8-Day Ecuador's Must-See Highlights

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Today you will visit Quito's historic centre. The tour will begin early in the morning to have enough time to see the best highlights of the city. First, you'll head to a lookout to get a great view of Quito and then you will visit the beautiful historic centre area, that is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site. During the tour, you'll visit Church and Monastery of San Francisco, Carondelet Palace and the Cathedral of Quito. Afterwards, you'll enjoy a chocolate tasting at Pacari!

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This morning after breakfast, you'll check out and visit the "Man Chapel" from the Ecuadorian artist Oswaldo Guayasamín. Afterwards, you will visit the site of the "Mitad del Mundo" where you can put one foot in the Southern hemisphere and the other in the Northern hemisphere in the middle of the world! Afterwards, you'll visit the Intinan Solar Museum in the foothills of the Andes Mountains before arriving at La Bicok EcoLodge where you'll stay overnight.

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This morning, you'll head out to explore the Mindo Valley. First up, you'll visit a beautiful orchid garden, run by a nice local family, that will let you discover the numerous varieties of orchids found in Ecuador. In Ecuador, one of every four plants is an orchid, in comparison to the rest of the world where one in every ten plants is an orchid. After that, you will head further into the Mindo Valley where you'll spend the afternoon flying over the forest canopy on thrilling ziplines.

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This morning, you'll take a walk around Otavalo's famous Indigenous market, where you can meet the "Otavaleños" with their espadrilles, their brown felt hats and their blue ponchos. You'll find all sorts of items at the market including textiles, jewellery, leather goods, indigenous costumes, wool and much more. Then, you'll travel to Cuicocha Lake in the ecologic reserve of Cotacachi-Cayapas, one of the most beautiful in Ecuador with its shiny blue water.

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Today after breakfast, you'll drive to Cotopaxi where you'll take a horseback ride on the trails that border the Cotopaxi volcano for about two hours. You will observe some amazing views while riding on trained horses that are accustomed to this terrain and altitude. You will be at 3,600 metres altitude, in the middle of the Andes, where you'll enjoy some of the freshest air and most pristine natural environments in the world.

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Today, you will hike around the Limpiopungo Lagoon, a beautiful glacial lake at the foot of the Cotopaxi volcano which provides an amazing view of the Cotopaxi National Park. You can appreciate the flora and some fauna as you explore this area and you can also hope to spot some wildlife including wolves, pumas, and bears. After driving up to the car park at 4600 metres, you will continue by foot to the José Rivas hut 200 metres higher.