Amazon and Galapagos
From the Amazon Rainforest to the Galapagos Islands, you will explore the magnificent ecological wonders of Ecuador.
Your journey begins with a morning flight over the Andes to Coca, in the Amazon Rainforest, for a four-night jungle expedition. From the airfield, take a riverboat down the Napo River and a dugout canoe up a blackwater creek to the lake and lodge. Located within the Yasuní National Park, the Napo Wildlife Center was established by a conservation group to guard the 52,000-acre Añangu Reserve. It protects 562 bird species (including Scarlet Macaws and Mealy Amazon Parrots), Giant Otters, Jaguars, Black Caimans, Harpy Eagles, Crested Eagles, Common Woolly Monkeys, Black Spider Monkeys and nine other primates. Your rainforest excursions will be led by a native Añangu guide, an expert on the rainforest's secrets, and a naturalist, knowledgeable in tropical forest biology. After exploring the wildlife treasures, including the parrot clay licks, return by canoe, riverboat and plane to Quito for dinner and special colonial by night tour with special access to churches.
You will explore the cobblestone streets of Ecuador's capital, founded in the 16th century, through centuries-old parks and plazas to churches filled with gold; you'll contemplate Gothic, baroque, Moorish and neo-classical art, In the evening, take a horse-drawn carriage past the beautifully illuminated façades of Spanish monuments.
A flight the next morning takes you from the peaks of the Andes to the Galapagos Islands. Cruising for eight days aboard an intimate luxury yacht and making twice-daily landings with a naturalist, you'll encounter the animals that inspired Charles Darwin. As you motor to other, unique isles in this magnificent archipelago, you'll see the adaptations of the wildlife to their differing environments that led Darwin to his theory of evolution by means of natural selection.
Return to the mainland for your last night in Quito, where you'll dine at a gourmet restaurant (and we offer culinary tours so we are confident of our selections!),
For an appreciation of the volcanic splendor, native cultures and Spanish colonial life of the Andes, consider adding one of our luxury hacienda tours.
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