Andes

DAY 1
One Day Tour
We will pass by the small towns of San Antonio de Pichincha and Calacalí. The road winds down some 1000m into the cloud forest of the western flanks of Pichincha.
As we drive down you can see how the vegetation becomes denser and the leaves of the plants and trees, larger.
At the archaeological site of Tulipe are the ruins of ceremonial pools used for ritual baths and sacraments by the Yumbos, a pre-Incan population. Here an explanation of their way of life and their organization of an important trading route between the coast and the highlands will be given. The Yumbos and the Spanish conquerors were contemporaries and at the Museum a guide will tell you more about how the arrival of the Spanish affected the Yumbo people.
At the Molienda, a traditional mill, they use horse power to turn the mill, crushing the sugarcane in order to extract the sweet juice. You can have a go too turning the mill and collecting the extracted juice. The juice is then used to make Guarapo, sugarcane alcohol and panela, brown sugarloaf.
From here we travel to the town of Pueblo Nuevo to taste their dulce de guayaba (guayaba sweets), dulce de leche (caramel) and bee’s honey.
On to the town of Mindo and its cloud forest which has more than 400 species of bird and the second highest number of endemic species of butterfly in the country.
Now it is time for our canopy adventure. A team of professional and prepared guides will take us on an amazing journey above the cloud forest on a series of zip lines. So harness up and enjoy the forest from above and the adrenalin of flying through the air with the birds. After a safe landing we head to Hostería Sachatamia for lunch.
In the afternoon we will visit a Butterfly Farm and see the different phases of a butterfly’s life cycle. From here we will take a short walk into the cloud forest, keeping an eye out for exotic birds, and mammals amongst the lush vegetation and listen to the gentle background hum of life in this mega diverse place.
As the afternoon light fades we travel backup into the mountains and up to Quito.
Combine our full day tours to create your own itinerary of two days or more staying at colonial haciendas and historic hotels.

DAY 1
We will pass by the small towns of San Antonio de Pichincha and Calacalí.
As we drive down you can see how the vegetation becomes denser and the leaves of the plants and trees, larger. At the archaeological site of Tulipe are the ruins of ceremonial pools used for ritual baths and sacraments by the Yumbos, a pre-Incan population. Here an explanation of their way of life and their organisation of an important trading route between the coast and the highlands will be given. The Yumbos and the Spanish conquerors were contemporaries and at the Museum a guide will tell you more about how the arrival of the Incas and Spanish affected the Yumbo people.
At the Molienda, a traditional mill, they use horse power to turn the mill, crushing the sugarcane in order to extract the sweet juice. You can have a go too turning the mill and collecting the extracted juice. The juice is then used to make Guarapo, sugarcane alcohol and panela, brown sugarloaf.
Before arriving in Mindo we visit Pahuma, an orchid reserve in the mountainous cloud forest home to a great number of epiphytes like moss, bromeliads and over 270 species of orchid.
On to the town of Mindo and its cloud forest which has more than 400 species of birds and the second highest number of endemic species of butterfly in the country. Here we will have lunch at the Hostería Mariposas de Mindo.
After lunch we will visit a Butterfly Farm and see the different phases of a butterfly’s life cycle.
From here we will take a short walk into the cloud forest, keeping an eye out for exotic birds, and mammals amongst the lush vegetation and listen to the gentle background hum of life in this mega diverse place.
We will stay at the beautiful Hostería Sachatamia, where the hummingbirds dive around the cloud forest garden.

DAY 2
After a breakfast at Sachatamia it is time for our canopy adventure.
A team of professional and prepared guides will take us on an amazing journey above the cloud forest on a series of zip lines. So harness up and enjoy the forest from above and the adrenalin of flying through the air with the birds. After a safe landing we head to El Nómada Pizza place for lunch, where pizzas of our own creation are baked in a brick oven.
In the afternoon options include more adventure with tubing and trekking or the chance to relax in a hammock.
Combine our full day tours to create your own itinerary of two days or more staying at colonial haciendas and historic hotels.