Ultimate Ecuador Wildlife
What you'll see
The journey, one day at a time
Arrive Quito
Arrive in Quito, met and transferred to your accommodation. Quito pairs one of the Americas' great old towns with reach to cloud forest, Amazon and islands.
Quito
A city day before the cloud forest or the islands. Historic Quito before the wild.
To Mindo Cloud Forest
Transfer to Mindo Cloud Forest. Hummingbird feeders and the cock-of-the-rock lek. Cloud-forest birding for Chocó endemics.
Mindo Cloud Forest
Cloud-forest birding for Chocó endemics. A full day of feeders, leks and forest trails. Mindo's feeders bring dozens of hummingbird species within camera range — the essence of Chocó birding.
Mindo Cloud Forest
A full day of feeders, leks and forest trails. Tanagers and toucan-barbets in the cloud forest.
To Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve
Transfer to Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve. Ridge birding for mountain tanagers and toucans. High cloud-forest trails and feeders.
Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve
High cloud-forest trails and feeders. Bellavista's ridge forest adds the higher-elevation birds that complete a Chocó list.
To Galápagos Expedition Cruise
Fly to the Galápagos and embark your expedition ship, beginning the island voyage. Fly to the Galápagos, board your expedition ship and settle in for the voyage.
Galápagos Expedition Cruise
Zodiac landings among sea lions, iguanas and seabirds. Snorkel with sea lions and rays, then a coastal walk. A cruise reaches the outer islands — albatross colonies, seabird cliffs — that island-based trips simply cannot.
Galápagos Expedition Cruise
Snorkel with sea lions and rays, then a coastal walk. A full day exploring the islands by ship and panga.
Galápagos Expedition Cruise
A full day exploring the islands by ship and panga. Cruise to a new island for landings, snorkelling and wildlife.
To Yasuni National Park
Transfer to Yasuni National Park. Parrot clay licks and a canopy tower. Oxbow-lake canoeing for giant otters and monkeys.
Yasuni National Park
Oxbow-lake canoeing for giant otters and monkeys. A full day of western-Amazon wildlife. Yasuni packs more species per hectare than almost anywhere on earth — the Amazon at its richest.
Yasuni National Park
A full day of western-Amazon wildlife. Rainforest trails and night canoe for caiman.
To Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve
Transfer to Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve. Canoe the blackwater lagoons for dolphins and monkeys. Flooded-forest wildlife and night caiman safaris.
Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve
Flooded-forest wildlife and night caiman safaris. A full day paddling the Cuyabeno lagoons. Cuyabeno's blackwater lagoons make for some of the most serene and rewarding canoe wildlife in the Amazon.
Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve
A full day paddling the Cuyabeno lagoons.
Departure
A final morning in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve — a last outing or a slow start as time allows — before the transfer onward and the journey home.
The season changes what you see.
Peak season
Drier highland months — clear skies over the city.
Good season
A year-round capital and hub.
Where this journey goes
Hand-picked camps & lodges
Bellavista Lodge
The famous dome lodge on the Tandayapa ridge, immersed in high cloud forest.
Aqua Mare
A superyacht in the Galápagos, the archipelago's most luxurious live-aboard.
Mashpi Lodge
A glass-walled luxury lodge deep in the Chocó rainforest, a wildlife landmark.
Casa Gangotena
A restored mansion on Plaza San Francisco, Quito's finest heritage hotel.
Napo Wildlife Center
A community-owned ecolodge on an oxbow lake in Yasuni, with a canopy tower.
Cuyabeno Lodge
A comfortable lodge on the Cuyabeno lagoon, central to the canoe safaris.
Make it yours.
Add nights, swap a park, extend to the coast — this route is a starting point, not a fixed menu. Tell us how you travel and we'll route the rest.