VIVAECUADOR & GALAPAGOS
1st Day: Arrival in the city of Quito.
Welcome to Ecuador! After clearing customs and immigration, you will collect your baggage and enter the arrival hall. Your private driver will greet you and assist you with the transfer to your hotel.
Once in the hotel, you will have a free afternoon so you can get settled in your room and also adapt to the height of the beautiful city of Quito. You can also admire the surroundings of this wonderful city.
In the evening, a traditional welcome dinner will be the perfect end to this exciting day.
2nd Day: Knowing the wonderful Capital and Baroque Art – El Panecillo, Quito.
Enjoy a delicious breakfast at our hotel before starting the day. On this day we will dedicate ourselves to discover the wonderful capital of Ecuador, we will visit the colonial center of Quito and its churches: the cathedral, La Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús (The church of the Society of Jesus), La Iglesia de San Francisco (The church of San Francisco), and other masterpieces of Quito’s Baroque art; we will take a walk through the colonial center of Quito and the exteriors of the Palacio de Carondelet (Carondelet Palace).
Lunch ( Lunch in the surroundings- free)
You will be accompanied by a guide to El Panecillo (10 minutes by car from downtown) a hill crowned by the statue of La Virgen de Quito (Virgin of Quito), this place offers a wonderful panoramic view of the city.
Our staff will transfer you to your hotel for a free afternoon. Dinner and accommodation.
3rd Day: Towards La Mitad del Mundo (Half of the World).
We will make a stop at the “0º latitude” spot, where a 54-meters diameter circular platform represents the equator. “La Mitad del Mundo” monument shows us the most famous example of a city divided between two hemispheres, the north and the south. At the foot of the monument we will see a drawn line, which represents the imaginary edge
between the two hemispheres of the terrestrial globe. The most beautiful experience that our travelers can enjoy is to place one foot on each side of this line, take a picture and have the best memory of their lives right in the center of the Earth. We will be exactly in the middle of the world, where gravity has a notable decrease, for this reason when the traveler is in La Mitad del Mundo, his weight is less than anywhere else on Earth.
We will have time for lunch.
Following this we will visit the Intiñán museum, where we can perform entertaining activities on the effects of gravity. Once this day’s activities end you will be transferred to the hotel in Quito, you can enjoy a free afternoon in the city. Accommodation.
4th Day: Mindo. Visit to the Jardín de colibríes (Hummingbird Garden). Chocolate and nature.
The Mindo Protected Reserve area (1,300 meters above sea level). Located northwest of Quito, is one of the highest biodiversity sites in the world, this area is also known as the bird watcher’s paradise. In this place you can practice many unique activities that include a zip line, tarabita (a kind of a cable car), rappel, tubes, a chocolate factory and much moreWe will admire the landscape of the Andes Mountains.
Our first stop will be the visit to the hummingbird garden (Jardín de colibríes), a local farm to see 10 to 20 species of hummingbirds (depending on the season or time of the day). Lunch free.
Next is the Chocolate Tour, this is a magnificent tour where you will have the company of your bilingual guide who will show you all the processes of cocoa: the plantations from when it is a seed, to the tasting of 100% organic pure chocolate, A delicious brownie, a hot chocolate and different chocolate bars with different percentages and combinations.
Return to Quito , dinner(included) and Accommodation.
5th Day. Quito – Cotopaxi.
Enjoy a delicious breakfast at the hotel. Ready to take you on the Cotopaxi route, where we will see the Cotopaxi volcano closer to appreciate its majesty. The Cotopaxi is classified as a stratovolcano and is part of the Pacific Fire Belt. It formed with large explosions and over time with alternating layers of magma creating the shape of the cone we see today.
We will immediately enter the Cotopaxi National Park, from where we will have the opportunity to observe some endemic animal species in the area (depending on the weather).
We will tour around the slopes of the volcano and reach the Limpiopungo Lagoon. We will walk around the lagoon where you can take photos and immortalize the magnificent image of the volcano reflected in the Lagoon. Remember to always do it at a slow pace because at the height where we will be, the oxygen level is lower .
Lunch in the surroundings.
Once finished our tour and walk on the slopes of the volcano we will go to the hotel.
Accommodation in Quito.
6th Day. This morning, we’ll explore Otavalo’s renowned artisan market
Enjoy an early morning breakfast at the hotel. Continuing our journey, a brief stop is made at the Mira Lago to take some photos of the San Pablo Lake. Next stop is the picturesque city of Otavalo, famous for having one of the largest indigenous fairs in Latin America, where its skilled craftsmen expose all their crafts and fabrics recognized worldwide. In the afternoon we’re visiting the towns of Cotacachi and San Antonio. Return to Quito. Accommodation.
7th Day Arrival to Baltra : Activities: Starting with high part: Los Gemelos, lava tunnels, giant tortoises + lunch at the port or at the ranch (with assistance and transfer service)
Transfer from the hotel Quito to the airport.
At the Baltra airport our staff will be waiting for you and will assist you to take the Lobitos Company bus, the bus will take us to the Itabaca canal where We will take a boat to cross to Santa Cruz Island, there our private vehicle will be waiting for you.
Our first visit site will be the craters of collapse called Los Gemelos and the Escalesia forest (endemic plant of the islands), after a walking tour we will take our vehicle to go to the ranch where we will be able to observe the Giant Tortoises in their natural state, and visit the lava tunnels.
Transfer Hotel.
8th Day. Tour of Bahía (Lobería, Canal de las Tintoreras, Canal del Amor, Playa de los Perros, Las Grietas) & Playa Tortuga Bay (you can practice kayak, hike or rest pleasantly)
The pick up will be at 07:00 at your hotel to move to the pier where we will take our boat to start our tour, we can swim with sea lions, see sea turtles, as well see sharks and many birds animals marine, we will have two types of walks, two places to snorkeling and in the cracks we can swim, practice snorkel or Freediving.
Return for lunch (Free)
Pm. Playa Tortuga Bay: After lunch with our staff we will go for a walk from the entrance to Tortuga Bay beach, one of the most beautiful of the islands, there we will see a colony of marine iguanas. We will have the opportunity to see baby sharks, birds and enjoy a pleasant rest.
In this wonderful place you can practice kayak. (We can add them to our tour or rent them directly on the beach),
Ends at 18:00
9th Day. Isabela Tour :
- Ferry
- Tintoreras
- Humedales
- Poza de los Flamingos
At 06:50 we moved to the Main Dock of Puerto Ayora, to have the luggage checked at the quarantine offices, and then board a speedboat, to transport to Isabela Island.
You will take a walking tour through the Poza de Flamingos, Puerta del Jeli, and Poza Baltazar, until you reach the Arnaldo Tupiza Terrestrial Turtle Breeding Center, here you can see the giant Galapagos turtles from the small ones to the huge ones of over 150 years old.
10th Day . Seymour & The Gordon Rocks
The Gordon Rocks are ideal to see hammerhead sharks in Galapagos.
In the morning, our driver will pick you up at your hotel and go to Itabaca Canal, where we will start our tour.
11th Day. Tour a Pinzón + Roca “without name” or playa La Fe + Experiential Fishing + Snorkeling.
After a journey of approximately 1 hour from Puerto Ayora we arrive at the penguin bay of Pinzón Island, it has turquoise and crystal clear water, we will be able to observe countless fish of all sizes and colors, baby and adult sea lions, enormous sea turtles and the blue sharks.
It is an inhabited island of 18 km2. Recently the visit to this national park will be allowed exclusively for the practice of snorkeling. Undoubtedly an ideal place for its impressive appreciation of marine fauna at all points as well as beautiful landscapes.
12th Day. Back to home
After spending an unforgettable trip, we’ll pack our bags and head to the airport for our connecting flights home. End of services.
