Natural paradise

You will be met at the airport by your driver who will take you to the heart of the historic district of the capital.

You will take a tour of the historic quarter, visiting the city's emblematic places: cathedral, churches, convent. Quito is not only the richest colonial capital of South America, but is a World Heritage Site for a reason. You will discover this for yourself. To complete the colonial and republican view, you will visit an archaeological site and then finish your tour with the Mitad del Mundo, to put a foot on each side of the equatorial line.

No need to linger any longer, you are off to the Galapagos. You will land in Baltra, the small island next to Santa Cruz where the airport is located. After some formalities, your guide will take you to the main island where you will visit the Charles Darwin Research Centre.

Departure for Isabela, by fast boat (2h30 crossing), the wildest and biggest inhabited island of the archipelago (the one we prefer). If you are impatient, you can quickly go to the nearest beach, Concha y Perla, and swim with the sea lions. In the afternoon you will take a boat trip to the islet called "Tintoreras" named after the sharks that come to take refuge in the submerged lava channels and that you can observe from land. Snorkel to see what happens underwater and meet your first giant sea turtles.

This is the day you'll never forget: imagine yourself swimming a few inches above a turtle that is your size, trying to imitate its languid wing movements. It's stronger than an hour of meditation. You'll also take a trip on land to get up close and personal with the blue-footed boobies. You don't need a heavy lens to get great pictures of these unique animals with their incredible blue legs. In the afternoon, back at the harbour, you can walk to the flamingo lagoon or walk along the beautiful beaches nearby.

It is true that you are in a volcanic archipelago, which is made up of hundreds of volcanoes! But today you will make an excursion to the Sierra Negra, the second largest volcano mouth in the world, and still active. Here you will see fumaroles and an amazing rock landscape. The view of the rest of the island is breathtaking. The afternoon is free to continue your discovery of the island on your own. We suggest you visit the famous Wall of Tears, built by convicts in a context that you can imagine.

After a crossing to bring you back to Santa Cruz, you will take your flight back to Quito. You will stay in the valley to be as close as possible to take your flight the next day to another natural paradise, the Amazon.

After a flight of less than an hour to the town of Coca, you will continue by motorboat and then the rest by dugout canoe to the entrance to Yasuni Park. The adventure begins at this point, and entering in silence with your guide rowing and pointing out animals through the forest canopy, is in itself a discovery reminiscent of childhood dreams.

After a beautiful and peaceful first night in the rainforest, you will take a first walk to the observation tower which takes you above the canopy on a cheese tree (that sublime tree seen in the movie Avatar, a little less tall). From there you can observe toucans, macaws, monkeys and many other animals. You will complete this outing with a few walks in the forest, also at night if you feel like it, to realise the richness of this site and the chance you have to discover the forest where the biodiversity is certainly the richest of the continent.

By pirogue to reach one of these curious places where hundreds of parakeets gather, sometimes with a predator on the lookout. The secret is the clay that emerges from the earth and is a delight for these birds. With patience you will see them descend from the treetops, branch by branch until they feel safe and reach the ground. And then it's bedlam. You will then continue by canoe to try to find the animals you have not yet seen: the playful otters, the wide-eyed nocturnal monkeys, the sleeping alligators...

You are back in the capital. With a little free time to... sort out the many photos you have taken.

It is your last day, we will make suggestions for visits to make the most of your last hours in town and to buy some souvenirs. But you can also ask us to complete this trip because Ecuador is full of riches and small natural paradises exist, such as those to see condors or spectacled bears.