Ecuador Inca Trek

On the first day, we depart Quito in the morning and make our way east up toward the Cordillera Real towards El Tambo, a small village situated at 3,400m (11,154 ft) and close to Papallacta. At this point, we will load up our packhorses with our equipment and begin the trek which will take around 4 hours. The trail will primarily be muddy and consists of crossing small rivers where rubber boots are essential. We will set up camp near a small lagoon, called Laguna del Volcan.

Meals included:

After a scrumptious breakfast, we begin our ascent toward the foot of Antisana at 4,100m (13,451 ft). Until we reach the higher paramo, which consists of fewer trees and drier land, we will trudge through some muddy areas and small forests. During the trip, we will view the striking and impressive Antisana and the Santa Lucia Lagoon. After this 4-hour hike, we will set up our second camp sheltered in the valley with a refreshing small creek that runs through.

Meals included: 

Waking, and shortly thereafter, leaving the foot of Antisana we continue our trek toward the foot of the Sincholagua mountain. This hike is much drier and leads us through high paramo regions, crossing a few roads, and leading up to the valley of La Mica Lake, a water reservoir for the city of Quito. This hike takes around 7 hours and is the most exhausting of the 5-day trek.

Meals included:

We will leave early in the morning and begin the steep portion of the hike which will lead us to the highest point of our tour, 4,500m (14,763 ft). The pass over Sincholagua leads us into the Cotopaxi National Park.
Continuing from there we descend to our last camp, the River Pita, which is located at the base of Cotopaxi National Park, 3,800m (12,467 ft). This last stretch of the trek will be on solid and dry ground and will take all together roughly 5 hours.

Meals included:   

Around 10 am we will have transportation pick us up. From here we will visit the Pre-Inca site of El Salitre and continue up to the parking lot/trailhead to reach the Cotopaxi refuge. After a 45-minute climb up to the refuge “Jose Rivas,” we ascend to an altitude of 4,800m (15,748 ft). After having lunch at the refuge we will head back down in our transportation and go to PapaGayo Hosteria with an optional stop at Laguna Limpiopungo, a small lagoon famous for its nesting birds.
Night in PapaGayo Hosteria (Dinner not included)

Meals included:

After breakfast, we leave PapaGayo in the morning and drive south on the Pan-American till we arrive after a 3-hour ride at Urbina, a small rural village close to the highway and the old railway track, halfway between Ambato and Riobamba. Close in the vicinity of a local farm, we set up camp. In the
afternoon we will explore the farming area and its many animals.

Meals included:

After breakfast we begin our adventure, leaving the farming community of Urbina and hiking up the valley of Abraspungo, the pass between Chimborazo and Carihuairazo. This stretch takes 5 hours on a well-constructed trail, crossing some small creeks until we finally reach a place called Siete Vueltas, at an altitude of 3,800m (12,467 ft). Here we will put up our second campsite. Later in the afternoon, we hike around the surrounding hills to explore the area and get to know the interesting plants, and observe birds, like eagles or the famed caracaras. We also get a better and closer look at Carihuairazo with its rugged top.

Meals included:   

In the morning we continue on and after an hour’s walk we will reach the pass at more than 4,000m (13,123 ft) and head down in a south-westerly direction towards Quebrada Colorada, an old stone quarry, located at 3,200m (10,498 ft), this will take us roughly 3 hours. The closer we get to our third campsite, the more the landscape turns from the lush green of the first days to a much drier region. After lunch, we hike to the foothills of Chimborazo for a better and closer look at this colossal mountain.

Meals included:

After loading our camping gear into the jeep we head up to the refuge of Chimborazo. The road leads through a region with sparse vegetation but populated by the beautiful vicuñas, the most graceful of the Llamas animals. We will arrive at the parking lot of the first refuge and hike up to the second refuge, which is located at 5,000m (16,404 ft). From there we will have the massive glacier of Chimborazo right in front of us. After lunch, we set out for the 4-hour drive by jeep back to Quito.

Meals included:

Necessary Equipment not included

The rental of equipment should be confirmed in advance with your agent.

• All Gulliver cars come with advanced satellite tracking devices to control position and speed, or for extra safety in an unlikely case of an accident. Every car has full insurance. We always make sure to fulfill the highest security and safety standards for all our clients.

• You must have current travel insurance including personal medical insurance. Please inform us of any known medical conditions you have.

• We put all our effort into organizing the tour, therefore cancellations require a minimum of 24 hours notice. A 50% refund will be given back. Cancellations will not be refunded with a shorter time notice.

• Please note tips for our guides are not included in the price.