Natural Wonders of Ecuador: Galapagos & Mashpi Lodge (11 Days)

Day 01 – Arrive Quito

Arrival to Quito Airport, collection by our representative and transfer to your Quito Hotel.

Day 02 – Morning City Tour of Colonial Quito

We begin with a visit to the colonial heart of Quito founded in 1534 by Diego de Almagro. The city was made a UNESCO world culture site back in 1978 denoting its exemplary preservation of some of the finest buildings in all of the Americas. The finest churches are included on our tour of La Compania, the monastery of San Francisco and we follow with an insight to working life in Quito at La Ronda. To encompass the panorama of the city we will venture up Panecillo Hill aside the famous Virgin of Panecillo, where we will be able to admire the famous Panecillo’s virgin. Followed by lunch in the heart of the old city. In the afternoon we conclude our Quito visit at Republica del Cacao to enjoy and learn the secrets that have driven this brand to represent the ultimate Ecuadorian chocolate experience.

Day 03 – Luxury Galapagos Cruise

This morning you will fly from Quito across the Pacific some 600 miles to the Galapagos Island of Baltra. On arrival, you will take our guided tour to the beautiful northern highlands for some trekking on Santa Cruz Island en- route to your luxury Galapagos cruise boat. You cruise is a 4-night cruise aboard a luxuriously appointed vessel with fully qualified professional naturalist guides.

Day 04 – Luxury Galapagos Cruise

This morning on Santiago Island we take time to visit Sullivan Bay named after Darwin’s officer James Sullivan from the HMS Beagle. There are excellent snorkeling opportunities at this location. Once ashore we get to trek some of its fascinating 19th century lava field. After lunch we set course to Bartholomew Island and its Pinnacle Rock. This island, home to an extinct volcano, is one of the most beautiful in all of the Galapagos. The waters around the Pinnacle Rock are home to penguins, marine turtles, white-tipped reef sharks, and other tropical fish. Looking skyward you can expect to see some herons and Galapagos hawks among a host of others.

Day 05 – Luxury Galapagos Cruise

Today we begin at Prince Phillip's Steps on Genovesa Island. This island is also known as the bird island and is a great location to see red footed boobies, yellow–crowned herons, Nazca boobies and also swallow-tailed gulls along the trail. In the afternoon we visit Darwin Bay, spanning the remnants of a collapsed volcano caldera. It boasts a beautiful coral beach as the starting point of a birdwatcher’s paradise as we venture upward, past tide pools and lava ridges, to a viewing point over the picturesque bay. Rarities here include the sharp-beaked ground finch and the smallest marine iguanas on the archipelago.

Day 06 – Luxury Galapagos Cruise.

We will disembark on a black sandy beach on Santiago (St. James) Island where you can marvel at the host of species to be discovered. These include seals, sea lions, Sally Lightfoot crabs, marine Iguanas, land and sea turtles, dolphins, and sharks to name but a few. Our visit includes Puerto Egas originally home to a salt extraction industry until a few decades ago. This location is a good snorkeling site to view tropical fish such as the king angelfish. Having taken time for lunch we will encounter Espumilla Beach and Buccaneer Cove. The cove is so named as having been a popular anchorage for past sailors to seek out freshwater supplies and tortoise meat before continuing their voyages back to Europe. The waters straddling the dark red sandy beach offer a rich diversity of marine life including, hammerhead sharks, green sea tortoises, eagle rays and barracudas along with shoreline inhabitants of primarily Sally Lightfoot crabs and marine iguanas.

Day 07 – Luxury Galapagos Cruise & Flight to Quito.

Early in the day we visit the lagoon of Carrion Point with its turquoise waters. At this beautiful spot you can expect to do some snorkeling and view the white-tip reef sharks and marbled ray among a multitude of marine specimens here. Directly after, we disembark and your guide will escort you to the airport and connect you to your onward flight to Quito. Overnight Quito Hotel.

Day 08 – Quito to Mashpi Lodge

UNESCO has noted the Choco Andino de Pichincha, home of Mashpi Lodge as a Biosphere Reserve in July, 2018. This unique lodge is located on 3,200 acres of high cloud forest, some 100km from Quito and is a haven of wildlife for the privileged 47 guests. It is an essential part of your luxury Ecuador vacation offering the finest local cuisine amidst a stunning backdrop of pristine forest. The lodge offers guided tours by expert naturalist guides that also work at the habitats research station on site. You can even ride a sky bike across the tree canopy as a once in a lifetime experience and at the end of the day enjoy the first-rate spa facilities to unwind in this magical natural oasis.

Day 09 – Mashpi Lodge

Highlights today include the Butterfly Life Center visit and a walk along the Howler Monkey Trail where for sure we will encounter some rare specimens of the forest. You will be given a full insight by your expert guide to the ecology of the cloud forest and the proliferation of medicinal plants which the forest has in store. Later in the afternoon you will take the Cucharillos route with its magical pools and waterfalls and to crown the day a night walk in the cloud forest. On the night walk you can encounter owls, cusumbo and even see bioluminescent fungi en route. You will certainly enjoy your delicious dinner at the lodge following this memorable and adventurous day of exploration in a very special place.

Day 10 – Mashpi Lodge

Today you can try the air bike and cycle for two-hundred meters across the tree canopy or take a lookout from the thirty-meter-high observation tower. This is a good place to observe some of the thirty-two different species of hummingbird along with tanagers, toucans and squirrels. There is also a selection of trails to enjoy such as the Oxibelis Path or San Vincente which lead to a beautiful secluded waterfall. Be sure to have your camera at the ready as the wildlife showcase waits for nobody!

Day 11 – Mashpi Lodge to Quito

More time in the morning to enjoy the hinterland trails and following on from that you will take your transfer back to Quito and connection to your onward flight home. What will this journey have done for you? You will now possess a deeper understanding of the beautiful, but fragile, natural diversity of our planet. Such learning for yourself and what you impart on the next generation, is the key to creating a symbiotic world of both equilibrium and harmony.