Expedition to the Unexplored Andes 2021

Pick-up from Quito airport (or from your hotel in the city) in the morning and transfer to Hacienda Alegria in the Machchi Valley. Flight schedules should allow you to arrive in time for a first 3 or 4 hour trek to get to know the horses and the altitude. Lunch once back to the hacienda and afternoon of relaxation at the heated pool and visit to the cheese workshops. Dinner and overnight in the hacienda.

After having breakfast ,we will be on the saddle to get even better acquainted with the horses and with the equipment that we will have to use in the following days. We will ride around the hacienda and in the green Machachi valley. Return to the hacienda for lunch and in the afternoon there will be the opportunity to visit the hacienda and its many activities. Dinner and overnight at the hacienda.

After breakfast ,we will be on the saddle to the west and to Corazon, 4000 meters high and then descend to the rainforest. Here we will be able to observe incredible biodiversity, wonderful plants and flowers such as giant orchids as well as countless species of birds. In the afternoon we will arrive at the Bomboli hacienda, at 3000 meters, where we will spend the night. We will have time for hot tea and relaxation in front of the fireplace. Dinner and overnight at the hacienda.

Today we leave the rainforest behind and we will walk the ancient road that until 1960 connected Quito to the coast. We will be able to admire the green and fertile Machachi Valley and see the slopes to the east that we will cover in the following days. We will cross pastures and eucalyptus forests before returning to Hacienda Alegria for dinner and overnight.

Today will be a long day on the saddle ... we will be transferred by public transport about an hour south of the hacienda where the horses are waiting for us to start the adventure in the southern Andes. We will take the ancient route of the Inca to arrive at the village of Sigchos, through forests, rocky peaks. After an entire day on the saddle we will arrive at Hacienda San Jose, a farm that is also a guest house. We will have time to take a sauna and a jacuzzi before an excellent dinner and a refreshing night.

Breakfast and departure in a southerly direction to the crater of Lake Quilotoa. Descending into the canyon we will notice a different terrain, arid and volcanic, following the eruption of the homonymous volcano 1,280 years ago. We will reach the top of the volcano in the afternoon, at 3,800 meters. Above, our guest awaits us for the night, at Samay Kirutoa Lodge. From this height we will be able to admire the crater of the volcano, 3 km wide, the westernmost of the Ecuatorian Andes. Dinner and overnight at the lodge.

we will be on the saddle towards the village of Zumbahua, where about 50 families live and through which we will pass to reach the highest points of our trek. There are no roads that connect this village to civilization, if not a path that takes you on foot in 3 hours to the village of Angamarca. You don't often see tourists in these parts, and we will camp together with the local communities.

of course you don't want to miss the opportunity to admire the sunrise. Descending towards the valley we will meet a myriad of small farms mainly dedicated to the production of milk. We will admire a ravine created by an eruption of the Chimborazo volcano, 6,300 meters, the highest in Ecuador. We will follow a track that follows the ravine, built in 1830 and called "Camino de Flores". In the afternoon we will arrive at a thermal spring where we will camp for the night.

The expedition continues along the slopes of Chimborazo, a long day on the saddle with some more complex and rocky passages. We will ride towards the eastern part of the Andes, with the Carihuairazo volcano on our left which exceeds 5000 meters. We will see the landscape vary, from arid and full of ravines to greener. We will stop for the night on the east flank of the Chimborazo volcano, in Urbina.

Last day of our adventure at the Tungurahua volcano where we will see the affections of an area periodically hit by the ash of the eruptions in the last 14 years. We will then see fertile and cultivated hills in the Igualata volcano area. We will begin our descent through the Chambo canyon to arrive at the side of the Tungurahua volcano. The horses will return to the main hacienda and we will stop in Banos for dinner and overnight.

After having breakfast we will visit the town of Banos, one of a kind, a gateway to the Amazon jungle. In the afternoon, return by public transport to Hacienda La Alegria for dinner and overnight.

After having breakfast, transfer to the airport in time for your flight to Italy. It is possible to extend your stay at the hacienda or continue on an individual tour (request a personalized quote).