Day 1: (✈) Arrival In Quito
Arrival at Quito International Airport.
Meeting and welcome by your English-speaking guide and transfer to your hotel.
Advantages of Latin Xplore:
- Delivery of your welcome kit
- Dinner on your own. Due to the time difference and late arrival, many passengers prefer to sleep directly after the snack provided by the airline.
- Early check -in option with extra charge for passengers who arrive earlier
Dinner on your own
Hotel accommodation
Driving time 38 km / 40 min – Altitude 2850 m
Services included: ☒ Transfer ☒ English-speaking guide ☒ Accommodation ☒ Welcome kit
Day 2: Quito: Colonial City – Middle Of The World – Otavalo
Breakfast at the hotel
Advantages of Latin Xplore:
- Go through a typical market
Departure to the historic center with your English-speaking guide. You will visit the unmissable sites of the largest colonial urban center in South America, witness to the indigenous, colonial, Inquisition and Republican eras.
Lunch on your own
Departure towards the north of the city, towards the town of Half the World, where the equinox line that divides the northern hemisphere from the southern hemisphere passes. Also visit the Intiñan Museum, an ethnographic and recreational museum that traces the history of Ecuador, from the French geodesic mission to the process of the shrunken heads of the Amazon.
Travel to the Great Lakes region, check -in at the hotel.
Dinner on your own
Hotel accommodation
Driving time 133 km/ 3h min – Altitude 2530 m
Services included: ☒ Transfer ☒ English-speaking guide ☒ Accommodation ☒ Entrance fees to visiting sites.
Day 3: North Region And Trip To The Amazon: Cuicocha – Peguche – Papallacta
Breakfast at the hotel
Visit the town of Otavalo and Lake Cuicocha, located in the heart of a crater that has collapsed in on itself. Stop in the town of Cotacachi, time to enjoy the shops of this town specialized in leather work.
Lunch on your own
Visit the town of Peguche and its sacred waterfall, then departure to the nearby Amazon with an overnight stay in the town of Papallacta.
Dinner on your own
Hotel accommodation
Driving time 172 km / 3h20 min in 3 trips – Altitude 3300 m
Services included: ☒ Transfer ☒ English -speaking guide ☒ Accommodation ☒ Entrance fees to visiting sites
Day 4: Papallacta: Nearby Amazon – Local Activities
Breakfast at the hotel
Advantages of LatinXplore:
-Depending on the category of lodge you choose (3* and 4*) the itinerary may vary a little.
Departure towards the Amazon, descent of the slopes of the Andes.
Arrival at La Punta Ahuano beach. Get off the bus for the short canoe ride to the Lodge. The objective of this day is to enjoy the Amazonian atmosphere and relax an afternoon by the pool offered by the Lodge.
Lunch included at the Lodge with stunning views of the Napo River, a tributary of the Amazon River
In the afternoon relaxation and exchanges. The Lodge also has an observation tower, a swimming pool, games and relaxation areas, and the possibility of massages.
Dinner included
Accommodation at the Lodge
Possibility of night walk to observe wildlife
Driving time 170 km/ 3h15 – Altitude 600 m
Services included: ☒ Transfer ☒ English-speaking guide ☒ Entrance fees to visiting sites ☒ Lunch and dinner ☒ Accommodation
Day 5: Amazon: Local Activities
For this second day in the Amazon, you will leave early in the morning to the Island of La Isla, to observe the endemic birds. Afterwards, return to the Lodge for the buffet breakfast.
Breakfast at the Lodge
The morning will be dedicated to a walk through the jungle with a native guide, accompanied by your English-speaking guide. An opportunity to observe the flora and fauna and learn about the medicinal plants and the way of life of the indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest.
lunch included at the Lodge
The afternoon will be dedicated to meetings, with the presentation of a community and its inhabitants. The principle is to share their way of life, with two highlights, the blowgun, a hunting weapon, and chocolate, extracted from their jungle plantations.
Dinner included
Accommodation at the Lodge
Canoe rides / 2 hours of walking – Altitude 600 m
Services included: ☒ Transfer ☒ English-speaking guide ☒ Lunch and dinner ☒ Accommodation ☒ Entrance fee to visiting sites
Day 6: Amazon – Yanacocha – Pailon Del Diablo Waterfall – Baños Town
Breakfast at the hotel
Transfer by canoe and then by bus, for a slow and gradual ascent to the Andes Mountains. This route is rich in contrasts, going from the heat and humidity of the Amazon to the intermediate vegetation located at an altitude of 1,820 m.
Yanacocha Animal Shelter, where you will discover many collected endemic species.
Continuing the ascent, after passing through long tunnels, you will discover on the so-called Cascade Route, a small river that is very agitated and at the end of its course. It ends its long descent into a deep hole, surrounded by basalt, and then falls again from a height of 80 meters. This wonder of nature is called Pailon del Diablo.
Free time to discover the different viewpoints.
Lunch on your own
You will continue this magnificent Waterfall Route with a stop at the tarabita that crosses the Pastaza River, to get closer to the waterfall called Manto de la Novia.
Your guide will show you the town so you can easily orient yourself during your stay in this small town.
Dinner on your own
Hotel accommodation
Travel time 160 km / 3 hours in 5 trips – Altitude 1820 m
Services included: ☒ Transfer ☒ English-speaking guide ☒ Accommodation ☒ Entrance fees to visiting sites.
Day 7: Baños – Chimborazo Volcano – Local Community – Riobamba
Breakfast at the hotel
LatinXplore "advantages"
- Local experience with the Palacio Real community
The ascent to the Andes Mountains continues, reaching the Chimborazo Volcano National Park and Fauna Reserve. You will be able to admire vicuñas and llamas on the way to the first shelter. This refuge is accessible by vehicle and is located at an altitude of 4,850 m.
Lunch on your own.
In the afternoon, your guide will explain their way of life, as well as their connection with the llama, its meat, its wool, and the representation of this animal in its ancestral culture.
At the end of the afternoon, return to the hotel in Riobamba.
Dinner on your own
Hotel accommodation
Driving time 142 km/ 3h – Altitude 2750 m
Services included: ☒ Transfer ☒ English-speaking guide ☒ Accommodation ☒ Entrance fees to visiting sites.
Day 8: Riobamba – Balbanera – Alausí – Ingapirca – Cuenca
Breakfast at the hotel
LatinXplore "advantages"
- Explore the archaeological site of Ingapirca
Visit what is recognized as the first Hispanic church in the country and discover the vegetable ivory, the Tagua. Continue to Pitishi Viewpoint, weather permitting, to admire and understand the Devil's Nose Railway. A true engineering feat of the time. It was here that the exchange of goods took place between the cultures of the Andes and those of sea level.
Arrival in Ingapirca, a small town in the mountains next to the Inca site of Ingapirca.
Lunch on your own
Guided tour of the site. Continuation towards the city of Cuenca.
Dinner on your own
Hotel accommodation
Travel time 274 km / 5h30 completed in 4 trips – Altitude 2560 m
Services included: ☒ Transfer ☒ English-speaking guide ☒ Accommodation ☒ Entrance fees to visiting sites
Day 9: Cuenca: City Tour
Breakfast at the hotel
LatinXplore "advantages"
- Enjoy the afternoon and evening freely, and the numerous gastronomic options in the city
Visit to a Panama hat factory, originally from Ecuador, and then a brief guided tour of the city.
Lunch on your own
Free afternoon to enjoy this beautiful city of English architecture, very pleasant and well organized for pedestrians. Your guide will remain at your disposal.
Diner on your own to enjoy the city's wide gastronomic offer
Hotel accommodation
Driving time 5 km / 20 min – Altitude 2560 m
Services included: ☒ Transfer ☒ English -speaking guide ☒ Accommodation ☒ Entrance fees to visiting sites
Day 10: Cuenca – El Cajas National Park – Guayaquil – City Tour
Breakfast at the hotel
LatinXplore "advantages"
-Visit the unique Cajas National Park with its paramo vegetation.
Passing and visiting the El Cajas National Park. Magical, wild, bewitching landscapes, with one of its majestic lagoons – La Toreadora.
Continuation to Guayaquil.
Lunch on your own
Panoramic tour of the city, with the Malecón, the Iguana Park, the Cathedral and the La Peñas neighborhood.
Dinner on your own
Hotel accommodation
Travel time 203 km/ 4h in 2 trips – Altitude 0 m
Services included: ☒ Transfer ☒ English-speaking guide ☒ Accommodation ☒ Entrance fees to visiting sites
Day 11: Guayaquil: Baltra (✈) / Arrival In Santa Cruz De Galapagos – Twin Craters And Turtle Ranch Excursion
Breakfast at the hotel
Your guide will accompany you to the airport for your departure to the Galapagos Islands.
Meet and greet your guide upon arrival at Baltra airport and then continue to the upper part of the island of Santa Cruz to discover the twin craters, volcanic formations caused by the sinking of the surface layers of the earth. Observation of flora and fauna. Continue with a visit to one of the local ranches with free-ranging giant tortoises. You will then pass through an end-to-end lava tunnel for a distance of 300m underground. The lava tunnels, splendid volcanic formations, show by their magnitude how these islands originate from large underwater volcanic eruptions.
Lunch on your own
Continuation to Puerto Ayora and check -in at the hotel.
Dinner on your own
Hotel accommodation
Flight time: 10 minutes by shared bus; 10 minutes by boat; 45 minutes by private bus.
Services included: ☒ Transfers ☒ English- speaking guide ☒ Accommodation ☒ Entrance to the Ranch
Day 12: Santa Cruz / Galapagos: Optional Excursion To Tortuga Bay And Charles Darwin Station
Breakfast at the hotel
Free day or optional activities.
Lunch on your own
Dinner on your own
Hotel accommodation
45 min walk – Altitude 0 m
Included services: ☒Accommodation
Day 13: Santa Cruz / Galápagos: 1/2 Day Tour To Franklin Bay
Breakfast at the hotel
Embark on a boat to observe blue-footed boobies, frigates, seagulls and other endemic birds. Snorkel in Franklin Bay, where you can see a wide variety of colorful fish of all sizes, sea turtles, small sharks, blue sharks from the creek which are completely harmless. You will disembark to observe the vegetation of the island as well as the marine iguanas, to continue towards Las Grietas, lava fissures, you will also visit the salt mines and a natural pool where the salt waters of the sea meet the fresh water of the upper part of the island. Ideal place to swim with fish and snorkel.
Lunch on your own
Free afternoon to explore Puerto Ayora
Dinner on your own
Hotel accommodation
Boat and 45 minutes’ walk – Altitude 0 m
Services included: ☒ Transfers ☒ English- speaking guide ☒ Accommodation ☒ Entrance fees to visiting sites
Day 14: Santa Cruz / Galápagos – Guayaquil (✈) / Arrival In Guayaquil
Breakfast at the hotel
Transfer to the airport to take the flight to Guayaquil.
Lunch on your own (at Santa Cruz airport or in Guayaquil)
Arrival in Guayaquil and transfer to the hotel.
Dinner on your own
Hotel accommodation
10 minutes by boat and 1h15 by bus, in 3 trips – Altitude 0 m
Services included: ☒ Transfers ☒ English - speaking guide ☒Accommodation
Day 15: Guayaquil (✈) / Departure Transfer – International Flight
Breakfast at the hotel
Lunch on your own
Depending on the departure time of your flight, transfer to the airport is coordinated.
Night on the plane
Altitude 0m
Services included: ☒ Transfer ☒ English -speaking guide
