Nathan's Insights

Tour Title: National Geographic Journeys: Ecuador’s Amazon and Volcanoes
Tour Company: G Adventures
Tour Leader: Angeles Valencia
Cities Visited: Quito, Otavalo, Papallacta, Banos
Countries Visited: Ecuador
Dates: Friday 06 December 2024 to Saturday 14 December 2024 (Duration 09 days)
Tour Type: National Geographic
Tour Itinerary (PDF) and Journal Entries

Tour Type – National Geographic Journeys

G Adventures National Geographic Journeys Description: National Geographic Journeys take you deep into the culture and history of the places you visit. Combined with G Adventures’ nearly 30-year history of community-focused small group tours, it’s a travel experience like no other. 

Chief Experience Officer (CEO)

The CEO, more commonly known as a Tour Leader or Tour Guide, can assist you with almost everything you could need. Our CEO for this tour was Angeles Valencia. 

Angeles has deep knowledge and insights on Ecuador and the surrounding countries. Angeles’ energy and love of Ecuador was obvious as was her over 10 years of experience working for G Adventures.

Angeles had the difficult task of amending the tour plan due to a protest in Tena which at first resulted in switching Banos and Tena (Amazon) around but later having to give up on Tena and come up with suitable replacements. The loss of Tena could have destroyed the tour experience but Angeles managed to keep the group focused on what we could do instead of what we missed out on.

Tour Members

The tour had 12 tour members; Ashlie, Casey, Brian, John, Tito, Mariam, Cathy, Greg, John, Robert, Erin and myself.

The group was a little older than normal with only my niece being under 30 years old. I believe this was due to Ecuador being a little off the normal tourist path.

Included Activities

• Your Journeys Highlight Moment: Otavalo Weaving Lesson, Otavalo 
• Your Journeys Highlight Moment: Amazon Home Experience, Tena (lost due to local protests) 
• Your Journeys Highlight Moment: Visit the Orchids Botanical Garden, Puyo 
• Your Wellness Moment: Papallacta Hot Springs Visit, Papallacta 
• Arrival transfer 
• Overnight in a historic hacienda 
• Explore the Otavalo handicraft market 
• Cloud Forest Reserve visit 
• Two nights at an Amazon lodge with jungle excursions (lost due to local protests) 
• Excursion to Cotopaxi National Park

Optional Activities

• Quito: Quito City Tour & Equator Line Day Tour (Pre-tour activity highly recommend)
• Banos: White water rafting 

Accommodations

Quito: Hotel Mercure
A very nice hotel with an exceptional buffet breakfast. Fast-speed WiFi / Internet. Was on a very busy street with local parades and partying people long into the night.

Otavalo: Hotel Pinsaqui
Hacienda Pinsaquí was built in 1790 and was originally a textile workshop. Later used as a Spanish colonial estate. Horses roaming on the estate. Spotty wifi. Comfortable beds. Mostly cold buffet breakfast (cereals, bakery items, ham, cheese etc.) with eggs made to order. 

Papallacta: Termas de Papallacta
A resort with hot springs just outside your door. Comfortable beds. Fast Wifi. Extensive breakfast buffet. 

Banos: Sangay Spa Hotel
A centrally located hotel. Comfortable beds. Fast Wifi. Extensive breakfast buffet on the second level. Laundry service used.

Highlights

While we lost our chance to stay in the Amazon at Tena this was still an intriguing and wonderful trip to a beautiful country. 

Highlights included:

Day 1: The amazing Quito City Tour & Equator Line Day Tour which I highly recommend to learn about Quito and the Equator.

Day 2: Shopping at the Otavalo Handicrafts Market, enjoying an organic lunch at Peguche Community Home, hiking to the wonderful Peguche Waterfall

Day 3: Learning about weaving at the Tahuantinsuyo Weaving Workshop, trying bizcoho (very tasty) and agave nectar, enjoying the hot springs waters at Papallacta

Day 4: Exploring the Cotopaxi National Park and the amazing Cotopaxi Volcano, Hiking around Laguna De Limpiopungo, spotting a rare condor

Day 5: Trying the Swing at the End of the World

Day 6: Exploring the Amazon forest at the Jardin Botanico Las Orquideas (Botanical Gardens), Learning about the rescued local animals at the Yanacocha Rescue Center

Day 7: The stunning waterfall and cauldron Pailón del Diablo

Day 8: Hand-feeding hummingbirds at the Hummingbirds Paradise Alambi Reserve, learning about chocolate and coffee at El Quetzal de Mindo (Chocolate Factory), enjoying the beautiful butterflies at Mariposario Mariposas de Mindo (Butterfly Farm)

Note: On the evening of Day 8 we left this tour and moved to Hilton Hotel for my next tour to Galapagos Tour.

Summary

When I booked this tour my mind was more on the upcoming Galapagos tour straight after this one, but that was a mistake. The landscape, culture and wildlife of Ecuador are worth a trip by itself and I’d recommend it.

While losing a stay in the Amazon was disappointing the resilience of G Adventures to work out suitable replacements (not as good as Amazon but very good in their own right) highlights why this is a good tour company. They couldn’t risk our safety but they also wanted to show off a beautiful country.