Back Road Adventure – Guided Tour

Quito is one of the most irresistible cities in Latin America. Nested in a vast and long Andean stretch, the city is bordered on its West side by the Pichincha Volcano and in the north by the Pululahua volcano. This helps to privilege the city with a spectacular natural contour. Ecuador’s Capital is a mix of modern and colonial architecture and offers a fascinating environment for those who visit. Besides being the political center of the nation, it’s also its cultural capital due to its churches, museums, festivals, and nightlife. In the same city are allocated our offices, in La Mariscal. We’ll fill up the paperwork and your selected gear will be delivered to you as well as the chosen motorcycle rental. There will be a briefing about safety in general local laws and motorcycle controls and we’ll be ready to start our first riding day. Quito has a height of 2800 meters (9000 ft) above sea level, and less than two hours started on our journey, we’ll be at the hummingbird route. As its name tells, the biodiversity of this route has made it the perfect spot and one of the main places in South America for bird-watching activities. Thanks to this Eco- Route, Ecuador has been placed between the top 10 destinations worldwide for bird watching with over 650 species living in between its vast flora preserved in the warmth of Mindo valley. Once we have taken the best of this route, we’ll take the asphalt to get to Mindo for a couple of km more in our motorcycles. Mindo is a hidden paradise with a protected forest called Nambillo, one of the places with more biodiversity on the planet. To start our day, we’ll check-in at our first-class Eco-lodge and from there we’ll have a well-deserved Ecuadorean lunch. From there, we’ll head back to back roads inside Mindo to see the Nambillo waterfall, it will be up to you to have a dive in its waters. Mindo area is also known for their chocolate culture, with very fine and selected Cacao grains, hence you will have the opportunity to attend in the afternoon to one of the local chocolate makers to learn and taste about how this God’s food is made, with its different types and flavors. Back at the hotel, we’ll have a lovely dinner accompanied by a fireplace and a glass of a very fine drink, that will put us to rest for the next day.

After a well-filling breakfast, we’ll start our journey towards Nanegalito town, the city of palmito. Home of the only reserve oriented to the protection of orchids at their natural state. This town will be the starting point for today’s adventure as we’ll take the Intag road. A good three hours of back road riding towards the Cuicocha lake, a lake inside of the crater of an active volcano. Bear in mind that will have our support team tracking us at all times. The area where Incas used to sprint to run news from one point to another, is now known as Chocó which is an ecological reserve that comes from the south of Colombia towards the North West in Ecuador. This area is known to keep its temperature almost constant from 18 to 20 deg. Celsius which helps enormously to crops and wood. To your sight, is something so delightful to ride in the midst of locals extending their seeds on the asphalt to dry them and get to talk to them about their daily tasks. Weather-wise, you’ll experience the enter to high lands again towards Cuicocha lake, one of the few lakes in the world that’s inside the crater of an active volcano, Cotacachi volcano. Once at the Ecological reserve Cotacachi – Cayapas, Cuicocha lake has two small islands inside. These were named after Teodoro Wolf and Jose Maria Yerovi, and they were the product of small eruptions over the years. Once we have a proper meal in front of the lake to recover our strength, we’ll have our last tram of the day towards San Pablo lake where warm rooms and a delightful dinner with the lake on sight from the restaurant will be awaiting.

Breakfast will be served early as today we’re going to have to leave the beautiful city of Otavalo towards the Peguche waterfall. This 30 meter (90 ft.) nature decoration is surrounded by trees about the same height and pretty well-defined paths. This place is mythical as per Inca tradition was the chosen spot for spiritual rituals in honor of Inti. The Inti Raymi is a famous holiday practiced around the winter solstice here. Having a rest from the off-road, we’ll take our motorcycle rentals to pretty nice paved roads to reach Cayambe, Home of the fourth highest mountain in Ecuador (5790 ms.) and the only mountain in the world that seats on top of the Equator. From here, the offload starts again, as we pass over an area of recreation that, at the same time, provides scientific information to their visitors about sustainable resources of the country and also known as the water national park, due to the fact that’s everywhere: rivers, fog, lakes, waterfalls, and abundant vegetation. Our motorcycle rental is where we best get to mix with that beautiful environment. As we continue with our journey, with our ADVenture motorcycles through this incredible landscape, we’ll be reaching a height of 3000 ms (9840 ft) reaching the town of Papallacta. This place is so famous for counting with thermal waters and perfectly surrounded by the Andean Range. Safe to say that in our journey, the changes in temperature can be quite harsh. Hence, at Ecuador Bike Rental by Sleipner, we go prepared for any eventuality. The Papallacta highlands has few fragments of the Polylephis forest. They are also known as paper trees, an endemic species that grows way high up in the mountains, higher than any other species of tree. Since at this point we are going to be close to 4000 meters (13100 ft.) it’s a perfect spot to see the Andean Condor, also tapirs and the spectacled bears. Once in Papallacta after our meal, the afternoon will be pretty relaxing. The thermal waters that feed the swimming pools in Papallacta come from deep geological layers carrying with them all sorts of minerals, no need to express its health potential. The water temperature oscillates from 36 to 38 deg. Celsius (96 – 100 F.) which makes it perfect for bone tissues and articulations. This is a time to rest and relax, to enjoy nature and its goodies. We get to stay at the pools as much as we want to then go to our lovely accommodations and have a proper dinner.

In the morning, after a succulent breakfast, we’ll ride towards Misahualli Port in the Amazon basin. On our motorcycles, we’ll descend through the West flank of the Andes Range, and little by little see changing the flora around us, which without a doubt is a privilege to visualize that sudden geographical change. Misahualli, a lovely fluvial port that belongs to the province of Napo, is small and retired from any big city close to the Amazon basin. Surrounded by rivers and with warm weather, welcomes anyone that wants to be in direct contact with nature. In town, where we’ll have lunch, we’ll have direct contact with cappuccino monkeys. Playful as they are, we have to be aware of our belongings, as for them everything is a toy and they are happy to take anything they want. To enter our Eco-Lodge, we’ll have one more hour of riding, this time through hanging bridges, dirt roads with few rivers to go across, we’re sure you will love it. At the Lodge, our rooms will be ready, these were built with materials only from the area. And the best of it is in the middle of the jungle and even then has some goodies as a swimming pool to cool ourselves down after today’s ride. At night, dinner will be ready with Maito fish, a local dish that prepares fish covered in a Maito leaf. To digest our meal, a local guide will take us on a night walk in the middle of the jungle close to the Upano River. Many species come at night and is easy to spot them with your lantern. Tena is the place where you would expect to find Indiana Jones buying supplies before going on a quest for the lost city. Don’t forget this image as this will be yourself getting ready for this adventure.

Today, after breakfast, we’ll spend the day increasing our knowledge, learning, and experimenting from the Amazon. Don’t worry, our meals we are still going to have at our Lodge, but for the rest, activities have been prepared for you to take the best memories of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Typically in this world, what covers the most is its wild flora, the diversity here is endless. This part here is covered for vast extensions of tropical trees, plants that houses all sort of species. Did you know that one Amazonian tree can house more ants than all the British islands together?. At this point, most of the excursions will have a part where we’ll have to go across rivers. The Amazon is the biggest last extension of tropical forests in the world. Also, the place with more fauna noises there is, and that one single acre of tropical forest in this area is also home to more frogs than all North America. Here is possible to find monkeys so small that can seat on the tip of your finger and frogs so big that can weigh close to 8 pounds, a tarantula that feeds with birds and the mighty Anaconda, that its distance can be up to 10 meters (30 feet). Furthermore, 40% of the whole sweet water in the world flows through the Amazon river, this is more than the flow of the next six bigger rivers altogether. In the Amazon river, there are islands the size of Switzerland. The river is fed with more than 1500 sources of water all across its path and one of them is the Napo river from Ecuador. It reaches points where if a person is standing in the middle of the river, he won’t be able to see any of the two shores. This region is also home to millenarian cultures. Thousands of people live here from 200 different tribes and well apart from the civilization. Among them, we have Siona, Secoya, Cofan, Shuar, Zaparo, Huaorani, and Quichua, just to mention the biggest. The tribes in the Ecuadorian territory are the ancestral guardians of the Amazon biological inheritance, having lived here for over 10000 years, they know their plans and properties, their animals and secrets better than no one.

After a succulent breakfast at the Lodge, we’ll prepare our motorcycle rentals to depart to Baños. Our luggage gear is meant to carry everything we need for the trip, and won’t take long to prepare them. Baños de Agua Santa is the perfect venue to enjoy an adrenaline rush due to all the sports you can practice there: Rafting, canopy, canyoning, and bridge jumping (sort of bungee jumping). The rivers that cross the town not only are the main factor for the most astonishing waterfalls but also is the scenery for the best river rafting in the world. Depending on the season, you can have rivers from difficulty class 3 to class 6. As you see, a town filled with adventure is awaiting. Baños is also known as the “little piece of heaven”, due to the tranquility of its surroundings, despite the fact that is one of the main attraction in the country. Its people, besides tourism, have developed other ways to make their living such as melcochas (sugarcane-based candies) and close to 30 bars and clubs that welcome thousands of foreigners every month. Gastronomically wise, we can select over 80 restaurants with a great variety of dishes, enough for the most demanding. As we arrive in the afternoon at our hotel, after a good lunch and a bit of rest, we’ll take a tour around the city to see the beauties it presents. A Chiva (party bus) will take us to see Tungurahua, an active volcano, few kilometers away, and also around the city.

Thanks to this tour, we’ll have two nights in baños and that will give us the chance to do different activities depending on your likes. From sightseeing, being one of the most relaxing you can, to jumping on an amazing swing. Spas are also one of the top attractions. Imagine yourself, getting recovered from previous riding days, with a massage while enjoying an amazing view of the Pastaza river from the top and having fresh fruit. Today’s ride will also take us to Pailon del Diablo, a pretty famous waterfall where you can be few meters away from this 100 meter (300 ft) high-flow monster. Mountain bikes are also the main attraction, as you will be able to travel free of traffic all across the city. How about do a zip line over the Pastaza river? 1-mile superman flight that can be filmed to keep it in your memories. A party bus (also called Chiva), departs every hour from the city to the main attraction points, including a sightseeing point in front of the Tungurahua volcano, which has been erupting since 1999.

Waking up early and thanks to a complete breakfast, we’ll take off vigorously towards Chugchillan. As we leave Baños, it will be very likely people will wave our departure. Just outside the city, we’ll be at the base of Tungurahua, the active volcano we saw few days backs and surrounding it on our adventure motorcycles, we’ll reach Guano, one of the ancient towns in Ecuador, rich in history where lots of important historical events took place. Happenings such as the arrival of the two main freedom fighters for America Latina: Antonio Jose de Sucre in 1822 and Simon Bolivar in 1830, who fought fiercely against the Spaniards. Museums are one of the main attraction in this town that presents the story of civil wars and earthquakes that destroyed the city over and over again, and such events gave birth to different stories and legends, like the mummy found in 1949 in a church, that it’s presumed to be Fray Lazaro de Santofimia, and it can be seen in one of the museums. After enjoying the local cuisine, which by the way, you’ll feel the difference of interests in its ingredients compared to the Amazon basin, we’ll continue with the riding towards a perfect twisty asphalt road for you to enjoy the breeze in your face while seeing the gorgeous landscape. As we climb up again in altitude, we’ll reach the famous Quilotoa Lake. According to Twistedsifter, Quilotoa is one of the beautiful 15 lakes with volcanic origin in the world. Quilotoa is an active volcano and the most occidental of the Andean Region. Inside of its crater, which has a diameter of 9 km, rests the lake. Such a big crater is the product of the collapse of the volcano 800 years ago, and according to studies, its last eruption reached the Pacific Ocean. Its depth is about 250 meters and due to all the minerals that come over to the surface, the water receives a turquoise color that is brighter depending on the angle of how the sunlight hits it at 4000 meters (13000) above sea level.

On this day, we’ll wake up early for you to choose which way you would like to go. A mild off-road is awaiting and from there, the chance to select either asphalt or a wonderful backroad to take back to Quito. Rivers and waterfalls will be on both ways for you not to miss any of it, regardless of which way we take. A good 7-hour riding is awaiting through the back-road and 3 hours through the main road. As we close the Quilotoa Loop, we’ll be seeing spectacular landscapes: from the Quilotoa lake inside of a volcano crater, to ride behind the Illinizas sisters (two of the oldest mountains in the Andes chain). As we get to Quito, a nice snack will be waiting to welcome us to the office. A cold drink of your preference and lots of stories to share.