Day 1 Quito Colonial City Welcome to Quito! The biggest, best-preserved colonial city of America was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. The city is considered the Cultural Capital of South America and the second most important city of the old Inca Empire. Depending on arrival time, you can spend your day exploring the town of Quito and the surrounding area. Adventure Journeys can help you to organize a day trip. In the evening, one of our trip leaders will meet you at the hotel at 18:00 pm for a welcome briefing and there will be plenty of time to discuss details and answer any questions you may have regarding the adventure. Our first day is an informational and acclimation day. Accommodation: Mercure Hotel or similar
Day 2 Flight to Coca and enter the Yasuni Park Today we will catch a morning flight to Coca town and begin our adventure. We will take a scenic drive to the Tiputini River at the entrance of the YASUNI National park and while the guides prepare our gear, we will enjoy a riverside picnic. Our first kayaking expedition will be paddling down this fantastic river surrounded by nature and wildlife. On the way, we will have opportunities to spot river turtles, monkeys, caimans and many species of birds like Oropendola birds, caciques, kingfishers, macaws, toucans, parrots and more. We will spend the night at our campsite. Accommodation: Camping in Yasuni Park Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 3 Camping in Yasuni Park After a healthy breakfast, we will continue our kayaking exploration, heading deeper into the jungle. Every day in the Amazon is a new adventure: the more we paddle, the more pristine and wild the jungle becomes with new exciting opportunities to encounter more wildlife, such as different types of monkeys, capybara, tapir, swallows, flycatchers, herons, sandpipers and hawks. We will also take hikes to learn more about local plants and their medicinal properties. In the late afternoon, we will arrive at our camp site, located on the Tiputini River side. Our chef will prepare a special gourmet dinner for us tonight. Overnight in Yasuni National Park. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 4 Anaconda Lagoon Exploration After breakfast we will start kayaking down the Tiputini to reach the entrance to the Amarun - Cocha that means Anaconda Lagoon in the native language, this is located in the most pristine forest of the area and with luck, we may see the biggest and most beautiful snake of the planet. Enjoy breathtaking landscapes with incredibly dark and clear waters in a flooded forest. Over here we will discover the mythic piranhas, caimans, boas and more. Later we will canoe back to the campsite and after a nice break at the hammocks, we will go on a night exploration to view insects, frogs and with luck some snakes. Overnight in Yasuni National Park. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 5 Meet The Mandari - Panga local tribe In the morning we will go on a hike in the pristine forest to learn about the rich flora of the area and the medicinal plants. After lunch, we will take a canoe ride to a local Kichwa community to learn about their way of life in the jungle, their stories and traditions. We will also see how they make the traditional drink called chicha. In the afternoon we will go fishing. Overnight in Yasuni National Park. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 6 Coca - Quito This is an early morning because we want to get to the clay lick the earliest possible. It is one of our best adventures in the jungle, visiting the Lamederos or Saladeros (parrot clay lick) where there is a big concentration of different species of parrots and macaws, and few predators surrounding the area. They come to feed on the clay from the mineral enriched ground, which helps them digest and detoxify from the poisons of their main diet. Such places are unique in the Amazon rainforest because they offer a great chance to see a wide range of Amazon wildlife species. Later we will return to Coca and take the flight back to Quito Overnight in Mercure Hotel or similar. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 7 Quito - Departure Today our trip will end and you will have your International departures. Take with you your memories and photos and leave a piece of your heart, as you will want to return to Ecuador soon to experience more of this enchanted land. We wish you a 'buen viaje'!