12 Days Ecuador – Andes and Jungle

Ecuador – Andes and Jungle

12 Days/ 11 Nights 

Tour Includes: 

• Accommodation in mentioned hotels and lodges

• Full board at Casa del Suizo Lodge

• Transfers between cities and to/from airports

• Sightseeing tours in Quito, Otavalo, Cuenca, and Guayaquil

• Visit to the Equatorial Line Monument and Inti Ñan Museum

• Visits to Otavalo market, Peguche village, and Cotacachi leatherworks

• Visit to Laguna Cuicocha

• Thermal baths experience in Papallacta

• Balsa raft adventure on the Napo River

• Visit to Quichua village with blowpipe demonstrations and “chicha” preparation

• Train ride along the “Devil’s Nose” from Alausí to Riobamba

• Visit to Ingapirca ruins

• City sightseeing in Cuenca, including “Todos los Santos” ruins, flower market, main square, and Panama hat factory

• 2.5-hour city tour in Guayaquil

• Lunchbox during the train ride

Ecuador – Andes and Jungle

12 Days/ 11 Nights 

Itinerary: 

Day 01 – Quito
Arrival in Quito and transfer to the hotel.

Day 02 – Quito – Otavalo
Enjoy a sightseeing tour of the city of Quito and breathe the colonial history in the old part of the city. Proceed to the Equatorial Line Monument called “Middle of the World”. Visit the monument and the Inti Ñan Museum, which conducts several interactive scientific experiments.

Day 03 – Otavalo
Transfer to the famous town of Otavalo to visit its worldwide known Indian handcrafts market. Continue to the village of Peguche, to observe weavers at work and to the small town Cotacachi, Ecuador’s centre of leatherworks.

Day 04 – Otavalo – Papallacta
Visit Laguna Cuicocha, a crater lake at an altitude of 3,000 m above sea level with a diameter of about 3 km. Continue to the small Andean village Papallacta, famous for its thermal baths. Enjoy the pleasant effect of the warm, odorless thermal water surrounded by a wonderful landscape.

Day 05 – Papallacta – Casa del Suizo, Amazon
Transfer to Casa del Suizo Lodge, nestled above the banks of the Napo River overlooking the village Ahuano, the river, and vast expanses of pristine rainforest. Full board included.

Day 06-07 – Casa del Suizo
A variety of tours are available at the lodge, including a balsa raft adventure down the river or a visit to a Quichua village to watch blowpipe demonstrations and the preparation of “chicha”, a local alcoholic drink. All excursions offer excellent opportunities to observe the wondrous diversity of life in the forest.

Day 08 – Casa del Suizo – Riobamba
Continuing your way to Riobamba, which is the capital of the province of Chimborazo where a great number of indigenous communities live.

Day 09 – Riobamba – Ingapirca – Cuenca
Train ride from Alausí along the “Devil’s Nose”, surely one of the highlights of a journey to Ecuador and a special way to get to know the country. Lunchbox included. Continue to Cuenca and visit the ruins of Ingapirca, the most important monument of pre-Spanish culture in Ecuador.

Day 10 – Cuenca
During the city sightseeing you will see the historical buildings, located along the Tomebamba River, the “Todos los Santos” ruins, the flower market, the main square with the old and new cathedral, and a Panama hat factory.

Day 11 – Cuenca – Guayaquil
Drive to Guayaquil along the typical paramo grassland towards the lowlands with a lot of rice, cacao, and banana plantations. During the 2.5-hour city tour through Ecuador’s largest city, you will get to know the most interesting parts of the tropical and busy Pacific metropolis.

Day 12 – Guayaquil
Transfer to the airport for international flight or extension program on the Galapagos Islands.