GALAPAGOS CRUISE, QUITO, OTAVALO & CHASKI ROUTE
DAY BY DAY ITINERARY
Day by Day Activities
Day 1: Arrive to Quito
The transfer will drop-off guests in the hotel for a warm welcome in Quito. Overnight stay.
Day 2: Quito (B)
The tour starts in the city center of Quito among churches with baroque designs, stoned carved facades and columns. The admirable work of the biggest amount of colonial art in the southern continent. Quito is filled with heritage sites.
Later on, there is a visit to the Middle of the World Complex where the Equatorial line passes through in a 0º0’0” latitude. Overnight Stay.
Day 3: Otavalo Market & Surroundings
Otavalo is located just from a two-hour drive from Quito and is well-known among visitors for being the largest and unique Indigenous market in Latin America. Indigenous people gather with stands in a city square to sell their arts and crafts which reflect their traditions and culture.
Colorful tapestries, hand-made jewelry, hand-carved wooden sculptures, Andean musical instruments are some of the items that can be found in this open market.
Other nearby town such as “Peguche” and “Cotacachi” also are known for their weaving skills and their manufacture artisanal leather goods.
Day 4: Karanki Magdalena Community, Train Ride – Salinas
The Karanki people are a small community by the slopes of the Imbabura Volcano. Their main focus is working the land with their knowledge of traditional agricultural techniques. It is a community filled with history and nowadays, they welcome visitors so they can have a multi-cultural exchange to learn more about their customs and culture.
In a short drive to Ibarra, there is the Liberty Train that will take you between great landscapes on green mountains, tunnels going through hills, to admire the highlands sceneries until it arrives to Salinas.
Salinas is another opportunity for a multicultural exchange with local Afro-Ecuadorian people that will share with visitors their local knowledge of handcrafted jewelry, local food, and their agricultural skills.
Day 5-8: All-inclusive Galapagos expedition cruise (B,L,D)
Local flight to the Galapagos Islands
Visit the islands with style in an all-inclusive 3-night expedition cruise. This deluxe ship will offer all the top amenities in the cabins and in its services. It features great interiors and decorations while in the outside the open areas make guest to feel more in touch with the surroundings and landscapes. High quality cuisine, with buffet breakfast and lunch and a-la-carte service on dinner time.
The islands are filled with unique wildlife that have adapted in order to survive in this remote archipelago. There are iguanas that graze on algae, penguins that live in the tropics, cormorants that swim, 13 different species of finches, tiny lizards that live on petrified lava fields and of course the iconic and enigmatic Giant Galapagos Tortoises.
Every animal has been shaped by the conditions of the islands, having unique geographical features and resources. Some have powdering white sand, while others look like a landscape taken out of Mars, with red sad and volcanic traits.
The underwater is also another world that the Galapagos is known best for; it is one of the biggest marine reserves in the planet! The diversity is also found underwater and is a divers paradise. Optional activities are offered along the excursion such as kayaking, snorkeling, and for those wanting to stay dry there is also a glass bottom boat.
Excursions are led by Galapagos highly qualified naturalist guides that will come along with the group for the two-daily excursions. They will explain in details about the history, the geography and the evolution of nature that have created this amazing destination.
Return to Quito or Guayaquil. Overnight stay.
Day 9: Quito or Guayaquil (B)
Transfer out. End of services.