Name: 15 Day Exciting Wildlife Tour in Ecuador
Brand: Ecuador Wonders
Price: 6280 USD
Availability: InStock

Mainland and Amazon Wildlife Tour in Ecuador

Let Ecuador Wonders show you the amazing country of Ecuador, with its nature, culture, and hospitality of the people, in this tour. The best of Ecuador, touristic attractions, nature, adventure, culture, gastronomy form part of our programs in Mainland Ecuador and the Amazon. The guides are determined to provide an unforgettable experience.

Key information

Maximum group size: 3 people
Children policy: Children from one year old are allowed to join.
Starting point and ending point: Quito
Languages: English or Spanish
Park fees are included.

Highlights

Quito city tour
Spot various birds and other wildlife
Explore Mainland Ecuador and Ecuadorian Amazon
Private transportation in mainland Ecuador
Shared transportation in the Amazon
14 nights accommodation
Daily delicious meals

Skill level

Beginner

Styles

Birding Tours

12 activity days in English

The organizer also speaks: Spanish

Group size: 1-3 participants

Airport transfer included: Mariscal Sucre International Airport

Accommodation

Check-in Time:

14:00

Check-out Time:

12:00

During this tour, accommodation will take place in:

First, second, tenth, and fourteenth night: Hotel Mercure Alameda
Third night: Hacienda Pinsaqui
Fourth night: Polylepis Lodge
Fifth night: Hacienda Cusin
Sixth night: Hotel El Crater
Seventh and eighth night: Bellavista Lodge
Ninth night: Hacienda La Cienega
Eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth night: Sacha Lodge

Sacha Lodge

Lodging at Sacha combines the highest comfort for the traveler with the preservation of the environment and rainforest ambiance. All cabins, with high thatched roofs and private shaded terraces with hammocks, are constructed with traditional materials and nestled subtly into the lush surroundings.

Each of the 26 rooms, which include single, double, and (upon request) triple accommodations and three family cabins, provides a spacious private bathroom with flushing toilet and hot shower - some even feature floor-to-ceiling windows for an immersive jungle shower experience! All cabins are screened against insects and contain ceiling fans above two comfortable double beds.

Program

Day 1: Arrival in Quito

Arrival at Mariscal Sucre Airport (UIO) in Quito. Transfer to Mercure Alameda Hotel.

Accommodation: Mercure Alameda Hotel

Day 2: Quito - Teleférico

Breakfast.

Quito city tour is perfect for seeing fascinating panoramas, churches, domes and roofs that have an important historical value. You will admire and learn about colonial art, architecture, culture, legends, and traditions. Quito, the capital of Ecuador, was founded in the 16th century on the ruins of an Inca city and stands at an altitude of 9.350 feet.

Despite the 1917 earthquake, the city has the best-preserved, least altered historic Center in Latin America. The architecture and rich interiors, are pure examples of Quito School of sculpture, which is a fusion of Spanish, Italian, Moorish, Flemish and indigenous art. After 3 incredible hours exploring the Old Town, you’ll understand why Quito was the world’s first city named to UNESCO’s Cultural Heritage list.

After visiting Quito Old Town, you continue to Teleférico, located at the eastern end of the city, between the north and center of Quito. Cruz Loma summit offers a spectacular view of the whole city of Quito. If the weather is good there can be seen some main elevations of the Andes mountain chain such as: Cayambe, Antisana, Cotopaxi, Pasochoa, Rumiñahui and the list goes on. Besides the beautiful view offered here there are the Andean landscape and the cold wilderness with almost straight, flat road to the summit of Rucu Pichincha, Pichincha most visible elevation from Quito.

Box-Lunch included.

Accommodation: Mercure Alameda Hotel
Included meals: Breakfast and boxed lunch

Day 3: Quito - Otovalo

Breakfast.

Early in the morning, you begin an exciting and colorful journey to Otavalo, Imbabura province. Your first stop will be at Guayllabamba, here you can find cherimoya, a traditional fruit that you can try if you want to. Continuing your way, you will arrive to the “Mirador de San Pablo”, where you can appreciate the unique landscape of the lake that sits at the foot of Imbabura volcano.

In the afternoon you will arrive to Otavalo, to the handicrafts market of the city, known as “Plaza de Ponchos”, on this site you’ll find carpets, wool coats, bags and pottery made by the natives Otavalo Indians (Otavaleños).

Also you will visit Peguche Waterfall, a beautiful waterfall of 50 ft. in height, formed by the river of the same name, which starts at San Pablo Lake. The waterfall is one of the most important tourist attractions of Otavalo. Because of its proximity and easy access. This beautiful waterfall is considered as an Indigenous Ceremonial Site due to the purification baths held here a couple days prior the Inti Raymi celebration (Sun and harvest celebration, June 21st).

Accommodation: Hacienda Pinsaqui
Included meal: Breakfast

Day 4: Otavalo - El Angel

Breakfast.

After breakfast you visit Condor Park, located in a strategic point from which you can admire the Imbabura volcano, Cotacachi and the Cuicocha crater. It is a conservation and research space located on the Loma Pucara Cuniloma. It houses 80 birds of prey that cannot be reinserted into the wild.

One of the best features of Parque Cóndor is the educational bird show. Visitors will sit and get to learn more about the aim of the foundation while they get to admire free-flight demonstration of birds, such as the American bold eagle and other small birds.

Then you will continue to El Angel Ecological Reserve. Located in El Angel-Carchi, a village two hours from Ibarra, it has a natural vegetation adapted to cold climates, a natural water sponge that supplies the entire province of Carchi. It is one of the most humid highlands of Ecuador, which offers a variety of flora especially frailejones (endemic to the Andes), polylepis trees and typical landscape of the moorlands. Its fauna is diverse and you can find deer, wolves, rabbits, ducks, moor doves that inhabit in the three lagoons.

Accommodation: Polylepis Lodge
Included meals: Breakfast and dinner

Day 5: El Angel - Cuicocha

Breakfast.

In the morning you can take a walk around the Polylepis Forest. This forest is considered to be the only one of its type in the world as it is a millennial and primary composed of polylepis “paper” trees.

Then you will continue to visit Cuicocha Lake, located 12 km southwest of Cotacachi town, it is a part of the Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve, and occupies a part of the provinces of Imbabura and Esmeraldas. Cuicocha is a collapsed volcanic crater, but still shows signs of activity. Inside the lagoon there are two islets called Teodoro Wolf and Jose Maria Yerovi, separated by a narrow water passage which only can be crossed by kayak or paddle- boat. The lagoon has a beautiful crystal waters and has a depth of approximately 200 m.

Accommodation: Hacienda Cusin
Included meals: Breakfast

Day 6: Cuicocha - Pululahua

Breakfast.

In the morning you will return to Quito. On the way your first stop will be at a rose plantation, where you can learn about all the diversity and colorful roses that Ecuador produces. You will be able to take a closer look at what goes into the process of cultivating these beautiful flowers as well as the behind the scenes of the exportation and bouquet making processes.

Then you continue to visit the Equator Line “Cuidad Mitad Del Mundo” and Intiñan Museum.

“Ciudad Mitad del Mundo” is a touristic, cultural, scientific and commercial artificial city of Ecuador. Its architecture is based on colonial style. An obelisk and a museum relevant to its geographical location were built at the Middle of the World site. All of this is found among the drastic landscape surrounded by nature and modern buildings. The monument is crowned by a metallic sphere that represents the Earth. It is named Equatorial Monument and its geographical orientation coincides with the four cardinal points. It is located precisely at Earth’s midpoint: 0 degrees latitude, 0 minutes, 0 seconds.

Intiñan Museum:

Since the year 1960, the Intiñan Museum in Quito has been a center for the promotion of the many aspects of Ecuador’s culture. This museum offers interactive exhibits on how the Incas determined the middle of the earth, plus interesting science experiments such as balancing an egg on a nail why water rotates in opposite directions on opposite sides of the Equator, and why it’s difficult to walk in a straight line along this imaginary line.

Continue to the Pululahua Crater. Pululahua volcano is one of the largest volcanic craters in the world, 34km2 and 5km wide, which was last active about 2500 years ago. There is a lava dome rising 500m in the center which is covered in lush cloud forest vegetation. Pululahua was declared a Geobotanical Reserve in 1966. It is Quichua for "a cloud of water" in reference to a fog that rolls in every day at midday to fill the crater (it’s best visited early in the morning for this reason!) and which is the only real source of water for local crops. It is one of only two inhabited volcanic craters in the world, and the only one which is cultivated due to its rich soils on the crater floor. Pululahua has a unique microclimate that supports cloud forests, orchids, and all kinds of plants that grow on the crater walls and lava dome.

In the afternoon you can enjoy time at leisure.

Accommodation: El Crater Hotel
Included meal: Breakfast

Day 7: Pululahua - Bellavista

Breakfast.

Transfer to Bellavista Lodge. Leaving Quito, we descend a scenic mountain road reaching the turn to Bellavista, you climb to the top of the mountain, again with fabulous views, where Bellavista’s lodge is perched. Settle into your room, and enjoy a flurry of the hummingbirds or take a hike into the forest on our varied trails.

After lunch, you can take a hike on your own into the forest, or go on one of our guided hikes. Your guided hike will acquaint you with the exuberant vegetation of the cloud forest, its bird life, and the fascinating adaptations to life in this special environment.

The evening is relaxed; we will help you discover the incredible variety of moths, many of which are unknown to science.

Accommodation: Bellavista Lodge, Superior Room
Included meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Day 8: Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve

Breakfast.

After a refreshing night’s sleep, an ample breakfast is served. Afterward, take a guided hike or explore further on your own.

After lunch, an afternoon hike deep into the valleys of the reserve is recommended, and in the evening it is possible to see night birds and more.

Accommodation: Bellavista Lodge, Superior Room
Included meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Day 9: Bellavista - Yanacocha - Cotopaxi

Breakfast.

Then you head towards the Yanacocha Ecological Reserve located on the North side of Volcano Guagua Pichincha at 3600m/11,483 feet. Here you will see hummingbirds, and the mixed flocks you will encounter will add many more tantalizing birds to the list! You have good chances to spot Barred Fruiteater, Great Sapphirewing, Golden-breasted and Sapphire vented Pufflegs, Sword-billed Hummingbirds, and many more.

After visiting Yanacocha you continue to the Cotopaxi province. Box-Lunch included.

Accommodation: La Cienega
Included meals: Breakfast and boxed lunch

Day 10: Cotopaxi - Quito

Breakfast: at the hotel.

After breakfast we continue to the Quilotoa Lagoon, on our way we will pass by the Tigua workshop and admire some impressive local artwork with impressions of life in the Andes. Quilotoa has a caldera with a diameter of almost 9 km which was formed inside its crater. This is the product of the collapse of the volcano, which occurred about 800 years ago. According to the studies, the volcanic flow reached the Pacific Ocean. Upon your arrival to the Quilotoa Loop, we will appreciate an emerald-green lake inside the crater of an extinct volcano with steep jagged cliffs. We are going to trek into the crater to the lake shore. Kayak on the lake (optional). Return to Quito.

Accommodation: Mercure Alameda Hotel
Included meal: Breakfast

Day 11: Quito - Coca

Breakfast: at the hotel.

Transfer to the airport for your flight to Coca. A 30-minute flight over the Andes Mountains leads you to a bustling oil town called Coca located in the Amazon Basin. A quick lunch in Sacha´s private house and then we head to the town docks where you will board Sacha´s private canoes for the 2-hour journey downriver to Sacha´s Lodges property. A 30-minute hike through the rainforest leads you to the lake Pilchicocha. Here, you are met by native workers to paddle you across the lake to your final destination.

Arrive at Sacha Lodge around 15:30 or 16:00 (subject to change). Swim in Lake Pilchicocha, which is a blackwater lake home to many species of fish and animals. A refreshing swim after arriving may be just what you need after being in the equatorial heat all day. Bird observing from the mini tower offers guests an excellent opportunity to view several species of birds common around the lodge. Also a great place to watch the sunset.

After dinner, accompany your naturalist guide on a night walk through the rainforest to view the hundreds of different species of animals that can only be found at night. Or maybe a canoe ride on the lake to view the spectacled and black caimans with their glowing orange eyes as you silently paddle across the lake to get a closer view.

Accommodation: Sacha Lodge
Included meals: Breakfast, boxed lunch, and dinner

Day 12: Sacha Lodge

Breakfast: at the lodge.

Begin morning activity between 6:00 and 7:00. Begin walking on trail Liana Chica and arrive at the canopy walk, for spectacular views of the rainforest canopy and many different species of vibrantly colored birds. Designed to be a self-standing rigid suspension canopy walk, it is one of only a few in the world! Located within Sacha´s private reserve, 2 miles from the shores of the Rio Napo and 1 mile from the lodge, the bird walk gives guests the opportunity to get an up close and personal view of the rainforest canopy. Two of the three towers have observation decks every 12 meters making towers accessible for everyone. The canopy walkway is at 36 meters high and 275 meters long, giving guests a “birds eye view” of all the wonders and beauty the tropical rainforest has to offer. The canopy walk is designed as a sturdy walkway enabling guests to casually move along while enjoying the spectacular views.

After the canopy walk, visit Liana Grande through terra firme and igapo forest habitats where native guides will explain many different species of medicinal plants that have been being used in their culture for hundreds of years. Liana Grande will turn into the trail Higueron, which will take you through pristine primary forest with huge Kapok and Fig trees towering hundreds of feet above your head. After lunch, you may choose to take a leisurely hike along the Rio Napo, or choose a little more challenging hike on the trail Leoncillo to try and spot the elusive dusky titi monkey. Either way, the trails will lead you back to the main boardwalk for your final hike and canoe ride back to the lodge.

Accommodation: Sacha Lodge
Included meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Day 13: Sacha Lodge

Breakfast: at the lodge.

Leaving the lodge after breakfast, you begin your hike on the Lagartococha trail. This trail offers you the chance to learn more about the native people and their relationship with the forest. Learn about the trees where native people believe the spirits of their ancestors live, and the mysterious “dwende” or devil-man of the forest.

After arriving at the lake Lagartococha, take a tranquil canoe ride through a natural swamp, which is the home of anacondas, caimans, and capybaras.

After the canoe ride, a walk on the other side of Largatococha may give you the opportunity to spot capuchin or squirrel monkeys playfully jumping through the trees.

Around 15:30 you will begin what many think is the best trail at Sacha, a silent canoe ride through the flooded Amazonian forest. Where you have a good chance of being surrounded by troops of squirrel, capuchin, and howler monkeys. Keep your eyes peeled for the shy and elusive river otter as well as the incredibly well-camouflaged three-toed sloth.

After your eye-popping ride through the flooded forest, you will arrive at Sacha´s 135-foot wooden tower built around an ancient Kapok tree. Get close-up views of vibrantly colored birds through Sacha´s powerful scopes, and watch the sunset with an amazing view of Mount Sumaco, a volcano, and possibly a view of the snow-covered caps of the Andes.

Leaving the tower just before or after sunset will give you an experience not soon forgotten. A canoe ride back through the flooded forest at night will be an awe-inspiring experience. Listen to the symphony of frogs and insects as you navigate through the narrow flooded forest trail, keeping your eyes open for caimans. Watch the several species of bats flying over your head and listen to the many species of nocturnal birds making their eerie nighttime calls. Finally, after your mesmerizing canoe trip through the Amazon, you will arrive back at the lake Pilchicocha and the welcoming lights of Sacha Lodge.

Accommodation: Sacha Lodge
Included meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Day 14: Return to Quito

Breakfast: at the lodge.

Departure from the lodge at 07:30 am. One last walk on the boardwalk to the river, and from there a 2-hour canoe ride back to Coca for your 35-minute flight back to Quito. Arrival: Mariscal Sucre International Airport – Transfer to the hotel.

Accommodation: Mercure Alameda Hotel
Included meal: Breakfast

Day 15: Departure

Have breakfast then transfer to the airport for your international flight.

Included meal: Breakfast

Location

The Amazon Basin, and the Ecuadorian Amazon in particular, is home to truly astounding biodiversity. The Yasuní Biosphere Reserve is believed by many to be home to the most diverse set of species on the Earth.

In the Ecuadorian Amazon, you will find: 800 species of fish, including three sorts of piranhas, 350 species of reptiles, including anacondas and iguanas, more than 300 species of mammals, including monkeys and jaguars, thousands of species of plants and trees, and thousands of species of insects. One acre of rainforest may be home to 70,000 species of insect!

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Food

Meals as mentioned in the itinerary are included in the price.

The following meals are included:

Breakfast

The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:

Vegetarian
Vegan

If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation

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