Ecuador
Ecuador - By Private Air
Departure Dates:
- Dec 06, 2009 - Dec 16, 2009
Itinerary: 11 Days / 10 Nights
Day 1
December 6, 2009
Arrival in Quito, Ecuador
Leave your hometown and fly to Quito, Ecuador. Upon arrival in the late afternoon or evening, you'll be met and transferred to the Hotel Plaza Grande. This luxury hotel graces a newly restored colonial structure directly on the city's main square, known as the Plaza de la Independencia.
Lodging: Hotel Plaza Grande (D)
Day 2
December 7, 2009
Quito City Tour – Ibarra – Hacienda Zuleta
After breakfast step into the colonial heart of Quito, a major center of trade, politics, culture, and art in its heyday. Right across Independence Plaza stand the Presidential Palace, the Archbishop's Palace, and the main Cathedral. On one street alone, appropriately named Street of the Seven Crosses, are seven spectacular colonial churches. Among these is the Church of La Compañia de Jesus, built by the Jesuits as a replica of Il Bessu in Rome. Just up another block is the church and monastery of San Francisco, the largest colonial building in the Americas. After exploring the mazelike streets that are a living, vibrant museum, head up the Panecillo, the hill from which the Virgin of Quito statue keeps vigil over her city. From this vantage point see the center from another striking perspective. Enjoy lunch at Hotel Plaza Grande, collect your luggage, and then depart by charter flight for Ibarra. After our 30-minute flight north over the Andes, a short drive brings you to Zuleta. This 4,000-acre working hacienda dates back to the 1500s.Since its transformation into an exclusive hotel, Zuleta has been selected as one of the world's "Top Ten Finds" by Outside magazine. After a welcome cocktail and introduction to the property's history, you will have the rest of the afternoon at your leisure to enjoy a hike, horseback ride, a visit to the embroidery project that employs local indigenous women, or simply relax in the hacienda's comfortable surroundings. Dinner will be a delightful introduction to local Andean specialties, including unique Zuleta dishes, which have been featured in Food & Wine magazine.
Lodging: Hacienda Zuleta (B, L, D)
Day 3
December 8, 2009
Hacienda Zuleta
In this full day at Zuleta, you will experience a variety of the working farm's myriad activities. First comes a full farm-style breakfast made with the freshest ingredients, followed by a mid-morning hike to the hacienda's condor reintroduction project, nestled in a high mountain valley. This project nurses condors who have been hurt, and it is not uncommon to see wild condors gliding overhead. Also see trout production, as the hacienda raises seed trout for other fish cultivation projects. Weather permitting, you may enjoy a picnic lunch here or back at the main house. Either way, count on the hacienda's own fresh grilled trout being on the menu, along with homegrown vegetables and some Andean specialties such as llapingachos (potato cakes), and torta de arroz (a complex, layered rice dish). In the afternoon hike an hour back toward the hacienda, possibly making a stop at the milking barn, before paying a visit to the cheese factory, which produces artisan cheeses with local flavors. Round out the afternoon with optional horseback riding, if you wish, or take an embroidery lesson in the embroidery workshop.
Lodging: Hacienda Zuleta (B, L, D)
Day 4
December 9, 2009
Hacienda Zuleta – Ibarra – Coca – Napo Wildlife Center
Without a charter flight, this day's journey would not be possible in such a short time. So rugged is the landscape of Ecuador that it would be too long and difficult to do it in a single day. Right after breakfast, head to Ibarra and board your plane for Coca. From this river town continue by motorized canoe for approximately four hours to the Napo Wildlife Center, the ultimate alternative luxury eco-lodge in Amazonian Ecuador. This ecotourism project includes the conservation of some 53,000 acres of pristine rain forest within Yasunì National Park, an important UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and the largest tract of tropical rain forest in Ecuador. Along the way to the Center, you will take a break about halfway through your journey and switch to dugout canoe in order to arrive at Anangucocha Lake, where the lodge awaits us. On the first stretch of the Napo River, you are likely to see herons and kingfishers, and later paddle underneath the canopy that is home to monkeys and many of the larger birds: toucans, parrots, macaws. After a welcome drink and dinner, you may choose to join a brief guided exploration around the lake and try spotting cayman.
Lodging: Napo Wildlife Center (B, L, D)
Day 5
December 10, 2009
Napo Wildlife Center
This first day at Napo Wildlife Center is a full one, as you leave the lodge bright and early and spend the entire day exploring your rainforest surroundings. Rise early to reach the parrot clay licks that lie an hour's hike from the lodge. The birds, which include some 11 species of parrots, parakeets, and macaws, are most active between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. Later, hike a forest trail to visit the Quichua community of Añangu and share time with an indigenous family as they go about their traditional activities. Hike to a second parrot clay lick, and picnic amid the parrots before hiking back to the lodge.
Lodging: Napo Wildlife Center (B, L, D)
Day 6
December 11, 2009
Napo Wildlife Center
This day includes a special highlight of the Napo Wildlife Center: a trip up the canopy tower to experience life above the forest floor. The tower reaches 36 meters high (approximately 12 stories) and opens a whole new world. Flocks of colorful tanagers pass right through the canopy of the huge Ceiba tree that is the top of the tower. Blue-and-yellow macaws buzz by, and in nearby trees spider monkeys search for fruit. Two species of large toucans call in the early mornings and afternoons, and the entire forest canopy lies before you. Besides offering the best canopy experience in Ecuador, the priority at Napo Wildlife Center is safety, and the metal tower itself was constructed to the highest standards, galvanized, and carefully inspected by engineers. It is simply a marvelous experience to see the rain forest from this perspective. After lunch back at the lodge, embark on foot through the forest again, with a hike into the primary forest's interior, where you'll look for lizards, colorful manakins or the unique and endemic golden mantle tamarin monkeys. Later explore the lake and creeks by dugout canoe in search of giant otters.
Lodging: Napo Wildlife Center (B, L, D)
Day 7
December 12, 2009
Napo Wildlife Center – Coca – Cuenca
Begin with an early morning departure from the Napo Wildlife Center, but the outbound journey is an adventure in itself. The creek continues to reveal new sights: Monk Saki monkeys, more bird species, and possibly the giant otters. Switch back to motorized canoe and arrive just before noon in Coca for our charter flight to Cuenca. When the Spaniards arrived in the mid 1500s in what would become Cuenca, it was called "Guapondeleg," or "place as wide as the sky." The site had long held religious importance for the Cañari, an indigenous group that settled the area before the Incas came here, and when they did arrive the Incas adopted this as a northern center of their empire. Naturally the appearance of the place has changed in the five centuries since the Spanish were so impressed, but Cuenca remains one of Ecuador's treasures. Today, this is the country's third-largest population center and the urban hub of the southern highlands, but above all it remains a charming colonial city. The pace of life is quiet, and Cuenca is known as the breeding and nurturing ground for artists, poets, and more recently a well-regarded Ecuadorian film director. Indeed, one of the best ways to experience the otherworldly charm of Cuenca is at your fine boutique hotel in the heart of the city. Mansión Alcázar dates to the turn of the century and has been completely restored to its opulent and elegant ambience. Rooms are graciously decorated and the dining room offers local specialties.
Lodging: Hotel Mansión Alcázar (B, L, D)
Day 8
December 13, 2009
Cuenca
On this full day in Cuenca, we soak up the culture and history for which the city is renowned, visiting the city's main cathedral, as well as numerous centuries-old churches; perusing the fine collection of the Banco Central Museum (much comes from the local Inca site Pumapungo, only excavated in the 1970s); and strolling the riverside parks. Shop for local specialty items, including hand-embroidered shawls, silver jewelry, and ceramics, as well as go to see artisans crafting Panama hats here in what has long been the center of the hat industry. Special options include a monastery visit (the nuns are in cloister, but they have a wonderful museum and a few have contact with the outside world) or making ceramics.
Lodging: Hotel Mansión Alcázar (B, L, D)
Day 9
December 14, 2009
Cuenca – Llaviuco - Riobamba
Llaviucu Lake, less than an hour's drive from Cuenca, lies in a valley and is surrounded by dense cloud forest. This temperate forest is basically rain forest at a higher elevation and with much of the humidity due to frequent cloud cover. It is part of the larger and well-protected El Cajas National Park. Hiking near the lake, you can observe the Andean Pygmy Owl, Rainbow Startfrontlet, Sword-billed Hummingbird, Grey-breasted Mountain-Toucan, and Buff-breasted Mountain-Tanager. Youur path takes you along the same route as the Incas followed through the Andes. Enjoy a picnic lunch beside the lake before returning to Cuenca for your flight to Riobamba.
Lodging: Hosteria Abraspungo, or similar (B, L, D)
Day 10
December 15, 2009
Riobamba – Chiva Express – Guayaquil
After an early breakfast transfer to the train station to catch the chiva (usually means a brightly colored bus crammed with all manner of goods and creatures) long a favorite means of transportation in Ecuador. The chiva has been combined with the historic Trans-Andean rail ride through the highlands to the coast. The highlight of the route is the famous "Devil's Nose," down which the train carries you on winding switchbacks. The new chiva train is specially built with capacity for 34 guests, with comfortable seating, large windows, toilet facilities and bar. Besides the exhilarating zigzag down the cliffside, watch as the changing vegetation signals your descent from the sierra to the tropics: bananas replace potatoes, and pineapples grow instead of Andean corn. It is truly a beautiful way to see the variety and vitality of Ecuador. Arrive in Guayaquil and enjoy a farewell dinner for those who will head home tomorrow.
Lodging: Hotel Hilton Colon (B, L, D)
Day 11
December 16, 2009
International Flights Home
Lodging: (B)
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