Ecuador Condor Trek Adventure

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.

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.

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.

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 (14,673 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.

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 return to Quito with an optional stop at Laguna Limpiopungo, a small lagoon famous for its nesting birds.

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.