Luxury trip 13 days

Arrival in Quito - transfer to Otavalo

Transfer from Quito to Otavalo in private car (SP-language driver)

You will be picked up by a Spanish-speaking driver at the hotel (or airport) and taken in a private car to the hotel in Otavalo. This drive through the Andes Mountains takes about 2 hours.

Hacienda Zuleta - standard room double with breakfast, lunch and dinner

Hacienda Zuleta dates back to the 17th century and is located at an altitude of 2,800 meters, between Cayambe and Otavalo. The hotel is about a two-hour drive from Quito. The hacienda is an active farm and includes 2,000 hectares of farmland. The hotel was once the working farm of a former president of Ecuador. Today, the hacienda is still owned by the well-known Lasso family. There are seventeen unique guest rooms, all with wood-burning stoves. You can eat well in the renowned kitchen with homegrown products: there is an in-house dairy, an organic garden, a trout farm, etc. The hacienda offers several excursions. For example, you can explore the beautiful, centuries-old gardens on foot or on horseback.
For more information see zuleta.com

Activities in the hacienda/acclimatization

Acclimatization:

You can participate in the activities organized by the Hacienda itself. For a description of the activities at the hacienda: see Zuleta-activities

Hacienda Zuleta - standard room double with breakfast, lunch and dinner

Walk around Lake Cuicocha

Hiking tour around the crater lake of Cuicocha

Cuicocha is one of the most beautiful lakes in Ecuador. In a private car we drive to the entrance of the Cotacachi-Cayapas Reserve, where we start a 5-hour walking tour that runs between 3,100 and 3,500 meters above sea level. Along the way, we enjoy the biodiversity, the views of the picturesque lake of Cuicocha with its two islands, as well as the panorama of the mountain peaks of Cotacachi, Imbabura and Cayambe.
Difficulty: moderate
Duration: approx. 7 hours
Included: English speaking local guide, private transport, meal or packed lunch
Mandatory: good walking shoes, sun protection, mosquito repellent, fleece or pull, water (min.1 liter)
Recommended: camera, binoculars, rain jacket, reasonable condition also at height

Hacienda Zuleta - standard room double with breakfast, lunch and dinner

Morning in hacienda - to Mindo incl. Equatorial Museum - Mashpi day 1

Free morning in the Hacienda

Transfer from Otavalo to Mindo in private car (incl. visit Mitad del Mundo)

During this drive through the Andes you will cross the valley of Guayllabamba and pass the equator monument (Mitad del Mundo), where the driver will be waiting for you - so you can make a visit to the monument and to the Inti-Nan museum on your own (entrance not included).
Duration: 3 hours driving and 1,5 hour visit.

Mashpi Lodge - Wayra room double incl all meals, excursions, lectures, ....

Tucked away in a private 1,200-acre nature reserve, this state-of-the-art, high-end lodge is one of National Geographic's Unique Lodges of the World. The design is completely adapted to the surrounding nature. You move around here on foot, by electric trolley, by cable car or by aerial bicycle. There are seventeen very spacious rooms and three suites, all with large windows overlooking the forest. There is a wellness with jacuzzi and a beautiful yoga room. In the restaurant you get to know the different regions of Ecuador through the flavors on your plate. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are prepared with fresh Ecuadorian ingredients. The stay is all-in: meals, excursions, English-speaking guides and specialized lectures are included. Only the cable car ""DragonFly"" has to be paid for on the spot (49 USD pp). Upon arrival, you put together your own program from a choice list of activities.
For more info see www.mashpilodge.com

Mashpi day 2

Mashpi Lodge day 2

Today you participate in the activities of your choice.
For a description of the possible activities see www.mashpilodge.com/explorations

Mashpi day 3 - transfer to Quito

Mashpi Lodge day 3

This morning you participate in the activities of your choice.

Transfer from Mindo to Quito in private car

This private car ride takes approximately 2 hours.

Casa Gangotena - Luxury Room double with breakfast

In the heart of colonial Quito, beautifully situated on the Plaza San Francisco, this top-class luxury hotel is located in a beautiful building, renovated in neo-classical and art-deco style. Colonial Quito's main attractions surround the hotel. The hotel has 20 luxury rooms, 8 Plaza view rooms and 3 suites.
For more information see Casa Gangotena

Colonial Quito

Colonial Quito

For this excursion, the guide will pick you up at the hotel by car. We will visit the old and the new Quito: the parliament, the presidential palace, the Plaza de Independencia and the churches of San Francisco, La Compania and the cathedral. Then we go to El Panecillo, the statue of the angel and viewpoint that perches high above Quito. The guide provides information about Quito and Ecuador. The entrance to the listed sights is subject to opening hours.
Included: English speaking guide and private transportation.
Not included: any meal, entrance to museums and churches.
Duration: 4 to 5 hours.

Casa Gangotena - Luxury Room double with breakfast

Transfer to airport - flight to Coca - Amazon day 1

Transfer from hotel to Quito airport in private car (SP-language driver)

You will be picked up at the hotel and taken to the airport

Flight from Quito to Coca

You will be met at the airport by a representative of the lodge who will help you check in. After a 30-minute flight over the peaks of the Andes, we land at the small airport of Coca from where we take a small van to the pier on the Rio Napo.

Canoe trip from Coca to the lodge

A large comfortable covered motor canoe now takes us in a 2.5 hour trip to the pier of the Napo Wildlife Center (NWC). Along the way we take a packed lunch. During this trip you can already spot several local bird species (herons, kingfishers,...). At the pier of the NWC we refresh ourselves and then continue for about 1.5 hours by tree canoe, paddling along a narrow creek, under the trees to the lodge on the other side of the lake. Along the way there is a good chance of seeing monkeys, and several larger bird species such as parrots, toucans and macaws. In the late afternoon you arrive at the lodge on the edge of the beautiful Añangu Lake. You will have a welcome drink and get to know the lodge and its people. After dinner there is the opportunity to participate in the search for caimans around the lake.

Napo Wildlife Center - 4D/3N standard cabin double

Napo Wildlife Center is one of the most beautiful and authentic lodges in the South American Amazon. Located deep in the jungle, on the shore of a gigantic lake, it is ecologically run by the local Añangu community. Here you will be immersed in their lives for several days and watch the beautiful surrounding flora and fauna together with them. The lodge is built in natural materials but is very luxurious. Included are overnight stays, all meals, water transport, all excursions (in the forest there is a beautiful clay lick where you can spot parrots in the morning), local indigenous guide and English-Spanish speaking nature guide, Yasuni National Park entrance, rain ponchos and rubber boots.
For more info see Napo Wildlife Center.

Amazon day 2

Napo Wildlife 4D/3N - day 2

Amazon day 3

Napo Wildlife 4D/3N - day 3

Amazon day 4 - flight to Quito - transfer to Cotopaxi

Napo Wildlife Center - day 4

See program on lodge website

Flight from Coca to Quito

The canoe and plane will take you back to Quito from the lodge in a few hours.
Transfer from Quito to Cotopaxi in private car (SP language driver)
You will be transferred to the hotel in Cotopaxi. This is a 1.5 hour drive through the mountains.

Hacienda San Agustin - standard room double with breakfast, lunch and dinner

This small beautiful hacienda is located among the fields at the foot of the majestic Cotopaxi volcano. You will spend the night here in an original Inca building, unique in Ecuador! The original Inca fort is integrated into the main building, the chapel and the dining room. The main building (Casa Inca) is located around the patio and has 2 suites and 3 standard rooms. Casa del Callo is a separate building with 1 suite and 2 standard rooms plus a common area with kitchen and is therefore more suitable for families. Casa Cotopaxi is a beautifully restored stable with 2 suites and has views of Cotopaxi. The suite at Casa de Callo also has a view of the volcano. Ije gets here an extensive tour of the estate. Also feeding the llamas is included in the package.
Included are the three meals, a welcome drink and the use of bicycles.
For more info see www.incahacienda.com

Cotopaxi National Park

The Cotopaxi volcano

The driver will pick you up at the hotel in the morning. The National Park is an hour's drive from Quito. On clear days you can admire the mountain from afar. After a short stop at the Mariscal Sucre information point, where you will receive some explanation about the region and the volcano, we continue to 4500 m altitude. From here we go to the refuge which is 365 meters higher. It is a very steep walk that takes us at least an hour due to the high altitude. Then we descend to the Limpiopungo Lake which lies at the foot of the volcano. This lake is fed by a volcanic glacier; you often see wild horses grazing and Andean foxes hunting. Then we return to the hotel by car.
Difficulty: light-moderate.
What to bring: sun and rain protection, water, sports footwear, camera and warm clothes.
Duration: 6 hours
Includes: English speaking guide, transport and lunch box

Hacienda San Agustin - standard room double with breakfast, lunch and dinner

Transfer to the airport - return flight

Transfer from Cotopaxi to Quito in private car (SP language driver)

You will be transferred to the airport in Quito. This is a 1.5 hour drive through the mountains.

Return flight from Quito