Upon arrival in Quito, be greeted for airport reception and transferred to the hotel.

The tour begins today with a visit to Independence Square where the Presidential Palace, the Cathedral and El Sagrario Church are located. Also visit the Church of La Compania (1605), and enjoy a brief visit to the church and monastery of San Francisco (1535). The oldest Ecuadorian church, the collection of artwork here includes paintings, sculpture and furniture dating back to the 16th century. Leaving the churches, visit the recently restored 24 De Mayo Boulevard, named after the battle which sealed Ecuador´s independence.

Also visit La Ronda Street in Old Quito. Lined with colonial houses and inspired by painters, poets, musicians and historians, this visit gives a taste of traditional Quito. The tour will then continue 30-minutes outside of Quito, towards the Middle of the World. Visit the main Monument honoring the correct location of the equator and visit the Ethnographic Museum, located inside the Equator Monument. Or, visit the Inti Nan Museum, a scientific and cultural Museum located in the exact place where the Equator Line crosses. ...read less

Today, drive north toward the Province of Lakes, Imbabura. Enjoy an exciting trip by visiting Guayabamba valley, taste its exotic fruits, cross the Equator Line and arrive at Cayambe, the world’s highest point where the Equator Line crosses. In Cayambe, try its famous salt biscuits with leaf cheese. While approaching Otavalo, travelers will have stunning views of the San Pablo Lake with the high peak of Imbabura Volcano behind it. Next is the town of Otavalo, home of the largest indigenous market of its kind in South America. After lunch in one of the local haciendas (included), head for Cotocachi, a town renowned for its handmade leather goods. Upon return to Quito, transfer to the hotel.

Note: one may also spend one night at a hacienda near Quito. Please consult with a Yampu travel consultant.
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This morning, be greeted at the hotel in Quito and transferred privately to the Cotopaxi National Park. Here, admire the beautiful snow-capped volcano and will have an optional hike. Later, head to the Hacienda La Cienega, one of the oldest haciendas dating back to the seventeenth century, for a tasty lunch (included). After lunch, stop at Saquisili Market (if Thursday), or Latacunga Market (if Tuesday or Saturday), please see information on these markets below. Transfer to Banos for an evening of leisure. Lunch included.

After breakfast, enjoy a visit to the Banos waterfalls including Manto de la Novia, Pailon del Diablo and Ines Maria. During the visit, enjoy tastes of the local juice of sugar cane and melcochas. In the afternoon, transfer to Riobamba, visiting a local Indian Market en route (if open on that day).

Very early in the morning, after breakfast, we drive to the town of Alausi for a train ride to the famous “Devil’s Nose”. Due to the land topography, this portion is a masterpiece of railway engineering, commonly named “the most difficult railway in the world”. The descent is not an ordinary one, we start the ride at an altitude of 2,346 meters and go down to 1,860 meters in just 30 minutes, in a zigzag-carved railway tracks. Afterward the guide and driver will bring you to Tolte Community to enjoy the following activities.

• You will be able to descend 330 stairs up to a view point, perfect place to appreciate the zig-zag from Devil’s Nose and take fabulous pictures.


• You may choose between horse-back riding or biking tour in the surrounding areas of the local community to enjoy the landscape and see in a deeper way the local lifestyle (around 25 to 30 minutes)


• Enjoy a lunch prepared by the local community (gourmet meals). There will be a Dancing show during lunch time.


• Passengers will receive a key ring from devil’s nose train ride as souvenir


• Passengers are able to take pictures with the llama and local people without additional cost.


• Passengers are able to visit an organic local farm to see the where the community develops agro-tourism and produce the vegetables that will be served at the restaurant during the meals.

This morning, enjoy a city tour of Cuenca visiting the Calderon Park, the new and old Cathedral, the Park of the Flowers, the City Museum and modern art, the Canari-Incas of all saints’ ruins, Canon of the Tomebamba and Turi River. In the afternoon, transfer to the airport to take the flight to Quito (one may also choose to spend an extra night in Cuenca, please consult with a Yampu travel consultant).

Transfer to the airport for the morning flight from Quito to Baltra in the Galapagos. Upon arrival, be greeted at the airport and transferred to the Galapagos cruise.
This afternoon, visit Bachas Beach on Santa Cruz Island. Play de las Bachas is located on the northern coastline of Santa Cruz. Here one will be able to see the brightly colored flamingo lagoon, encounter marine iguanas, various sea birds, and sea turtles. This is a good location to swim and snorkel.

This morning, visit Darwin Bay on Genovesa Island. Genovesa is a collapsed volcano that ships are able to sail into through its large breached caldera and anchor at the foot of the steep crater walls. Genovesa is commonly referred to as ‘bird island’ because it is home to thousands of great frigate birds, red-footed boobies, noddy terns, lava gulls, tropic birds, doves, storm petrels, and Darwin’s finches.

This afternoon, visit Prince Philip’s Steps on Genovesa Island. El Barranco, also known as Prince Philip’s Steps, has a trail through a Palo Santo forest to an open area full of nesting birds that include masked boobies, frigates, and red-footed boobies. At the end of this trail are thousands of band-rumbed storm petrels nesting in the crevices at the cliff’s edge. One will also be able to see the short-eared owls as they hunt the storm petrels during the daylight hours.
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This morning, visit Plazas Island. Plaza Sur was originally formed by uplifted lava and the terrain includes an impressive cactus forest. On land one can see land iguanas, sea lions and several species of tropical birds.

This afternoon, visit Santa Fe Island, home to a cactus forest and a colony of land iguanas that are native to the island. Here one can also see the Galapagos mockingbird, magnificent frigate, brown pelican, and several species of Darwin’s finches.

This morning, visit Punta Pitt. This unusual volcanic formation is located in the northeast of San Cristobal Island. Here one is likely to see tiny lava lizards scurrying around the rocks as well as all three species of the Galapagos booby; Nazca, masked, and blue or red-footed boobies.

This afternoon, visit Kicker Rock and Isla Lobos. Isla Lobos is a tiny rock island to see a colony of sea lions and a colony of blue-footed boobies. Kicker Rock is a magnificent rock that jets out 500 feet high from the middle of the ocean and is shaped similar to a sleeping lion. The rock is split with towering vertical walls on either side that forms a narrow channel through which small vessels can investigate. There is no landing site here but the view from the boat will make a lasting impression.
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This morning, visit El Junco Lagoon in San Cristobal. This site is reached by road and is about a half hour drive from Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. The road goes through the small farming settlement of El Progreso. The lake itself is the caldera (collapsed cone) of an extinct volcano and is about 300 meters wide. The name El Junco is Spanish for sedge, which is present along the banks of the lake.
This afternoon, be transferred to the San Cristobal airport for the flight back to Quito and connect with the international flight home.
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