Active Ecuador

Ecuador's many volcanoes have awed travelers for years. On this active itinerary, hikers are rewarded as you stray from the beaten path. After a night in Quito at 9,300 feet, we begin at moderate altitude amid the exhuberant cloud forests on the western slopes of the Andes.  We hike in Mindo-Nambillo Reserve, in and around the town of Mindo amid myriad colorful birds and dramatic misty flora.  Then we go higher, first to Antisana Volcano in the Antisana Reserve, then up to the glacier on Chimborazo Volcano.  In between hiking you enjoy a native market, and tour the extraordinary churches and architecture of Quito's colonial heart, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Gradually you become attuned to the always surprising blend of modern and indigenous, the mundane and the surreal that is Ecuador's contemporary culture.

Use these Activity Level Ratings as a general guide to help determine which of our adventures is best for you. Your perception of level of difficulty may vary from ours according to your own level of fitness and travel experience. Whether or not you stay in your comfort zone on the trip you select may also be influenced by the pacing we build into the itinerary, and your own preparation for the trip. While relatively high elevations are unavoidable when you're traveling in the Andes Mountains, we may judge a trip as "moderate" so long as passengers have sufficient time for acclimation. Our detailed trip itineraries give much more information about what you can expect. If you are unsure which trip is best for you, please call us. We'll help guide you toward the right fit.

Moderate

These adventures involve fairly easy travel. There is no camping: you sleep in hotels and country inns each evening. Trips may include short hikes and/or walks of two to three hours. Our itineraries include excursions in passenger mini-vans, over roads with many curves and potholes. Elevations rarely exceed 12,600'. At Machu Picchu and other Inca sites, we climb and descend relatively steep stone staircases. Trips to Amazon lodges involve travel by boat and canoe, plus hikes on forest trails at a moderate pace. In the rainforest, you may encounter rain, mud, and pooled water. Trips to the Galapagos include optional hikes on sometimes uneven rocky and/or slippery terrain. Passengers must get into and out of dinghies on beaches and at docks.

Active

These adventures include more hiking than in our moderate trips. You negotiate a variety of terrain, at elevations no more than 15,000'. Some trips include long days of overland travel. You sleep comfortably in hotels each evening.

Strenuous

While we rate all of our treks as strenuous, there is a substantial range of challenge between the easiest and the most demanding of our treks. Expect to hike 6-8 hours each day over steep and rugged terrain. You may hike to elevations of 17,000', with options to hike higher from several camps. Many include camping multiple nights at relatively high elevations. On most treks in the Andes, night-time temperatures can drop below freezing on one or more nights. On our Inn to Inn based treks, you'll spend each evening in a comfortable mountain lodge.

Extreme

Our toughest treks are suitable for those that enjoy a good physical challenge. You trek (and in some cases climb) over steep, rugged terrain at high elevations with substantial altitude gains. Some glacier travel requires knowledge of basic climbing techniques including use of crampons, ice axe, and ropes. These trips are in remote wilderness areas and include camping as high at 17,700'. Successful summit bids top out at 18,871' (Nevado Pisco), 19,347' (Volcan Cotopaxi) and 20,945' (Nevado Ausangate).

Departures year-round, on request

2010 Rates per person, in double accommodations:

Day 1  Arrival in Quito

You're met at Quito airport, and transferred to a comfortable hotel for overnight.  Quito is at 9,350' elevation, flanked by the twin volcanoes Rucu Pichincha and Guagua Pichincha (15,725').

Day 2  Hiking Pichincha/Into the Cloud Forest

We depart bright and early, leaving the city behind and driving up into the moorlands on the northern slope of Pichincha Volcano.  We're following the El Quinde Ecoroute, the so-called "Route of the Hummingbird."  Within half an hour you notice the transformation of urban streets to the lush greenery of the Ecuadorean highlands.  We stop in the high pasture zone to hike and to look for hummingbirds, then continue down past the quaint village of El Nono.  Soon the fields and pastures are replaced by the steep mountainsides and cloud forest of the Mindo-Nambillo Reserve as we descend alongside a rushing Tandayapa River.  In mid-afternoon we emerge at the main highway and soon reach Sachatamia Lodge just outside the town of Mindo at 4,200'.   We include a box lunch; dinner is on your own.

Day 3   Mindo Cloud Forest Reserve

We spend the morning hiking on trails in the lush forest of the private reserve surrounding our country inn.  We'll view many birds while enjoying the rich sounds and scents of the forest with its tree ferns, waterfalls and exotic plants. We drive down into Mindo town to visit the Mariposarium, a butterfly farm where you'll have lunch.  In the afternoon you have time for optional activities -- tubing, rafting, zipline, or more nature observation in the forest. Lunch and dinner on your own.

Day 4  The Equator/Quito

We return toward Quito following the main paved highway, to Calacali and the Solar Museum.  Located almost exactly on the Equatorial line, the Solar Museum is a small, privately-owned institution with fascinating exhibits related to the Equatorial Line. We also visit the nearby Catequilla Hill, where archeological excavations have revealed a pre-Columbian site which marks the Equator more accurately than the better-known and larger monument most visited by toursists.  We continue into Quito.  After settling into our hotel, we enjoy an afternoon tour of the colonial heart of Quito, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. We visit the Plaza de Independencia, the ornate Jesuit Church of La Compañia, and the San Francisco Plaza.  Lunch & dinner are on your own.

Day 5   Hiking Antisana Reserve

Just to the east of Quito is the Antisana Reserve, surrounding Antisana Volcano (18,885'), an exotic yet little-visited area where you'll enjoy the highlands all to yourselves! We approach from Quito through the town of Pintag, driving up past ancient lava flows into the rolling highlands of a private hacienda. We'll hike up through moorland and bizarre high altitude scrub vegetation to close to the snowline.  On clear days, the views south to Cotopaxi and Chimborazo Volcanos are sublime. Condors are frequently seen on this route.  In the afternoon we descend the mountain and drive south to Riobamba and the lovely Hosteria Estrella del Chimborazo, a climber's lodge, located on the slopes of Chimborazo Volcano, Ecuador's highest peak. Here you have spectacular views up to the summit of Chimborazo Volcano looming behind the lodge. Box lunch included; dinner on your own.

Day 6   Chimborazo Volcano

We drive steadily up toward massive Chimborazo Volcano (20,696').  Above the level of the highest pasture, we traverse the "despoblado", the vast slopes of volcanic ash and sand.  Part of this highland country is a Chimborazo Fauna Reserve, where we may view troops of the elegant vicuna, the undomesticated relative of the llama and alpaca, grazing near the highway.  We continue up a side road to the climbing refuge, for a hike amid splendid scenery to the edge of the glacier.  After a superb day on the high slopes of Chimborazo, we descend and return to Estella del Chimborazo for overnight.  Box lunch included; dinner on your own.

Day 7 Indigenous Market / Quito

This morning we travel via the Avenue of the Vocanoes and stop at one of the small towns to visit a traditional local market. On market day, indigenous highland farmers congregate to buy and sell, to get haircuts and baptisms, and to socialize. These markets continue to be an integral social foundation for the regional community. In the afternoon we return to Quito. Lunch is on your own;  farewell dinner included tonight at a restaurant overlookng the lights of Quito. Overnight at a hotel in Quito

Day 8   Depart for home

We transfer you to the airport for your flight home.

Included: 7 nights hotel accommodation, based on double occupancy, and includes breakfast & tax; 3 lunches, Quito farewell dinner.  Private guiding with excellent English-speaking guide throughout, private airport transfers in Quito. Entrance fees to sites and reserves.

Excluded: lunches and dinners listed on itinerary as "on own" (budget an average of $10 for  lunch and $15 for dinner, exclusive of bar tab;) tips to guide, driver and hotel staff; alcoholic beverages; entrance fees to sites and museums other than those specified on itinerary; long distance, laundry and other personal expenses.

Climatologists speak of the "Zone of Intertropical Convergence" when attempting to explain the weather on either side of the Equatorial line in Ecuador's highlands.  In practical terms, seasons in Ecuador are rather difficult to predict.  When the sun is out, the Ecuadoreans say "It's making a very strong summer".  But Quito is also known as the City of Eternal Spring, another way of saying that you're likely to have intense equatorial sun as well as brief intense showers on any given day.  Pack accordingly.

• 7 nights in hotels and country inns
• in/out Quito
• Quito tour
• hiking in cloud forest, in the Antisana Reserve, and on the flank of Chimborazo Volcano
• view abundant wildlife including myriad birds and troops of vicunas
• visit an indigenous market