Ecuador walking holidays, tailormade
| country: | Ecuador |
| location: | Andes, Ecuador Highlands |
| departures: | This trip can be tailor made at a time to suit you and can be adapted to suit your interests, budget and requirements as necessary |
| price: | From £1865 (15 days) excluding flights. Price is based on 2 people sharing, includes accommodation, transport, English speaking guide on days 2-5 and 7-15 and most meals |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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introduction to Ecuador walking holidays, tailormade
This itinerary combines day walks and touring to take you into the heart of the Andean countryside in an intriguing mixture of scenery and habitats. You are in control of how far you walk on any day and each night is spent at a pleasant lodge with private facilities.
The walks include a circuit of the rim of a crater lake, a mountain pass where condors fly overhead, self-guided trails in subtropical forest, a country walk between remote farming villages, and a high altitude hike with the last of the ‘hieleros’—the men who fetch ice from the glaciers of mighty Chimborazo. This itinerary can be combined with other tours in Ecuador or a cruise in the Galapagos Islands.
The walks include a circuit of the rim of a crater lake, a mountain pass where condors fly overhead, self-guided trails in subtropical forest, a country walk between remote farming villages, and a high altitude hike with the last of the ‘hieleros’—the men who fetch ice from the glaciers of mighty Chimborazo. This itinerary can be combined with other tours in Ecuador or a cruise in the Galapagos Islands.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1-2: | Quito. On arrival you will be met on arrival at Quito airport and transferred to a 3* hotel. On day 2 you will have a morning tour of the Old City, including lunch, and a visit to the Equator in the afternoon. |
| Day 3: | Papallacta Hot Springs. The morning is free for sightseeing in Quito, or perhaps a ride on the cable car up Pichincha volcano. In the afternoon you are collected for a short visit to the bohemian suburb of Guápulo, which has a very pretty church, then driven to Papallacta (1½hr) where you stay 2 nights at a 3* hotel and spa on the Andean páramos at 3,300m (10,800ft). Outside each room is a thermal pool—perfect for a dip beneath a starry sky. |
| Day 4: | Antisana Ecological Reserve. Today you can choose a leg-stretching day walk over the páramos in the Antisana Ecological Reserve, where it is possible to see Andean Condor. Or take the easier short trail behind the hotel (a good place for hummingbirds) before indulging in the optional treatments available at the hotel’s spa. These include five open air thermoludic pools kept at different temperatures some with pressured water or hydrojets, plus massages, treatments and body wraps. |
| Day 5-6: | San Isidro. On day 5, you are driven down to Cabañas San Isidro lodge in a picturesque valley at 2,000m (6,800ft), your base for the next 2 nights. The lodge is set in large tracts of subtropical forest with clearly marked, self-guided trails from 1 to 6 km. Some lead through a forest of large hardwood trees draped with lush mosses that support great numbers of different orchid and bromeliad species. Others pass through vast bamboo stands and river edge forests. Each habitat supports its own complement of flora and fauna: one trail leads to an Andean Cock of the Rock lek. Rarities such as spectacled bear, mountain tapir, oncilla and puma are reported from time to time. Day 6 is spent at Cabañas San Isidro lodge. |
| Day 7-8: | Otavalo. On day 7 you will be collected and driven to Otavalo, to stay at Hacienda Las Palmeras—your base for the next 3 nights. This 150 year old hacienda is set among towering palm trees and features garden cottages with log fires. The ‘perpetual spring’ climate ensures a continual flowering of hibiscus, bougainvillea, other flowering plants and fruit trees, attracting hummingbirds, vermilion fly-catchers and a profusion of other native birds to the grounds. On day 8 enjoy a short downhill stroll in the early morning to Otavalo’s animal market. Return for breakfast. You will then be driven into town for the main market, now in full swing selling crafts, fruit and vegetables, and traditional clothing for local Quichuas. |
| Day 9: | Cuicocha circuit. Cuicocha (‘Guinea Pig Lake’) is a deep blue-green crater lake in the caldera of a dormant volcano. Make an early start for the best views on an exhilarating 5hr circuit around the crater’s rim. As well as great views of the lake’s two islands there are panoramas of nearby Cotacachi and Imbabura volcanoes. The circular walk is 12km (7½ miles) at an altitude of 3070-3400m (10000-11300ft). There are steps on steeper parts of the trail and handrails on the more precarious sections. |
| Day 10-11: | Cotopaxi. Morning of day 10 you will be driven south to Hacienda La Ciénega for 2 nights. This route takes you on the first section of the Avenue of the Volcanoes. Rest of the day free to relax at the hacienda or in its gardens, or go horse riding (optional). Day 11, a full day exploring Cotopaxi National Park. Visit Limpiopungo Lagoon at 3,800m and enjoy the high páramos vegetation with miniature asters and crocus-like flowers nestling amid lichens and mosses. If you are responding well to the thinness of the air there is the option of walking up to touch the ice of the volcano’s glacier. You could ride back down on a mountain bike (let us know in advance if you will want to do this and check your travel insurance cover). |
| Day 12: | Lake Quilotoa to Chugchilán. With an early start you are driven to Lake Quilotoa, a second crater lake which is the starting point of today’s walk. The trail down the outside of the volcano leads through a remote rural area of subsistence farming, canyons, and rivers to reach the Quichua-speaking village of Chugchilán. Local crafts include primitivist paintings on leather, and wooden masks. The trail is 12km (7½ miles), starting at 3,900m and ending at 3,200m (12,800 – 10,500ft ). The final section makes an abrupt 800ft descent into the Río Sigüi Canyon and back up the other side before arriving in Chugchilán village. This can be avoided by curtailing the walk in Guayama, about 6 miles from the start. Stay overnight in Chugchilán at a simple guest house with private bathroom. |
| Day 13: | Saquisilí Market and Riobamba. A visit to Saquisilí Market this morning. One of the largest in the highlands, it fills seven plazas, each specialising in different merchandise. You will then be driven south via Salasaca (where you can stop to see back strap loom weavers at work) to Riobamba where you stay for 2 nights at a 3* tourist lodge. Riobamba is close to Chimborazo, an extinct volcano which rises 6310m (20703ft) above sea level. It is the highest mountain in the world if measured from the centre of the earth. (The bulge in the planet at the equator gives Chimborazo an advantage over Everest.) |
| Day 14: | Los Hieleros (The Icemen). An early start to join Baltasar and Gregorio, the last of ‘Los Hieleros’, who each week maintain their family’s tradition of walking up to the glacier on Chimborazo to cut blocks of ice to sell in Riobamba. This is a wonderful hike offering great views of this impressive mountain and across a wide expanse of the central highlands. Baltasar and Gregorio earn very little from the ice they collect, so your walking with them helps to keep alive this extraordinary way of life. At around 3380m Baltasar and Gregorio use scythes to cut some of the longer grasses which they deftly twist together to make 6ft lengths of rope. Armfuls of grass to insulate the ice are then cut and tied to their mules using the rope. The trail continues to ascend. Vegetation gives way to volcanic scree before you eventually arrive at the snow line. It takes around 4hrs to reach the glacier, at around 4500m. You should find that your time in the highlands has acclimatised you sufficiently to cope with this altitude if you walk fairly slowly. At the face of the glacier, Baltasar and Gregorio use axes and spades to hack out large blocks of ice, as they have done from this spot for the last 50 years. Their descent starts around midday and lasts 2 hours. You rejoin your vehicle while they continue to their home in the village. |
| Day 15: | Riobamba Market. Make a short visit to Riobamba’s San Alfonso market this morning, where you can try Baltasar and Gregorio’s ice mixed with fruit in snow cones called ‘raspados’. Then you are driven back to Quito (4hr) for your chosen overnight flight home. |
tailor made holiday
This trip can be tailormade to create a unique holiday for your individual requirements by travel experts with intimate knowledge of the destination. It is a more luxurious trip that will suit those who enjoy immersing themselves in new cultures and environments before relaxing in comfort in some of the best and most characterful local accommodation! Quality and value are the hallmark of these trips.how this holiday makes a difference
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As an in depth specialist tour operator to Ecuador, responsible tourism is at the very heart of what we do. To us, this means much more than a simple donation to a charity for each client. We try to build long and constructive involvements with local guides, guest houses, wildlife lodges, and hotels, in the course of which we, and our clients, can make lasting wide-ranging contributions to the wonderful places and people we engage with. In this itinerary we use several lodges that fit with this philosophy perfectly, employing local guides and bringing long-term benefits to the local community.
We are the first tour operator in the UK to form a partnership with the Rainforest Alliance to work towards the implementation of best management practices in sustainable tourism. In real terms this means that we are working with hotels who are making a positive impact on their local community – socially, environmentally and economically. In this itinerary we use a number of lodges who are dedicated to making a positive impact on their environment. In particular, Cabañas San Isidro is dedicated to forest conservation and owns land adjacent to its property. Private friends and donors together with Mitch Lysinger (of San Isidro) became partners in conservation and co-landowners when they acquired 550 hectares (1,210 acres) of mature forest to connect to Cabañas San Isidro's already existing 620 hectare reserve. This was a major victory for the area because it halted impending deforestation as well as formed a nexus to the Antisana Reserve, one of the largest forest reserves in the country. This momentum has surged on and the Napo Andean Forest Foundation was established with the aim of continuing important land purchases of the area for the purpose of conservation. Cabañas San Isidro maintains a vital role as one of the front-runners on Ecuador's east-slope with respect to tying together land acquisition and protection projects, serious biological research, community involvement and world-class nature tourism in one of the most ecologically sensitive and important zones that the country has to offer. Termas de Papallacta was the first Ecuadorian land-based company to attain certification in sustainable development in accordance with the standards as set out by Smart Voyager, Rainforest Alliance and the Conservation and Development Corporation. Termas de Papallacta strives for active cooperation with the Terra Foundation so that its objectives with regards to the local community and the conservation of the environment continue to be met. In Chugchilán we stay in a private guesthouse ensuring your money goes directly to the local economy and the local community benefits from your stay. This itinerary also includes walks in several national parks which charge entry fees towards their conservation. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |
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