Wildlife Tour Mainland Ecuador

Arrival at Mariscal Sucre Airport, Quito. Transfer to Hotel.

Check in – 14:00

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.

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).

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.

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.

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 and 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 everyday 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 which 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.

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.

Breakfast.

After a refreshing night’s sleep, an ample breakfast is served. Afterwards, 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.

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

Breakfast.

After breakfast you will drive to the famous Quilotoa Crater Lake. On your way you will pass by the Tigua workshop and admire some impressive local artwork with impressions of life in the Andes.

At your arrival to the Quilotoa Loop, you will appreciate an emerald green lake inside a crater of an extinct volcano with steep jagged cliffs. You are going to trek into the crater to the lake shore.

Breakfast.

Depart Quito´s airport at 11:00 am (subject to change). A 30-minute flight over the Andes Mountains leads you to a bustling oil town called Coca located in the Amazon Basin. A quick box-lunch in Sacha´s private house and then you head to the town docks where you will board Sacha´s private canoes for the 2 hours journey down river to Sacha Lodge's property.

A 30-minute hike through the rainforest leads you to 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 pm.

Swim in Lake Pilchicocha, which is a black water 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. Visit the butterfly house with your naturalist guide to view the beautiful colors of many different species of butterflies.

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.

Breakfast.

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 the 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, 2miles 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 Liana Grande through terra firma 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.

Leaving the lodge after a breakfast, you begin your hike on trail Lagartococha. 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 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.

Return from the walk or canoe ride and head back to the lodge for a refreshing dip in the lake, or a nice relaxing nap in your personal hammock on your private balcony.

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´s135-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 heads 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 lake Pilchicocha and to the welcoming lights of Sacha lodge.

Breakfast and departure from the lodge at 07:30 am.

One last walk on the boardwalk to the river, and from there a 2-hours canoe ride back to Coca for your 35-minutes flight back to Quito. Arrive Quito at 12:30pm (subject to change).

Transfer to the hotel.

Breakfast.

Transfer to the airport for your international flight.