Ecuador Biking Tour

We begin this adventure driving south on the pan American highway for about 2 hours, this area is known as The Avenue of Volcanoes, it was named like this by the famous German Explorer Alexander Vond Humboldt, on the way you might be able to enjoy views of volcanoes like Cayambe, Antisana, Pichincha, Illinizas, Pasochoa and Corazon.

Once we enter the park we will drive on the high alpine line, and we will learn from our local guide about the flora and fauna of the Paramo Ecosystem, along the road we will cross a pine tree forest and with some luck you could spot a white tail deer.

The biking experience will start at 13000 feet of elevation and will take place on a dirt road surrounded by the remains of the last eruption of Cotopaxi that was about 140 years ago, we will see wild horses and bulls along the road, and later we will ride on a fun single track all the way to the Pucara Inca Ruins, here our guides will prepare some delicious lunch for you. Then in the afternoon we will continue riding for about 1 hour to the Hacienda Santa Ana.

In this day after breakfast we will drive to the western part or the Ecuadorian Andes, our first stop is at Guango Hummingbirds Reserve, here we will have an opportunity to view 10 plus species of this little colorful birds while enjoying a cup of coffee or some amazon tea, later we continue to the Papallacta resort to check in at your cabin located right in front of the volcanic water pools, today lunch in on your own as there are plenty of choices for restaurants that offer traditional food, in the afternoon we will go for a hiking exploration in the nearby high altitude cloud forest, while in the reserve you can look for orchids, bromeliads and several different species of flora, with some luck you could view some birds such us tanagers, trogons, warbler, flycatchers and maybe a condor.

The rest of the day and night is yours to enjoy the Hot springs or the Spa treatments. 

This is a great experience in due to this Ecological reserve is very pristine and not many people have the chance to come here as is so remote, the ride will be mostly on dirt and gravel, this road is exclusive and there is no traffic.

In this high region we will be surrounded by grassland and colorful flowers, sometimes deer and rabbits crossing, this park is home of the Spectacle Bear the only species in south America, while descending from 13000 ft. to 9000 ft. you will enjoy the views of the Andean fields. As local people from this are depend very much in agriculture of products like potato, corn, fava beans, lupine, etc.

We arrive at the Hacienda to check in the early afternoon, and later we will do an optional bike ride of 20 minutes each way to the Equator monument to learn  a bit more of the Latitude 0.

In the morning we will drive for about 1 hour to the point where we start biking, today’s ride is on asphalt a beautiful road that surrounds the Imbabura Volcano, while we ride we will have great views of the San Pablo Lake and the small indigenous villages of this province, we will stop on the way to visit a weavers workshop and learn how they make their tapestries, lunch is on your own and the rest of the afternoon is for you to explore Otavalo Indigenous Market, here you will find the best souvenirs for the best prices, and the most important is that all the stuff is made locally by families from this area. The main things you will find here are ponchos, tapestries, blankets, jewelry, etc.

In the late afternoon we will go to the hacienda for a welcome drink and a delicious dinner.

Today we drive for two hours as head south on the Pan-American highway, the first stop will be at Tabacundo town at the rose shops, most of the people in this town depend on their rose farms, as this is considered among the top 5 biggest business of Ecuador, later we will pass by the dry valley of Guayllabamba and stop for tasting the local fruit chirimoya.

Our ride will start at the small village of Yunguilla, and will enter the Pululahua Crater on a fantastic dirt road into the Cloud forest, this is a Geo-botanical reserve that is taking place inside the collapsed caldera of this old volcano, according to the experts a huge eruption happened here thousands of years ago and left this great formations, specially the lava domes in the center of the volcano, while descending on our bikes every corner will give us a chance to enjoy amazing scenery, the adventure on two wheels will end in the center of the caldera, we will have lunch in one of the local restaurants and in the adfternoon is optional to climb out the volcano, otherwise we continue back to Quito by bus.

End of itinerary