SPLENDID GALAPAGOS & ECUADOR I 13 DAYS / 12 NIGHTS I FROM $3250
Duration
Tour Type
Explore Tours
IMPORTANT NOTES:
- Reservations are subject to availability and may change without prior notice UNTIL YOUR RESERVATION IS CONFIRMED
- To make a reservation, 50% of the fare per passenger must be paid, NON-REFUNDABLE
- Rate applies with a minimum of 2 passengers
- Please inquire about the supplement when traveling alone
- Please inquire about rates for groups
- Itinerary subject to changes due to: weather problems, operational inconveniences, or situations that may endanger the passenger
- The operator is obliged to change to a hotel of the same category assigned to the client in case of emergencies.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS:
- The quotation is valid for 24 hours after the date of submission
- The price may vary after this date if there is no prior confirmation
- The total amount must be paid in full 30 days before the reservation entry date.
Included/Exclude
- Transfer for international flights AIRPORT – HOTEL – AIRPORT.
- Transfer for domestic flights HOTEL – AIRPORT – HOTEL
- Certified Galapagos National Park English/Spanish-speaking guide
- Snorkeling equipment for boat tours
- Shared maritime transportation
- Comfortable transportation Quito – Cotopaxi – Baños – Tena – Papallacta – Quito
- Certified English/Spanish-speaking guide
- 12 nights of accommodation, 5-star Hotel in Quito, Superior Tourist Hotels in Galapagos, 3-star Hotel in Baños, Lodge in Tena, 4-star Hotel in Papallacta.
- Meals according to the itinerary: 9 breakfasts, 8 set menu lunches and 2 set menu dinners.
- Papallacta Hot Springs entrance fee.
- Visits according to the itinerary
- Limpiopungo lagoon (Cotopaxi National Park) entrance fee
- Route of the waterfalls
- Cable car (Tarabita)
- Pailon del Diablo entrance fee
- Tubing (activity depends on the weather conditions)
- Night walk
- Walk through the secondary and primary Tropical rainforest
- Visit to the Indigenous Community
- Learn how to prepare The Chicha (traditional drink)
- Birdwatching Parrots & Parakeets(activity depends on the weather conditions)
- GALÁPAGOS NATIONAL PARK Fee: $200.00 USD per person, cash only.
- INGALA transit card: $20.00 USD per person, cash only.
- International flights and airport taxes.
- Domestic flights QUITO – GALÁPAGOS – QUITO (Estimated cost: $550.00 USD per person).
- Personal expenses and tips for guides, drivers and hotels (Estimated budget $250 USD).
- Any activity not detailed in the itinerary.
- Meals and drinks not specified in the itinerary (Estimated cost: $255.00 USD per person).
- Entrance fees to tourist attractions not specified in the itinerary.
- Entrance fee to the community $10.00 USD
- Alcoholic beverages
- Wetsuit and fins (Estimated cost: $30.00 USD per person).
- My own room supplement estimated budget: $890.00 USD.
- Medical and travel Insurance (MANDATORY)
This departure requires a minimum of 2 passengers.
Arrival in Quito
Welcome to Quito! It is the most visited city in Ecuador due to its cultural wealth, being considered the "Relic of Art in America," and it was also the first city declared a UNESCO "Cultural Heritage of Humanity." The city is surrounded by the volcanoes Pichincha, Antisana, Cotopaxi, and Cayambe, forming the Andean contour. A private vehicle will pick you up at the airport and transfer you to your hotel. Depending on your arrival time, you can spend the day exploring the old town of Quito and its surroundings. We can help you organize a day trip (request in advance).
In the evening, one of our guides will meet you in the hotel lobby for a welcome briefing at 6:00 PM. We will discuss details and answer any questions about the adventure.
Our first day is for acclimatization and information.
Included: accommodation: Hotel Mercure or similar in double occupancy.
Not included: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Quito - Galapagos - Transfer in - Highlands - Twin Craters.
In the morning, after a delicious breakfast, one of our guides will be waiting to transfer you to the airport for your flight to the Galapagos Islands. Upon arrival on Baltra Island, you will be picked up and transferred to Santa Cruz, a nearby island, crossing the narrow Itabaca Channel by ferry. From here, we will continue by car to our first stop in the Santa Cruz highlands, home to the iconic Galapagos giant tortoises. Here, you will visit a private ranch where you can walk and look for giant tortoises. During this visit, you will also explore some lava tunnels formed when the surface of a lava flow solidifies.
After this tour, you will continue by private vehicle to your hotel. Here you will meet your local guide, who will explain the next day's itinerary.
Enjoy the rest of the afternoon free to relax and explore this beautiful island.
Included: accommodation: Hotel Villa Laguna or similar in double occupancy, breakfast, and lunch.
Not included: dinner.
Bay Tour - Playa de los perros.
After a delicious breakfast at approximately 8:30 AM, we will walk to the Main Dock, where we will embark on an authorized boat for about 15 minutes of navigation to Punta Estrada. From the boat, we can observe blue-footed boobies, frigates, gulls, etc. We will then snorkel in Franklin Bay for approximately 45 minutes, with optional snorkel equipment provided for free to anyone who wishes to use it. In this spot, you will see a wide variety of colorful fish of all sizes, sea turtles, small sharks, etc. After this, we will head to another point, the Shark Channel located in Punta Estrada. Here, we will disembark to visit the Shark Channel formed by magma chamber swells, where we can observe harmless reef sharks. We will then walk approximately 10 minutes to Playa de los Perros, located in Punta Estrada, where we can see the island's vegetation and marine iguanas. Time for photos and enjoying the landscape. Swimming is not allowed in this area. We will then proceed to Las Grietas. To visit Las Grietas, we will walk 15 minutes past the salt mines. Las Grietas is a natural pool where saltwater from the sea mixes with fresh water from the island's highlands, forming a unique spot ideal for swimming and snorkeling. It offers excellent photo opportunities.
Return to the hotel around 12:30 PM, lunch, and free afternoon.
Included: accommodation: Hotel Villa Laguna or similar in double occupancy, breakfast, and lunch.
Not included: dinner.
Charles Darwin Research Station - Transfer Santa Cruz - San Cristobal.
In the morning, we will visit the Charles Darwin Research Station to learn more about the many endemic species seen in the wild and ongoing conservation efforts in the Galapagos Islands. In the afternoon, we will travel by speedboat to San Cristobal Island. Upon arrival, we will check into the hotel.
Included: accommodation: Hotel Blue Marlin or similar in double occupancy, breakfast, and lunch.
Not included: dinner.
Isla Lobos
Today, after breakfast, you will be picked up and transferred to a dock for a quick boat ride to nearby Isla Lobos. During the boat trip, you will observe many marine animals even before setting foot on the island. Upon arrival, enjoy a guided tour where you will see frigates, blue-footed boobies, rays, sea lions, and sometimes sharks that inhabit the island and its surrounding waters. The white coral beaches of San Cristobal are ideal for walking, relaxing, and swimming before returning to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.
Included: accommodation: Hotel Blue Marlin or similar in double occupancy, breakfast, and lunch.
Not included: dinner.
Transfer out - Quito
Enjoy more free time this morning before transferring to the San Cristobal airport for your flight back to mainland Ecuador. Upon arrival in Quito, you will be greeted at the airport and transferred to your hotel for a free night.
Included: accommodation: Hotel Mercure or similar in double occupancy, breakfast.
Not included: lunch and dinner.
Quito - Cotopaxi - Limpiopungo Lagoon - Baños - Casa del arbol.
After a delicious breakfast, our journey begins in Quito as we head south to travel the Panamericana, also known as the Avenue of the Volcanoes, to reach the majestic Cotopaxi Volcano. Its almost perfectly conical snowy peak is unique on the planet, alongside Chimborazo Volcano, leading the list of tourist spots in Ecuador that every visitor should see in their lifetime. Here you can hike around the beautiful Limpiopungo Lagoon, filled with flora and fauna. There is a high chance of seeing condors flying, foxes, deer, rabbits, and various birds. After lunch at a local restaurant, we will continue driving to Baños de Agua Santa.
In the afternoon, we will visit the Casa del arbol, known for its magnificent view of the Tungurahua Volcano.
Included: accommodation: Hotel Sangay in Standard Double Room, breakfast, and lunch.
Not included: dinner.
Route of the Waterfalls - Agoyan - Manto de la Novia - Tarabita - Pailon del Diablo.
After breakfast, we start the day by driving along the Route of the Waterfalls, one of the most popular activities in Baños. Every year, thousands of tourists seek to take this magnificent tour filled with beautiful landscapes and impressive waterfalls. It is about 15 kilometers (9,3 miles) long, with various waterfalls decorating the landscape along this route, including one of the most stunning and famous in the country: the Pailon del Diablo.
We will have a break for lunch at a local restaurant and spend the afternoon exploring this beautiful place.
Included: accommodation: Hotel Sangay in Standard Double Room, breakfast, and lunch.
Not included: dinner.
Baños - Tena Itamandi Lodge.
After breakfast, we will take the route to Tena, often called Ecuador's gateway to the Amazon. Around 12:00 PM, we will start the journey to Itamandi Ecolodge. At the Arajuno River bridge, we will take a motorized canoe upstream for 20 minutes to reach Itamandi. During the trip, you can observe the magic and beauty of the Amazon rainforest. At the dock, our staff will welcome you and provide brief information about your accommodation and activities. At 1:30 PM, we will have lunch, and in the afternoon, we will go tubing, weather permitting. After enjoying a delicious meal and getting comfortable, we will prepare for our first activity in the Amazon rainforest.
6:30 PM: Optional night walk. A flashlight and camera are essential for this night excursion, allowing guests to listen and capture the sounds of night creatures like fishing bats, owls, some insects, tarantulas, toads, frogs, and possibly snakes. If the sky is clear, we might have the opportunity to observe many stars.
7:30 PM: Dinner.
Included: accommodation: Itamandi Lodge Standard Double Room, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Tena - Itamandi Lodge
7:00 – 8:30 AM: Breakfast.
9:00 or 9:30 AM: After breakfast, we will hike through primary and secondary forest, lasting 2 1⁄2 to 3 hours.
1:00 PM: Lunch.
2:30 PM: In the afternoon, we will visit a Kichwa community, they will welcome us, and we will learn about their lifestyle and interaction with the forest. This visit shows a part of the Amazon not found on maps: the daily life of Amazonian people. Part of our visit includes sharing the famous "chicha," a fermented yucca drink used in their celebrations and daily consumption. We will participate in the preparation of this drink and try some traditional dishes. The visit ends with a traditional dance performed by the community's children, and we will have time to buy some handicrafts made by local artisans. This small business greatly supports the daily life of the indigenous people in the area.
7:30 PM: Dinner.
Included: accommodation: Itamandi Lodge Standard Double Room, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Tena - Itamandi Lodge - Papallacta Hot Springs.
Early in the morning, there will be a bird-watching excursion, weather permitting.
After breakfast, we will check out and continue our journey to Papallacta hot springs, where you can enjoy relaxation time.
Included: accommodation: Termas Papallacta in double occupancy, breakfast.
Not included: lunch and dinner.
Papallacta - Quito.
After a delicious breakfast, we will hike the La Isla Trail, where your guide will explain the richness of this ecosystem called Cloud Forest. Along the trail, you may find orchids and colorful birds.
We will check out, and your guide will recommend a place for a delicious lunch before returning to Quito.
Included: accommodation: Hotel Mercure or similar in double occupancy, breakfast.
Not included: lunch and dinner.
Departure
Today our journey will end with your international departures. Take with you your memories and photos, and leave a piece of your heart, as you will soon want to return to Ecuador to experience more of this enchanted land. We wish you a "safe trip!"
Included: breakfast.
Not included: lunch and dinner.
This departure requires a minimum of 2 passengers.
