Specific Information About Our Amazon & Galapagos Adventure in Ecuador
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Ecuador: Amazon & Galapagos Adventure :: November 11 - 20, 2016 Meeting Time & Place We will meet you at 7:00 PM in Quito, Ecuador on the first day of the trip (November 11) in the lobby of our Quito hotel: Garden Hotel of San Jose. We'll be hosting a welcome dinner that evening for those whose flights arrive in time. You can also choose to arrive a day early, which we highly recommend. Not only will this allow you a day of rest after a long flight, it will also allow a time cushion in case you or your luggage are delayed. Since many flights from North America arrive late in the evening, this first dinner is optional. Getting To Our Meeting Point Our hotel is a 10-minute drive from the airport and we will provide a complimentary shuttle for you. Details about this shuttle will be provided in our pre-trip email. We have chosen this hotel for its proximity to the airport (we fly out the next morning!), nice spa, good restaurant and comfortable rooms. It was not chosen for its friendly, aesthetic or secure neighborhood, so a walk around outside is not recommended here. If, however, you would like to visit and walk around colonial Quito upon your arrival please inform the concierge at check in and he or she will arrange a safe taxi for your journey. Colonial Quito is approximately 60 miles from our hotel. Please do not walk around with your valuables on your person; you should leave all important items at your hotel. If you are not met at the airport for some reason (we will have your arrival information) please call 1-800-180-180 in Ecuador or (593)-2-2930264 to reach the Garden Hotel, inform them that you are with Zephyr, give them your cell phone number and they should be there quickly to pick you up. Finishing Time & Place On the last afternoon of the tour, we will be flying from Baltra (in the Galapagos Islands) back to the Quito airport, arriving in the late afternoon/early evening. You may book flights back home this evening (many flights back to North America depart late at night) or extend your stay in the area. We will be back in Quito by 7 PM at the latest on the last day of the tour, November 20. Delays In Your Travel Plans We will provide your flight information to our hotel, so minor delays in your arrival time should not be a problem. Please be aware we will spend our first night near the airport and then depart for the airport again the next morning (November 12) for our 30-minute flight to Coca, the gateway to the untamed Amazon jungle. If you get delayed and can’t meet us at the appointed time, please contact your guide Kris Keys in one or more of the following ways with your revised travel information. It is possible we may be able to meet you in the airport the morning of November 12 in time to make our flight to Coca. Text +1-406-425-1804 or email [email protected] or [email protected] Call 1-800-180-180 in Ecuador or (593)-2-2930264 to reach the Garden Hotel (note we will depart from the hotel on the morning of November 12) If you are significantly delayed, we will help you rebook a ticket to Coca and get you caught up with the group. Note that flights may be sold out and you will be responsible for any extra hotel, meal and transportation expenses incurred to get you to our jungle lodge in the Amazon. Getting To and From Ecuador You will fly into and out of Quito Mariscal Sucre International Airport (airport code UIO). Flights to Ecuador from North America usually span about 12 hours. Ecuador is in the Central time zone, making this journey fairly painless when compared to Europe and Asia. Ticket prices to Ecuador from North America are currently very reasonable, though many do arrive and depart late at night. If you would like help finding the perfect flight please reference our transportation page of our website for Copyright Zephyr Adventures Page 1 Ecuador: Amazon & Galapagos Adventure :: November 11 - 20, 2016 suggestions. When booking an international airline ticket, please keep in mind these things below: Cheaper, advance-booking tickets generally have restrictions on changes and cancellations. Changing your travel date a bit might result in a cheaper ticket price. A travel agent may know about special fares. We suggest first checking booking engines such as Google Flights or Orbitz and then comparing those fares to prices on the actual airlines’ websites. Try flying from and to a major gateway city such as New York, Minneapolis, Chicago, Atlanta, or Los Angeles from the US. Internal Flights You will need to book your own transportation to and from Quito, Ecuador. However, we will purchase your internal round trip flights between Quito-Coca and Quito-Baltra and bill you directly for this cost. These flights are expected to cost between $600 and $700. Hotels and Contact Information Following are the hotels in which we will stay during our adventure. In an emergency, it is also possible to call the Zephyr office (888-758-8687, ext. 1) and we will attempt to reach the group. If you are arriving early and would like to make a reservation at the Garden Hotel, please let us know this and we can help you arrange it. Night 1 Garden Hotel (593) 2-239-0264 San Jose Nights 2 – 4 La Selva Ecolodge 1-866-687-3109 Garzacoha Night 5 Hacienda Cusin (593) 6-291-8013 Otavalo Night 6 Villa Laguna (593) 5-252-4819 Santa Cruz Island Nights 7 - 9 Iguana Crossing & Casa Baronesa (593) 5-252-9301 Isabel Island Where We Stay We stay in five separate locations during our ten-day tour. Night 1: Our first night in Ecuador is at a hotel conveniently only ten minutes from the Quito airport, since we have to turn around and head to the airport the very next morning (Colonial Quito town is over an hour away). The Garden Hotel has a great spa and beautiful gardens to soothe your travel weary muscles. We'll meet you here for an introductory dinner (if you arrive in time) and orientation. Nights 2 - 4: After a quick flight from Quito to Coca in the morning, we will take a short bus ride, a two-hour boat ride, a short hike, and a canoe ride before arriving at our luxury lodge in the Amazon. This five-star accommodation is set within the Amazon rainforest and boasts spacious rooms, peaceful hammocks, and gourmet meals. Some bungalows sleep up to four people, rather than the normal double occupancy. The scenery and having the privilege of being in the center of an astoundingly beautiful spot is well worth a potential additional roommate or two for our stay here. Night 5: We head back to Quito from the Amazon the same way we arrive, and from the Quito airport go 70 miles north to the indigenous town of Otavalo in the Ecuadorian Highlands. Our 17th century colonial style mansion (Hacienda Cusin) has a breathtaking view and beautiful gardens. We can hike or mountain bike from right outside our door. Night 6: Today, we fly from Quito to the Galapagos. Upon arrival this afternoon, we take a boat ferry from the island of Baltra to our next destination: the island of Santa Cruz. We will spend one night here in Galapagos’ most populated town of Puerto Ayora, in a simple hotel right outside the center of town. Nights 7 – 9: Our final three nights are spent on the island of Isabela, in a boutique oceanfront hotel nestled between a pristine beach and a natural lagoon. This is the perfect location from which to base our excursions on the island, and a wonderful, relaxing place to return to each afternoon. Note, most of the group will be at Iguana Crossing, but three rooms Copyright Zephyr Adventures Page 2 Ecuador: Amazon & Galapagos Adventure :: November 11 - 20, 2016 are at the adjacent sister property called Casa Baronesa, a few minutes’ walk down the beach from the main building. These are both luxury properties. Extending Your Stay If you have the time, it is certainly worth extending your vacation in Ecuador. There is a lot to do in the area! Here are a few ideas for you to consider: Otavalo and the Central Highlands: Otavalo, north of Quito, has hosted one of the most important markets in the Andes for hundreds of years. It is a colorful, outdoor, open air marketplace offering everything you could possibly imagine and then some; from exotic fresh fruit and homemade tortillas to rugs, animals, jewelry and magic. If time permits a visit on a Saturday, this experience of this market would no doubt live in your memories for many years to come. The backdrop to this cultural crossroad are the Andes mountains, snow-capped and massive, displaying the integrity of vendors for the past century who often rode in on horseback or walked to sell what they had, always hopeful of striking the better bargain. The best place to stay in this area is Hacienda Cusin where we will spend our 5th night of the tour. This is not very far from Quito, so it is affordable to get a personal driver to take you there. This is best arranged through the hotel. Banos: A few hours south of Quito, Banos offers plenty of entertainment for the active tourist.