Three Worlds - Guided Tour

Before setting off on this two-wheeled adventure, crisscrossing the country, we’ll have a briefing at our Quito offices, located in the heart of the capital. You’ll complete the final paperwork and have a chance to try on and test-drive your equipment. After a brief briefing on roads and safety, we’ll depart.

You’ll travel through the capital until you reach the outskirts of the city, to our final destination of the day, the famous town of Misahuallí. Along the way, we’ll pass through the highlands of the Antisana National Ecological Park. This stratovolcano is the heart of the park and rises above the city at 5,704 meters above sea level. Located 50 km southeast of Quito, it can be seen from anywhere.

After crossing the Antisana highlands, we’ll pass one of the highest points of our tour, at 4,000 meters above sea level, on the road. Papallacta is a small town that hides a paradise nestled among the mountain slopes, boasting its famous hot springs. These pools are naturally heated thanks to their location in a volcanic area. The underground heat, generated by the activity of the Antisana and Cayambe volcanoes, warms the water that emerges through geological fissures. Located at 3,300 meters above sea level, it’s a unique place where you’ll begin to feel the effects of climate change. The colorful flowers suddenly disappear, and the tundra begins to shine.

Passing through this small town, we’ll begin our descent toward the gateway to the Amazon basin, the city of Tena. There, we’ll sample the delicious local cuisine. We’ll pause our motorcycle adventure to tour the Jumandi Caves. The name honors an Amazonian war chieftain whose strategy was to take refuge in these caves when they were being invaded by the Spanish army of Francisco de Orellana. Located in the heart of the Amazon, we’ll learn about the ancestral culture and its myths, admire the incredible stalactites, underground rivers, and the animals that inhabit them.

To appreciate the Amazon’s fauna a little more, on this motorcycle adventure tour, we’ll make a short detour to the animal rescue center, home to illegal trafficking and rescued animals. Here you can find several species of primates endemic to the country, parrots, macaws, a variety of felines such as the black puma, cusumbos (part of the raccoon family), and more.

Once at our hotel, an indigenous community will be waiting to show us their traditions. We can spend time with them and participate in traditional activities.

After breakfast, and before continuing our journey to the famous city of Baños, we can enjoy the beach of the Napo River and Monkey Island, where these restless animals will be just inches away. Afterwards, we will head to Baños, traveling along the border between the Amazon basin and the mountains.

The road to Baños is unique, offering challenging paved descents with numerous hairpin bends. This place is a favourite destination for tourists from all over the world on guided tours. Located on the slopes of the Tungurahua Volcano, it boasts a temperate climate that ranges between 17 and 25°C. The magical city offers beautiful daytime attractions, including bungee jumping, rafting, canopy tours, and hiking.

You will encounter unique landscapes such as the magnificent “El Manto de la Novia” waterfall, the famous “swing at the end of the world,” and the astonishing “Pailón del Diablo. In the evening, after dinner, we’ll have time to explore the city, enjoy a revitalizing massage, and enjoy its vibrant nightlife, where music fills the streets, and the lights of bars, clubs, and pubs fill the sky. We’ll tour the city on the famous party buses, known as Chivas.

We’ll start the day early with breakfast at our hotel in Baños. We’ll prepare our equipment and luggage, and continue our adventure. Our route to Cuenca offers many options. The route will cross the Andean region in the south of the country, passing by the iconic Chimborazo volcano. This big guy is a currently dormant volcano in the western Andes mountain range. Its maximum altitude is 6,263 meters (20,548 feet), making it the farthest point from the center of the Earth and also the closest point to the sun.

Along the way, we’ll visit the first church in Ecuador, built in 1534 by Indigenous people and Spaniards, the Church of San Sebastian, located in the first Castilian city in the country, Loja, the musical capital of Ecuador. A city world-famous for its coffee, its coffee is used worldwide by famous brands such as Starbucks, Juan Valdez, Driftaway Coffee, Uncommon Coffee, etc.

Three more hours of travel and you’ll arrive in Cuenca, the Athens of Ecuador for its great artistic, literary, and architectural legacy. A city recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site (1999), located in southern Ecuador. Known for its colonial churches, houses with balconies and interior patios, and cobblestone streets, it is crossed by four rivers.

During these three hours to the city of Cuenca, weather permitting, we’ll be able to see the famous Devil’s Nose, a railway route known as the most complex in the world. It crosses an almost perpendicular wall that forces it to zigzag up 500 meters high, a journey of only 12.5 kilometers.

Wake up to orange roofs, a characteristic of the city, as they traditionally use orange tiles. After a hearty breakfast of typical cuisine, including mote pillo, mote sucio, Cuenca tamales, and humitas (a type of sweetcorn) accompanied by café pasado (a type of coffee), we’ll return north for approximately 80 km to the ruins of Ingapirca. An exciting paved road with many hairpin bends awaits us before reaching the ruins. This journey will be enchanting, as it will offer a privileged view of Cuenca’s landscapes.

The ruins of Ingapirca represent the fusion of the Cañari and Inca cultures, both in architecture and worldview. They are the largest in Ecuador and the only Sun Temple of the Inca Empire. It is well known that the temple was built with millions of stones by order of Huayna Capac, the Inca leader of the time. It was a political, religious, and astronomical center during the northern expansion of the Inca Empire.

Its orientation allows the sun to illuminate certain parts of the temple during the solstices (June 21 and December 21). This detail confirms its astronomical and ceremonial function. In the ruins, you can also find the Inca Trail (Qhapaq Ñan) passing near the site, connecting with Cusco (Peru) and the north of present-day Ecuador.

After lunch, we will return to the city of Cuenca to enjoy a tour bus ride through its streets. During the tour, we will receive detailed information about the places we will visit and the opportunity to get off the bus, visit the site, and then resume the tour.

Here is the Homero Ortega Panama hat factory, where you can observe the entire hat-making process. You will see the hats being handcrafted in front of you and then taken to the central plaza for sale. Calderón Park is steeped in history and offers a unique colonial and historical contrast that will open its doors to you.

On our way to the port city of Guayaquil, we will pass through Cajas National Park, known as the Park of 200 Lagoons. This nature reserve, which ranges in altitude from 3,100 to 4,450 meters above sea level, is home to diverse species such as the Andean condor, toucans, hummingbirds, eagles, the moor duck, the Andean deer, the Andean fox, the spectacled bear, and pumas in remote areas. You will have the opportunity to taste a trout you caught yourself.

We will return to our motorcycles and begin heading west toward the coast. The road to Guayaquil is a single-lane, fully paved road. On this part of our journey, we will drive at full speed, revving our engines and utilizing every horsepower, for three and a half hours toward our destination. During the journey, you will experience a significant change in climate, from the cold of the Andes to the warmth of the Pacific.

You’ll see how the vegetation changes with the weather and the landscape transforms, welcoming you to the Ecuadorian coast.

Once we arrive at the hotel, we’ll check in and a delicious dinner awaits us. You’ll discover firsthand why Ecuadorian coastal food is the best. Indulge your palate in coastal delicacies, such as the famous Encebollado, ranked by the gastronomic website Taste Atlas as the second-best fish soup in the world. Or the famous bolones, a dough made from green plantains, with cheese or pork rinds.

Very early in the morning, you’ll wake up sheltered by the warmth and humidity of the Ecuadorian coast. The city of Guayaquil, known as the pearl of the Pacific for its beauty, its important port, and its location next to the Pacific Ocean, welcomes you with open arms with its cuisine characteristic of the coast at the center of the world. We’ll enjoy a wide variety of delicious seafood, and the city is home to the richest “bolones” in the world, with a very distinctive name: “Bolon cabeza de niño”.

After a breakfast full of flavor, culture, and the history of local cuisine, we’ll head toward the famous Spondylus route on the Ecuadorian Pacific coast, known for forming the entire coastal profile. Our journey will be on a paved road for approximately two hours. We’ll arrive in Montañita, an international convention center for tourists and athletes. Known as the surfing capital of Ecuador, this city is also known as “the Ecuadorian Ibiza.”

It’s a town on the Santa Elena Peninsula, known for its vibrant surfing beaches and bohemian lifestyle. This spontaneous and rebellious city boasts fine, golden sand beaches and a tropical climate, with average temperatures between 25°C and 30°C year- round. This day will be our little getaway to have fun and disconnect from the world.

At the hotel, we’ll have lunch ready to recharge, followed by a surfing lesson that will allow you to blend in with the locals. Surfing will put you to the ultimate test. It’s a difficult sport to master, but as a biker, a rider of the two-wheeled beast that gallops through the land of roses, mastering the board will be no problem.

After this activity, we’ll rest a bit, and in the evening, you’ll enjoy the beach atmosphere, the nightlife, and the pastimes and interests of locals and tourists alike. Remember, we’ll need you safe and sound the next day to continue our adventure.

Leaving the city of Las Vegas del Ecuador behind us, we will continue the Spondylus route. Riding our steel horses along paved roads, with the ocean at our side, we will create a beautiful landscape and a winding path to Los Frailes Beach.

Los Frailes is considered a stunning beach in Ecuador. It is very exclusive within the Machalilla National Park. Known for its deafening tranquility, being within a protected area, there are no shops, hotels, or loud music, making it ideal for those seeking peace and contact with nature, practically a virgin beach. After several kilometers of gentle terrain, a windless beach surrounded by high cliffs makes it a perfect place to relax.

The water is an intense turquoise blue, crystal clear, and warm. Inside, you can easily find coral reefs without having to venture into the deepest part of the sea.

We will stay a couple of hours in Los Frailes, a refuge for several animal species such as iguanas, howler monkeys, anteaters, deer, and more than 200 bird species.

We will continue our adventure north to our next stop, Manta, the gateway to the Pacific. Manta is a famous coastal city with an important port, known for its fishing industry and known as the tuna capital.

Manta boasts 12 beaches, among the most famous are Playa El Murciélago and Playa Santa Marianita, known for its ideal conditions for kitesurfing and its stunning sunsets; Playa San Lorenzo, which has been proposed by the mayor’s office as sustainable beaches along with Playa Liguiqi; Playa Tarqui, and Playa Barbasquillo. Manta’s cuisine is based on traditional seafood dishes with slight variations on the local cuisine. We’ll drive through the city to our hotel, where a delicious lunch awaits us.

We’ll return to the hotel for dinner featuring local cuisine. After lunch, we’ll rest for the long drive the next morning.

Enjoying the experience to the fullest and experiencing three worlds in a short time takes us on our final two-day trip to Mindo. We’ll be at 1,250 meters above sea level, with a temperate-humid climate, with temperatures ranging from approximately 15°C to 24°C.

Mindo is recognized both nationally and internationally as an excellent ecotourism destination, thanks to its cloud forest, rivers, waterfalls, fauna, and flora. It is located at the junction of two very rich ecoregions: the western Andes and the Andean Chocó. From Manta to Mindo, we’ll transition from the coast to the mountains through tunnels made of tree branches. After breakfast, a full day of low-vibrating, roaring engines awaits us.

On the way back, we’ll pass through famous villages in the city of Santo Domingo, such as the Tsáchila community, who are known for dyeing their hair red with spices like achiote.

All these climatic changes from one landscape to another—from cotton fields to potato farms, from a Spondylus route to winding, fun roads through the mountains—will lead us to our final destination. The changes between climate and landscape are perceptible within a few kilometers. This will allow you to experience our three worlds for the last time before closing our adventure with a fourth and final world hidden among the mountains: the magnificent cloud forest.

Declared South America’s first crucial site for birdwatching, you have the chance to encounter more than 500 different species of birds flying around you during the tour. Known as the bird capital of the world, including 20 species of hummingbirds surrounded by the nature of the tropical cloud forest, Mindo, also known for its adventure tourism, where you can find activities such as canopy (zip-lining), river tubing, mountain biking, and horseback riding, is the perfect place for our last stop before returning to Quito.

Waterfalls, rivers, and plenty of nature will bid us farewell on this last day of adventure. We’ll visit the butterfly farm, where we’ll learn about all the stages of butterfly development, from eggs to caterpillars and their first flight.

We’ll return to Quito along a dirt road where we’ll see cacao and tree tomato crops, among others. After a pleasant walk through the countryside, you’ll arrive at the small town of Nono, steeped in history. Farmland, all planted, will offer you beautiful colors. Arriving in Nono, which is located approximately 2,700 meters above sea level, the climate ranges between 12°C and 18°C in many areas, with ecological reserves such as the Yanacocha Ecological Reserve (approximately 946 ha) and the Verdecocha Reserve (1,400 ha), offering hiking trails, horseback riding, primary forest, and unique flora and fauna. You’ll walk along the ecological route called “Paseo del Kinde” You’ll enjoy a well- deserved break with hot chocolate and watch thehummingbirds just steps away. You can even hand- feed them.

We’ll conclude your Ecuadorian experience at our headquarters in Quito, where it all began. Get ready to tell us your stories over an ice-cold local beer.