The Galapagos Islands Optional Post-Tour Extension
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Ecuadorian Amazon and Highlands September 24 to October 3, 2011 Preliminary Itinerary (subject to amendment) Day 1 – Saturday, September 24, 2011 • Your journey begins as you board your American Airlines flight from home via Miami. • Upon arrival in the evening, you will be escorted to your elegant hotel which is located in the heart of historic “Quito Antigo” and surrounded by churches, museums and national monuments. • An official National Treasure, Patio Andaluz holds centuries of history within its walls and is a marvelous building of Colonial origin, which offers every visitor an experience not unlike turning back in time. It was part of the original Solaris (original building sites) that constituted the City of San Francisco of Quito at the time it was founded. • Enjoy the enchantment and comfort that this elegant boutique hotel offers, with large arches, balconies, and towering attics that gives the feeling of being in the republican era. The inviting guestrooms have hard wood floors, vaulted ceilings, original works of art and fresh picked flowers and feature colonial style headboards, armoires, Latin work desks with antique lamps, color televisions and large windows. Hotel amenities include a coffee shop, full gourmet restaurant, a Tapas wine bar, spa, gym and solarium. Hotel Patio Andaluz Day 2 – Sunday, September 25, 2011 • This morning embark on a tour of Quito’s colonial quarter, the largest and best preserved of South America. • With over 400 years of history and a strong Spanish heritage, you will see sublime colonial flavor in the architectural masterpieces such as private buildings and mansions, the cloisters and churches, museums and public buildings. • The stroll starts at the Independence Plaza, flanked by the Cathedral, the Presidential Palace, the Municipal Palace and the Archbishop’s Palace. • Visit the temple of La Compaňia de Jesús and its awesome gilded interior. • Continue on to the Monastery of San Francisco, one of the great religious buildings of the New World, with its impressive façade and atrium that lead to its Baroque interior influenced by Moorish style, with the winged Virgin of Quito at its main altar. • Return to your hotel where the rest of the day and evening are at leisure. • This evening you will be treated to a lovely welcome dinner at the hotel. (B, D) Hotel Patio Andaluz Day 3 – Monday, September 26, 2011 • Your journey to the Amazon basin begins with a 45 minute flight over the Andes Mountains from Quito, Ecuador’s capital, to Coca. • Here, a shaded motorized canoe awaits for a 50-mile, 2½ hour trip down the Napo River, a tributary of the Amazon itself. • Upon arrival at Sacha Lodge, the 5000-acre private reserve, take your first walk along a raised boardwalk through dense flooded palm forest where several species of monkeys are often sighted. • The path leads to Pilchicocha Lake, where dugout canoes await to cross you over to the Lodge. • After a welcome orientation briefing, you will be shown to your comfortable rooms, which provide 24-hour electricity, private bathrooms with hot water showers, ceiling fans and porches with hammocks overlooking the jungle. • Later, there is usually time to take a walk, swim, bird watch or visit a small lookout with a scenic view of the lake and cabins before sunset. (B, L, D) Sacha Lodge Day 4 – Tuesday, September 27, 2011 • Guests at the lodge will be divided into small groups for activities, which will be led by both a native guide with expert knowledge of the rainforest’s medicinal and other useful plants, and a bilingual naturalist guide educated in the biology and ecology of the area. • Each group may decide on its own wake-up and breakfast time, as well as the difficulty and duration of their morning outings. • During the first morning you will follow trails through pristine terra firme forest, where 150-foot kapok trees tower above and roots form huge buttresses to give them support. • For the adventurous, it is also possible to follow a path along fallen tree trunks and a steel cable zip-line through rich swampland! • After lunch you may visit the lodge’s butterfly farm to see how these beautiful insects are bred and raised, and later be free to wander through “the flying room”, where hundreds of colorful butterflies including spectacular blue morphs flutter from flower to flower. • Later, paddle along an ancient oxbow lake hidden at the end of one of the forest trails, where luxuriant lianas, bromeliads and palm trees thrive. • After dark, you may search for caiman on the lake, or take a walk to experience the rainforest and its creatures after dark. (B, L, D) Sacha Lodge Day 5 – Wednesday, September 28, 2011 • A must visit is made this morning to a 135-foot observation tower. Situated on a hill and constructed around a giant kapok tree for stability, this tower allows guests to climb into and above the rainforest canopy for a magnificent view of the surrounding area. This tower has been a faithful delight for birdwatchers, where specialist bird guides have on many occasions reported seeing over 80 species in a single morning. • Of the incredible 1,600 bird species registered in Ecuador, 587 (37%) have been seen at Sacha Lodge. That’s almost 7% of the species found in the entire world! Be it shortly after sunrise or before sunset, from the tower’s ample platform it is possible to observe toucans, parrots, and dozens of other colorful bird species in the treetops. 2 • Sacha’s bird list (including the south bank of the Napo) exceeds 500 species and boasts such specialties as Dugand’s Antwren, White-eared and Purplish Jacamars, White- chested Puffbird, Crested Eagle, Buckley’s Forest-Falcon, and Amazonian Umbrellabird. • Additional lures are Black-banded Crake, Scarlet-shouldered Parrotlet, Crested and several other owls, Scarlet-crowned Barbet, Orange-fronted Plushcrown, Parker’s Spinetail, Banded and White-plumed antbirds, Black-spotted Bare-eye, Striated Antthrush, Rusty-belted Tapaculo, Purple-throated, Plum-throated, and Spangled Cotingas, and Wire-tailed Manakin, all of which you can encountered during the tour. • The tower may be reached on foot via a half-hour walk through terra firme forest, which is an easy way to get there at or before sunrise. • You may also like a canoe trip to Pilchicocha Lake’s natural black water runoff to the Napo River. • In the afternoon make take some time to fish for the infamous razor-toothed piranha, and later follow strategically raised boardwalks through seasonally flooded forest where walking on the ground would be nearly impossible during most of the year. (B, L, D) Sacha Lodge Days 6, 7, & 8 – Thursday, Friday, & Saturday, September 29 to October 1, 2011 • Return to Coca and depart on your flight to Quito. • Continue to South America’s most famous Indian fair, the Otavalo Market, centered around 'Poncho Plaza'. • Over the next three days you will enjoy a relaxed experience at Imbabura, the Province of the Lakes, and its many attractions: natural areas, landscapes, artisans, handicrafts, Indian culture, Haciendas and great gastronomy. • As you drive north of Quito, you will s top in Calderón, a small town where dolls and handicrafts are made out of bread dough. • Continue along the valleys of Guayllabamba and Cayambe, with their dairy farms and rose plantations. • Arrive at Cusin, where you will spend the next three nights. A memorable experience will be a visit to South America’s most famous Indian fair, the Otavalo Market, centered around 'Poncho Plaza'. The best day of the week to hit this famous and friendly corner of the Andes is Saturday – the biggest market day for visitors and locals alike, but a mini market is offered daily. All day long, the sounds of Andean pipe music, and Quechua, the native tongue derived from the Incan language, drift across the square. As you stroll the streets you'll find everything from sweaters to armadillo shell guitars, wall hangings to ceramic fried eggs, fresh produce to intricate jewelry. "Market Day" has been an essential part of the Ecuadorian life for centuries. The Indian's economic life relies very heavily on this tradition, and this is where they can exchange gossip and learn of important events. Hacienda Cusin, a restored 17th century Andean estate at 8,500 feet is 90 minutes north of Quito and 20 minutes south from Otavalo. The Equatorial line and snow-capped Cayambe Mountain are 30 minutes away. Founded in 1602, Nicholas Millhouse, its owner in 1992, converted it into a pleasant country inn, with a wonderful garden and grounds. Many rooms are furnished with antiques. The surrounding mountains offer great horseback riding, hiking, mountain biking and bird watching. Within a few miles from Hacienda Cusin there is a condor preserve, 1,200-year- old pyramids, artisan villages and historic, rooftop railroad ride into the Chota desert. The 3 leather-craft village of Cotacachi and wood-carving village of San Antonio de Ibarra are close by. In the surrounding areas it is possible to visit many types of craftsmen, from weavers to wood-carvers. Everything is well organized and there is a program of walks and rides that should keep you occupied for several days. There are 25 cozy rooms, suites and cottages, all with fabulous garden and snow-capped mountain views. The individually styled rooms have log-burning fireplaces, high-beamed ceilings and fine Andean Craft furnishings. There is also a bar, dining room and two acres of beautiful gardens. (B, L, D daily) Hacienda Cusin Day 9 – Sunday, October 2, 2011 • On your way back to Quito, you will visit Cuicocha Lake and the town of Cotacachi the center of Ecuador’s leather industry and the best place to purchase inexpensive leather goods.