Ecuador in 15 Days

Early in the morning we will go to the north of the city in the direction of the Equatorial line, we will visit the monument to the middle of the world, later, to the cable car from where we will have a spectacular view of the city, continuing our tour, we will move to el panecillo, which is a small hill located in the middle of the city and where a monument to the Virgin Mary stands, from this place you can appreciate the historic center, to finish we will walk through old Quito, touring its beautiful streets, churches and squares, knowing the history of our ancestors. In the afternoon we will return to our hotel.

After picking you up from your hotel, we will leave Quito towards the northwest, and after driving an hour we will arrive at a restaurant, where while we enjoy breakfast we will have the opportunity to observe different species of hummingbirds and we will even be able to interact with them. Continuing we will arrive in approximately 40 minutes to the town of Mindo, this is located at an altitude of 1250 meters; Our first visit will be to the butterfly farm, approximately 30 minutes, later we will go to the upper part, where we can cross a mountain on a cable car to descend in approximately 30 minutes and find a waterfall; If the weather allows it and the river is not very mighty, you will have the opportunity to enjoy its waters and enter the waterfall, then we will return to the cable car and then to the parking lot with our vehicle to go to the artisanal chocolate factory for a tour. In the afternoon we will have time to walk in the center and the town of Mindo, and at nightfall we will return to our respective hotel.

We will pick you up from your hotel, and we will drive approximately one hour along the Pan-American Highway to the north of the country, we will cross the Equator line, until we reach the Cayambe canton where we will make a stop to have breakfast and taste the typical biscuits and the leaf cheese, then we will continue our trip to Otavalo, where we will visit the handicraft market, approximately 2 hours, later we will drive to the Cuicocha lagoon where we will have lunch enjoying a beautiful view of the crater of a volcano that erupted 3000 years ago, and this formed a beautiful lagoon called Cuicocha, then we will visit the town of Cotacachi, where we can observe and buy articles and crafts made of leather, in the afternoon we will return to the city of Quito to rest in our hotel.

After having our breakfast, this time we will drive south on the Pan-American Highway from Quito and in approximately 1 hour we will reach the Cotopaxi National Park, it will take us about 5 minutes to register at the control booth and then we will continue our journey to the parking lot that is located at 4,600 meters above sea level, from here and after preparing ourselves with our hiking equipment, we will begin the ascent to the José F Rivas refuge at an altitude of 4,860 meters; this will take us approximately 1 hour at a very calm pace, here we will have the opportunity to enjoy a hot chocolate or a coca tea that will help for altitude sickness, depending on the weather conditions and the people we will continue for about 30 minutes until the glacier to observe the perpetual ice that the volcano still preserves, after taking some photographs we will begin the descent, approximately 40 minutes it will take us to get to our vehicle and later drive to a restaurant where we will have lunch. In the afternoon we will continue our journey to the community of Quilotoa where we will spend the night.

After enjoying a well-deserved rest, we will hike down from the edge of the crater to the lagoon for approximately 40 minutes. In this lagoon you have the option of renting a motor boat or kayaking, then we will ascend along the same path we go down in approximately 1 hour, optional you can rent mules if you don't want to walk. In the afternoon we will take our vehicle and after driving about 2 hours we will arrive to the Baños de Agua Santa canton, here we will have the opportunity to visit the viewpoints where there are many tourist attractions such as: the swing at the end of the world, an extreme swing, a glass gazebo, the animal park, etc. At night we will go to our hotel to rest.

Not too early in the morning, to be able to rest a little more, we will do the famous route of the waterfalls, we can do this activity riding bicycles or in our transport, we will take the route that leads to the Ecuadorian Amazon, in the same we can make stops to carry out extreme activities if they wish, such as: the canopy, crossing in a tarabita, jumping from the bridge and many more, our final destination will be the largest and most famous waterfall called the pailón del diablo, this sector will also have the opportunity to have lunch and taste a delicious river trout, to later return to the city of Baños in the afternoon, the afternoon will be free so that they can go to the hot springs coming from the volcano, the same ones that are open until 9 pm.

After our usual breakfast, we will take the route to the Ecuadorian Amazon, exactly to the parish of Misahuallí, here we will take a canoe trip through the Napo river until we reach an indigenous community (Shuar), where we can observe and learn about their customs and also experience some of them, we will observe the preparation of the cassava chicha, we will also have the opportunity to interact with the animals of the Amazon. In the afternoon we will go to our hotel.

In the morning we will visit a cave, which has an entrance, approximately 8 meters high by 10 meters wide, the tour lasts from 45 min to 60 min. When touring the cave we will learn the story of Jumandi, who was a Cacique who discovered the caves, which today bear his name, during the time of the conquest. The caves became the natural refuge of the inhabitants of the east while Cacique Jumandi waged a fight to drive away the conquerors. Men, women, children and the elderly arrived at the place while the warriors fought for their freedom. In the afternoon we will drive to the city of Macas, where we will make a stop for the night on our journey to Cuenca.

Continuing our trip again towards the Andes, but this time towards the south of the country, and after driving approximately 4 hours, we will arrive at the great city of Cuenca, cataloged as the most beautiful in Ecuador, and considered by UNESCO as a cultural heritage of humanity, in the afternoon we will take a short tour of the colonial town after organizing our stay at our hotel.

In the morning we will visit what we lacked to know about the city, we will visit the Turi viewpoint, then we will drive to the town of Chordeleg, where you can buy handicrafts made of silver and gold, we will also visit the handicrafts in Gualaceo, in the afternoon we will return to our hotel.

From Cuenca to Guayaquil it is approximately 4 hours, before we will make a stop at the El Cajas National Park to take a short walk in the Toreadora lagoon (1 hour walk), after arriving in Guayaquil we will visit the colonial part of the city and at night to our hotel.

Early in the morning we will leave towards the Ecuadorian coast and after driving for about 2 hours we will arrive at Salinas, one of the best beaches in the Pacific, in the afternoon free to enjoy the sea.

Free day to enjoy the Sun, Sand and Sea.

Depending on where you have the return flight to your country, on this day we will return to a nearby place so that the next day you can take your return flight, as a recommendation it would be better if you take the return flight from Guayaquil.

We will leave you at the airport three hours before your flight as recommended by the airlines.