Ecuador and Galapagos Adventure

Day 1: Hello Quito

The descent into Quito isn’t a long one. This is the most altitudinous capital city on planet Earth, straddling the equator some 2,850 metres up in the Andes. Talk about starting on a high. You’ll huff and puff out of the airport in no time – don’t worry, the altitude gets easier, we promise.

Head straight to the hotel, drop the bags, then get excited – It’s time to meet your fellow Fencoxers and start this journey in earnest. A welcome dinner of Ecuadorian cuisine seals the deal. Adventure mode activated.

Accommodation: La Quinta by Wyndham Hotel (or similar), Quito
Included: Dinner

Day 2: Experience Quito

There’s no better way to get under the skin of a city than to wander its oldest corners with someone who grew up around them. So, that’s precisely what we have planned. Assemble your new Fencox crew and dive headlong into Quito’s UNESCO-listed historic centre. It’s a symphony of gasps and sighs of wonder in there. What’s that shimmering above the streets? Why, it’s only the glimmering dome of The Golden Church. What’s that handsome whitewashed façade? None other than the chapels of San Francisco Plaza, of course. 

Truth be told, the real highlight isn’t a building at all, but rather Luis’s workshop, a spot only known to the locals, where an artisan’s family have been crafting Quito’s iconic colaciones candy for a century or more. Watch him work, ask him everything, and leave with a bag of sugar-coated peanuts. Mmm.

The afternoon takes you to the equator – yep, the literal middle of the world – where you’ll put each foot in a different hemisphere and attempt the famous nail-and-egg balancing act. All will become clear.

Accommodation: La Quinta by Wyndham Hotel (or similar), Quito
Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 3: Otavalo

Ready to escape the city? Thought you might be. Those volcanoes and lush mountaintops are simply too alluring to ignore. And you don’t have to wait long this morning before they reveal their hidden beauty. We pull over at a lookout point somewhere on the road leading out of Quito to survey San Pablo Lake shimmering in the valley below, a ring of volcanoes standing guard on the horizon. Wow.

Try not to get too distracted, though. You’ll need to be in bartering mode for Otavalo, home to one of the largest handicraft markets in South America. Hit Plaza de Ponchos and get a-haggling – everything from alpaca jumpers to toquilla straw hats is sold in this vast bazaar where the air is thin, and the vendors push a hard bargain.  

The hubbub of Otavalo always works up an appetite, and we’ve got something special lined up on that count. Cue Sacha WarmiKuna, which means, literally, “the women from the living jungle.” You’ll meet some amazing people here; women guarding the Amazon rainforest from development while also keeping ancient weaving traditions alive. Fingertips will tingle as you join them, making aji – a fiery, fragrant sauce packed with tree tomatoes and peppers – before sitting down together for a meal made entirely from freshly harvested local ingredients.

Accommodation: La Quinta by Wyndham Hotel (or similar), Quito
Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 4: Mindo Cloud Forest

Today, you get your first real hint at why Ecuador is so famed for its biodiversity. Before the taste of your morning coffee has even left your lips, you’ll have spotted uber-large blue morpho butterflies, strange owl-eye butterflies, and up to 200 different species of orchid. It all comes courtesy of the Mindo Cloud Forest, a land of 10,000 shades of green that sits on the roof of the Andes.

We enjoy lunch up there, in the company of fluttering butterflies and strangler fig trees, but must push on fast because you’ve got to squeeze in some hummingbird spotting at yet another cloud forest reserve, not to mention a visit to a working cocoa farm. Yes, that does say “cocoa”. As in, everyone ‘s-favourite-tasty-treat cocoa. Samples are, naturally, involved. And if the craft beer catches your eye on the way out, well, who are we to stop you?

Accommodation: Septimo Paraiso (or similar), Mindo
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 5: More Cloud Forest

Yesterday’s excursion into Mindo was but a smidgen of this wilderness. Today, lace up your boots and hit the trails, as the cloud forest pulls us ever deeper. Suddenly, you’re ducking under liana vines and contorting around canelo trees, a polyphony of birdsong playing overhead. Around each bend in the path is another big reveal. First, it’s the Nambillo Waterfall, gushing between moss-caked rocks. Then it’s the roaring Reina Fall, which spurts off a big black ledge, shooting cool water onto your face and the ferns alike as it tumbles.

This isn’t white-knuckle stuff, don’t worry. It’s about stopping, looking and listening to the calls and cries and rhythms of the rainforest. Can you hear it breathing?

Accommodation: EB Hotel by Eurobuilding (or similar), Quito
Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 6: The Galapagos

You’ve seen the wildlife documentaries. You’ve wowed at the pictures in the magazines. Now it’s time to set foot on the Galapagos Islands yourself. Yes, really, those Galapagos Islands.

Your ticket there is a 2.5-hour flight in the morning, and the amazements begin right away. A local guide will be at the airport in Santa Cruz, greet you all with a big smile the size of the giant tortoise, and then take you straight to a ranch up in the highlands where those same giant tortoises roam free. No fences. No enclosures. Just you and an animal that can live up to 170 years!

Pencil in some chill time in the afternoon so you can find your feet in this strange, strange world of blue-footed boobies, vampire birds and volcano cactus forests. You’ve arrived.

Accommodation: Hotel Fiesta (or similar), Puerto Ayora
Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 7: Darwin and Isabela

A certain Charles Darwin (heard of him?) sailed by these islands back in 1835 and changed science forever. Today, you’re going to learn how. The group hits the Charles Darwin Research Station by morning. It’s the nerve centre of conservation in the Galapagos, and has the lowdown on the weird and wonderful animals you’ll be spotting throughout the trip. It’s an eye-opening yet sobering experience, revealing just how fragile the archipelago really is.

We know you’ll be itching to explore more after all that. Not to fear, for a boat is at the ready to whisk us across to Isabela Island, the largest in the chain. Bag drop done, you dive in – literally – for a quick tester snorkelling session to ensure you’re geared up. (Clue: it’ll be important tomorrow).

Then give the afternoon to the flamingos, who strut their stuff through the Poza de los Flamingo lagoon just outside of town. Your guide knows the exact boardwalk trails that will get you up close to their pink-tinged plumage. Enjoy the show.

Unpack tonight. The last few days you’ve been on the move, but the next three nights, here at this family-run beach house, make it all worthwhile.

Accommodation: Cormorant Beach House (or similar), Isabela Island
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 8: Isabela Island

Remember, you tested those snorkels yesterday? This morning is the reason why. You’re going below the surface at Los Túneles, an out-of-the-way corner of Isabela Island made up of ancient lava tubes now sunk into the Pacific Ocean.

Jumping off the boat there is like going to another planet; a planet where stingrays and sea turtles move through the streets, where sharks patrol the reefs, and octopuses curl up in the corners. And, don’t worry if snorkel sessions don’t take your fancy this morning – the boat across to Los Túneles is worth it on its own, offering sightings of pelicans and iguanas and more.

You have an appointment at the Arnaldo Tupiza Chamaidan Breeding Centre later in the day. It’s home to more of the same giant tortoises that stole your heart the moment you arrived in the Galapagos. Why not let them steal it all over again?

Accommodation: Cormorant Beach House (or similar), Isabela Island
Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 9: Isabela Highlands

If yesterday morning was about experiencing the unique underwater world of Isabela Island, today is about its wild highlands. The group breaks away from the shoreline to take the road less trodden. It’s a pretty spectacular one, so have your camera at the ready. The highway is lined with candelabra cactuses and gnarled Palo Santo trees, which soon give way to soaring miradors with views this way, that way, and across the vast Pacific blue. There’ll be more encounters with giant tortoises at a conservation refuge, and a chance to explore lava-forged caves with strange plant species growing out of the clinks and cracks in the rock.

By lunchtime, though, you’ll be back down on the oceanside. You’ll hop in an inflatable boat known as a panga and head across to the island of Tintoreras, which fragments just off the south side of Isabela. You’ve been on the Galapagos long enough to know that there will surely be eye-watering natural wonders over there, right?

Accommodation: Cormorant Beach House (or similar), Isabela Island
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 10: San Cristóbal

Ready? You’re about to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Charles Darwin again. Your morning begins with a boat transfer across to the isle of San Cristóbal, which is the first the naturalist set foot on during his fated voyage back in 1835. You’ll find yourself on a hiking trail beneath lava-scored cliffs, on a mission to find huge sea lions sunning themselves between the mangroves and the Pacific. It’s not a hurried walk. You go slow. And you go slow on purpose. That’s because there’s a bit of an aerial show to enjoy – Nazca boobies, red-billed tropicbirds and Darwin’s finches are the players.

Now, any seasoned birdwatcher will tell you that it’s a hungry business. Cue this evening’s cooking class, where you’ll whip up lime-doused ceviche in the presence of a master. Yummmm.

Accommodation: Opuntia Hotel (or similar), San Cristobal
Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 11: The seas of San Cristóbal

Ahoy mateys, sail today, around the rugged shores of San Cristóbal. It’s a montage of scrub-dressed cliffs crashing into blue ocean waters so blue you won’t believe they’re real. Occasionally, you might spot a hidden cove with a sea lion basking on the rocks. Then, suddenly, a frigate bird begins circling overhead. It’s not your usual morning routine, let’s just put it that way.

Your captain knows the snorkel spots that don’t appear in the guidebooks. They’re the ones with the biggest damselfish and the most curious puffers around. You’ll lunch on the boat. You’ll spot sharks. And you’ll finish at a paradise beach that also doesn’t appear in the guidebooks.

Accommodation: Opuntia Hotel(or similar), San Cristobal
Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 12: Back to the Mainland

Day 12 rounds off this adventure of a lifetime. You’ll wake and hear the Galapagos dawn chorus for the last time. You’ll take breakfast to that backing track of ocean, wind and wildlife you’ve become accustomed to. The drive to the airport is a quiet one. These isles have a way of doing that to people – leaving you a little lost for words, and a lot grateful for what you’ve experienced.

Jet into Quito, freshen up at the hotel, and then join your Fencox mates for one last meal together. You met less than two weeks ago, but here you are, clinking wine glasses, sharing ceviche, and talking about all the giant tortoises that have crossed your paths along the way.

Accommodation: Wyndham Airport Hotel (or similar), Quito
Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Day 13: Farewell… or not?

This morning is simple, if emotional. The group wakes, has a final breakfast at the hotel, and then goes their separate ways. As you head for the departure lounge, the only question left to ask: are you on your way home, or jetting off into the Amazon for one more Ecuadorian adventure?

Included: Breakfast