School Adventure - Andes to the Amazon
Holiday Itinerary
Day 1: Arriving at Quito Airport in the morning, we meet our KE representative and transfer to the group hostal and have the afternoon free to explore the city.
Day 2: We drive north to Otavalo and make an easy trek around the caldera rim above Cuicocha Lake. Then drive to Peguche and overnight in a hosteria.
Day 3: Community project in the Afro-Ecuadorian village of Tumbabiro in the Ibarra region. There are opportunities for useful project work including helping to renovate the school or medical centre. Overnight hosteria.
Day 4: Second day of the community project.
Day 5: A visit to the Parque Condor in San Pablo. We will hopefully take the children of Tambabiro with us. Parque Condor is a rehabilitation centre for birds of prey and condors. They aim to educate the local children about these magnificent birds.
Day 6: Drive to Esperanza, to begin our trek to the summit of the volcano, Cubilche. This provides an easy trek on a well-defined trail, with good views. Return to Esperanza and a hosteria.
Day 7: Drive to the east side of Imbabura (4609m/15120ft) and make the 6-hour round trip to the top of this volcano. Descend and drive to the hot springs at Chachimbiro. Overnight in the hosteria at Paguche.
Day 8: After breakfast, we drive to Otavalo to spend a couple of hours checking out the various markets in the town. Then return drive southwards to Quito. Hostal.
Day 9: In the morning, we have the chance to visit the pre-Columbian museum in Quito, then drive south to Riobamba. Overnight in the Urbina Hut at 3600 metres / 11800 feet.
Day 10: Today, we start out on the short circuit trek around Chimborazo, walking for 5 hours between the Carihuairazo and Chimborazo valleys. We set up camp at an altitude of 4100 metres / 13448 feet.
Day 11: The second day of this trek takes us through paramo grassland, beneath the towering Chimborazo. Our path climbs for 100 metres and then continues along the upper slopes of the Abraspungo Valley, with good views of both Chimborazo and Carihuairazo. We have only a slight height gain today, our overnight camp is at 4200 metres.
Day 12: We trek to the rapidly shrinking glacier of Chimborazo. This is shocking evidence of the effect of global warming. We then drive to Riobamba and our hostal in Baņos.
Day 13: Today we rent bikes and bike toward the Pailon del Diablo Waterfalls. We return to Baņos by car (bikes transported on the roof). Overnight at our hostal.
Day 14: Today, we start our visit to the Amazon jungle with a drive down into the Puyo district, stopping off at viewpoints en route. At Misahualli, we check in to our jungle lodge.
Day 15: The first of 2 days of rainforest activities. We use canoes to explore the reserve area known as AmaZOOnica, swim in the river and have an afternoon demonstration by a local shaman.
Day 16: A second day in the jungle, hiking on forest trails with a naturalist guide and looking out for animal species.
Day 17: After breakfast at the lodge, we make the long drive back to Quito, where we check in to the group hostal.
Day 18: After an early wake-up call, we transfer to the airport and check in for our return flight to the UK
