN QUILOTOA LAGOON
Go through the Avenue of the Volcanoes and pass through the Pujilí small town. You will also visit an indigenous local house from the “Paramos” to learn about their traditions and way of life. Enter their home, made of straw, and enjoy time interacting with them. After your visit, head to the town of Tigua, famous for its naive paintings.

Continue up to the Quilotoa volcano, where you can descend to the lake located inside the crater or walk around. You may enjoy an unforgettable experience by muleback riding or kayaking in the lake (not included). Get lunch and enjoy one of the most beautiful landscapes in the highlands, and continue our trip to Baños.

Day 4: BIKING IN BAÑOS
We will drive up high into the Llanganates National Park for a biking tour. Our first hour will be a nice, gradual uphill followed by two hours mostly downhill, giving you the chance to catch the breeze and enjoy the fresh Andean mountain air. The total descent is 5000 feet, and spectacular views of the Tungurahua Volcano. In the afternoon, we will go to the famous Casa de Arbol “swing at the end of the world. Dare to get a ride and fly high over the trees and into the clouds. Time permitting, there may be time for zip-lining options.

Day 5: CANYONEERING IN THE AMAZON BASIN
We will hit the road to 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. Hike through the tropical rainforest, and we will climb through several waterfall canyons. Our local guide will teach about the incredible flora and fauna that thrive in this unequaled habitat.

Day 6: RAFTING IN TENA
We start the day by preparing our gear to paddle the wild waves of the Jatunyacu River, one of the main tributaries of the Amazon River, originating from a glacier and springs fed by Cotopaxi Volcano.

The beauty of this river will inspire you and reveal the magic of the Amazon rainforest. After an important safety briefing from our rafting guides, we will start our class III rafting expedition down the Jatunyacu River, well known for its clear waters and awesome rapids. It is enjoyable for all ages, and no previous experience is needed. This is a big water run with constant roller-coaster waves (some reaching 5 meters in height), and each rapid ends in a calm pool
After a 40-minute drive, we arrive at Cando in the Llanganates National Park, where our adventure begins.

After gearing up and listening to a safety talk, we head downriver. Halfway through the trip, we stop at a beach near a Kichwa community. Here we enjoy a homemade lunch and the opportunity to exchange experiences.

Day 7: AMAZON INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY
We will start the day with a walk through the primary forest. We will go
out by canoe, and along the way, you can appreciate nature and a variety of birds.

We will explore the interior of the jungle, in the primary forest, where we will observe medicinal plants, utilitarian trees, as well as the fauna of the Amazon, with frogs, insects, etc. Afterwards, we will visit a local community. We will have an unforgettable cultural experience; we will share with members of the Kichwa community and learn from their wisdom to live in harmony with nature. We will also learn about the preparation of chicha, a traditional drink made from yucca.

We will delight ourselves with this ecological gastronomy and dance to the rhythm of their music. The rest of the afternoon is free. You can do extra activities, such as a ceramics workshop with the women’s community, where you can create your souvenir of this adventure, or you can take a night walk around the lodge to observe spiders, mantises, and many other insects and reptiles.

Day 8: DEPARTURE
Free time in the morning for extra activities such as cooking classes, tubing on the Arajuno River, or a chocolate workshop. Later, we will return to Quito.