Ecuador - Andes, Amazon and Galapagos Legend Cruise

Titan’s VIP door-to-door travel service collects you from home for your flight to Quito.

We start our day with a guided tour of the second highest capital city in the world - Quito. Built on an old Inca city, the UNESCO-listed old town is the jewel in Quito’s crown. Surrounded by distant snow-flecked peaks, it has some of the finest Spanish architecture in South America. We explore handsome cobbled plazas lined with white churches and coloured colonial houses, stopping to admire architectural treasures such as the Presidential Palace and Plaza de San Francisco.
Ever watchful over the city, we drive to the top of El Panecillo and the 45m-high statue of the Madonna that rises above Quito. The panoramic views across the capital and the ridge of volcanoes that flank it, are breathtaking. After chocolate tasting in the artisan neighbourhood of La Floresta to sweeten the journey, we drive to the small Andean town of Otavalo.

Spreading across three of the town’s plazas in a sea of coloured Andean textiles, alpaca-knitted ponchos, hand-woven carpets, dreamcatchers and jewellery - this morning we explore Otavalo’s bustling market. Afterwards we head up to the cute colonial town of Cotacachi - the centre of Ecuador’s leather industry.
Today is a working lunch, where we join a Pachamanca cookery class - an ancestral technique that involves cooking over volcanic stones before burying the pots in the ground. The earth is then adorned with flowers as a thanks to indigenous gods. After lunch, it’s a short drive to Lake Cuicocha, a 3km-wide sapphire-blue crater lake studded with forest-covered islands and surrounded by fertile volcanic slopes and endemic flora and fauna.

After breakfast, we visit a family-run workshop that makes panpipes and charangos - a small, traditional stringed instrument similar to a lute. We drive up into the highlands to Parque del Condor - a non-profit refuge for rescued owls, eagles and endangered Andean condors. On our way back to Quito, we stop to walk the line of the equator - taking photos of the 30m-high Quitsato Equatorial Monument.

From the Andes to the Amazon, we board a flight to Coca - the gateway to the Ecuadorian Amazon. We transfer onto a motorboat to continue our journey deeper into the humming heart of the jungle and our riverfront eco-lodge.
Yasuni National Park is thought to be one of the most biologically diverse places on the planet. Dense rainforest, wide meandering rivers and mist-cloaked mountains provide a lost world habitat for millions of species of plant, mammal, reptile and bird. The park is also home to many indigenous tribes, two of which live in voluntary isolation from the outside world. This afternoon, hike along the ‘Playas’ trail in search of Amazon wildlife, and perhaps try kayaking on the river as the sun sets.

Up with the birds, we take a boat trip along the river to two clay licks - where hundreds of colourful parrots, macaws and parakeets gather to supplement their daily diet with rich sodium from the clay. We then carry on to Kuri Muyu Intercultural Centre - a centre managed by women from the Añangu Kichwa community who teach us about native culture, customs and how they use the natural resources of the rainforest.
After lunch at the lodge and time to soak up the peace and tranquillity from your balcony, we climb up to a 36m-high observation tower for incredible views across the forest canopy.

This morning, we visit a sustainable community project run by the Añangu, before a guided walk along the Mama Kuna trail, keeping an eye out for toucan, tapir and treefrogs. After lunch we cruise along the Añangu creek, a blackwater ecosystem that’s home to caiman and giant river otter. Following a traditional Amazonian dinner, we join a night walk around the lodge hoping to catch the reflective eyes of nocturnal mammals and reptiles in our torchlight.

Much of the rainforest are early risers, so we paddle out from the lodge in canoes on our final wildlife-spotting trip. Travelling by boat back to Coca, a quick flight lands us back in Quito where we drive up to Papallacta. A tiny village in the Andean Highlands famous for its thermal springs, it’s the perfect place to submerge in the therapeutic waters after three days in the wilderness.

We start our journey to the magical Galapagos Islands, by driving to Quito for a flight to Baltra and continue by boat to the island of Santa Cruz. On the way to our hotel, we tour the island - first visiting Los Gemelos (Twin Craters). The fertile slopes of these volcanic sinkholes are home to bizarre broccoli-shaped trees, exotic orchids, flycatchers, mockingbirds and rare Darwin finches - the feathered friends responsible for Darwin forming his theories on evolution.
Winding our way up into the highlands, we look out for the island’s famous residents - the endangered giant tortoise. Weighing in at up to 300kg and living for up to 200 years, seeing these gentle giants in their natural habitat is a rare and humbling sight. Afterwards, we get to grips with the fragility of this astounding archipelago at the Charles Darwin Research Station.

Today we explore two unpopulated islands by boat - Santiago and Bartolomé. Sculpted by twin volcanoes, Santiago’s lava flows and eruptions have carved out natural pools where sealions and fur seals gather on the rocks. Stepping ashore at Sullivan Bay, we walk along the 1.5km path of the lava flow - a lunar landscape of giant crazy paving where molten lava bubbled, solidified and cracked.
Proving that the best things come in small packages, tiny Bartolomé just off Santiago is one of the youngest and smallest islands in the Galapagos. Despite its size, its waters host some of the richest marine life - including a small colony of Galapagos penguin, green sea turtle, sealion, whitetip reef shark and rays. Some of which we’ll see from the water with snorkels if the timings and conditions are right. With sweeps of golden sand and cerulean waters -it’s also one of the most photographed islands.

We return to Baltra this morning and board our ship for a four-night cruise around the Galapagos Islands. Our first destination is the small islet of Mosquera, located just north of Baltra. This tiny low-lying islet is covered in soft white coral sand and inhabited by a group of sea lions that you’ll spot lazing around amongst the rocks. We may see a number of shore birds here including heron, lava gulls and boobies. We’ll take a walk around the island and there’ll be time for snorkelling - rays and sharks are often seen in these waters.

This morning we’ll visit Santiago Island and take a walk along the black volcanic sands of the island’s dramatic shoreline. We may bump into Galapagos fur seals at the end of our walk, but there’s also plenty to see along the way. Look out for American oystercatchers, wading birds and herons as we amble along. We may also see sea lions, lava lizards and if we’re lucky the Galapagos hawk. There’ll also be time for snorkelling.
This afternoon we visit the heart of the Galapagos archipelago and the dramatic island of Rabida. On a walk along it’s a distinctive red sand beach and then inland to a forest of palo santo and cacti, we’ll reach a viewpoint overlooking the bay. Some of the species that prefer this island include sea lions, mockingbirds, finches, the Galapagos dove and the eye-catching vermillion flycatcher. If you enjoy snorkelling, you can look forward to possible sightings of shoals of black-striped salema, sea lions and turtles.

On a visit to Urbina Bay, we’ll walk to a strange phenomenon created in 1954 when a dramatic geological uplift left a layer of coral completely exposed. Located at the western base of Alcedo volcano, on our walk we may encounter land iguanas as well as possible sightings of giant tortoise.
In the days of pirates, Tagus Cove was a well-known hideout and deep-water anchorage. It was also one of the sites visited by HMS Beagle on Charles Darwin’s voyage in 1835. We’ll hike past Darwin Lake and across stunning volcanic landscapes towards the island’s dramatic northern volcanoes. If you choose to go snorkelling here, you may see turtles, a plethora of fish, the Galapagos penguin and flightless cormorants.

The youngest island of the Galapagos (Fernandina) is one of the most pristine and also the marine iguana capital of the world! There are huge concentrations here, strangely occupying desolate volcanic landscapes in tandem with Galapagos penguins. After a walk, snorkelling here gives you a chance to view these odd creatures as well as turtles and flightless cormorants.
The afternoon takes us back to Isabela and Punta Vicente Roca. We’ll take a dinghy ride along the huge cliffs of this eroded volcano, spotting brown noddies and Nazca boobies in close range. You can snorkel here too, sometimes with the penguins and green turtles.

Disembarking, we’ll head into the mountains of Santa Cruz to the Highlands Tortoise Reserve for a last visit to see tortoises and a variety of birds. Reflecting on our incredible time in the Galapagos, we then leave the wonders of the natural world behind to start our journey home. We fly back from Baltra to Guayaquil for our overnight flight back to the UK.

Upon arrival, your Titan vehicle will be waiting for the journey home.