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Price: US $7950

Deposit: US $2000

Single Supplement: US $1400

POA for children under the age of 12

Meeting Point: Quito, Ecuador

Length of trip: 10 days 10 nights
(With possible extensions to Galapagos, or Haciendas)

Group size: minimum 8, Maximum 12

What is included in the price of the trip?

  • Inland transfers to and from arrival airport
  • Lodging. Tour cost is per person, based on double occupancy. We do have limited availability for single occupancy, with a supplemental fee
  • One hour massage at volcanic spa
  • 3-4 hour horse riding at Hacienda
  • All meals
  • School and medical materials for villages
  • All scheduled entertainment

What is NOT included in the price of the trip?

  • Airfare to and from Quito
  • Fees for shamanic ceremony $50 (The shaman likes to be paid personally)
  • Additional treatments in the spa after the included one hour massage
  • Snacks, beverages and incidentals other than meals provided








Amazon adventure March 5th to March 15th 2017


Join us for a life-changing journey as we guide you into the heart and soul of Ecuador – one of the most bio-diverse places on earth. It is for those who want to deepen their connection with the earth, to take time out to reflect, reassess, recharge, to learn about them selves and indigenous cultures and have a great deal of fun while doing it!

From the heights of the Andes Mountains to the species-rich jungle floors of the Amazon Basin, discover Ecuador's natural treasures, swim in its waterways, hike day and even night with indigenous guides, kayak on mystical lagoons deep in the Amazon, take part in ceremony with jungle and Andean shaman, experience tribal culture, worldview and hospitality, enjoy traditional cuisine, and relax and recuperate in a volcanic thermal spa in the shadow of Ecuador's magnificent volcanoes, to one of Ecuador's finest Haciendas built on the site of an Incan Palace, one of the two most important Incan sites in Ecuador.

You will hardly believe that this trip is only 10 days long – it will feel like three incredible weeks! Due to Ecuador's small size and its diversity (it contains all the ecosystems of South America except the Argentine Pampas) we are able to have a number of experiences in a short space of time, without feeling rushed.

For those who have more time we have a couple of possible additions to your trip - a 5 day, 4 night journey to galapagos or an extended three night hacienda experience in Ecuador's finest haciendas. Please contact us if you are interested in either of these two options and if we can help you plan travels before or after your jungle experience!

This is a physical and spiritual journey for those wanting to deepen their connection with the people and world around them.


ITINERARY

Day One: Sunday 5th March
Arrive Quito, Ecuador - flights from Europe and the US usually arrive in the evening, you will be collected from the airport and taken to your hotel close by - Hosteria San Jose de Puembo.


Day Two: Monday 6th March
We will travel down from Quito through the famous Valley of the Volcanos, from the Andes down to the gateway to the Amazon Basin. We will stop for lunch in the renowned spa town of Banos, site of many miracles performed by the Virgin of the Holy Water, we will have lunch in the shadow of the Volcano Tungurahua. We will then drop down through the cloud forest into the Amazon basin, spending the night in a gorgeous little hotel, El Jardin in the jungle frontier town of Puyo were we can visit the botanical gardens, have a hot tub or rest before a delicious dinner.



Day Three: Tuesday 7th March
Early in the morning journey deep into the rainforest to the Achuar village of Sharamentza . After a hearty breakfast at El Jardin we will fly in a Kodiac and Cessna 206 a hundred miles from the nearest road, near the border with Peru. This experience is truly magical, the flight is just over an hour and we watch as built up areas fall away until we see just a blanket of treetops beneath us as far as the eye can see, snake like glistening rivers wind their way through the trees. As we fly deeper into the mighty Amazon rainforest, the calmer you will feel. Upon landing in the village we will be greeted by the Achuar people and welcomed into their ancestral territory. We will stay in the beautiful, simple and comfortable Sharamentza lodge were we will sleep in two typical Achuar houses with attached bathrooms and showers. We will stay here for the next three nights.

The Achuar people live in 1.75 millions acres of pristine rainforest in 68 villages and roughly 8,000 people, they were the last Jivaroan people to be contacted in the 1970's. Helped by living so deep in the forest the people have preserved their rich and ancient cultural traditions, they are a 'dream culture', all aspects of their culture are spiritually orientated and guided by dreams and visions. Although still pristine today, the Achaur territory may be siting on vast reserves of oil. Soon after contact Achaur Shaman and elders began to have dreams and visions that a great threat was coming to their people and their culture, so the Achuar have chosen to invite us into their rainforest home so that we may know and understand them and their culture, and their forest and become allies in their fight to protect it.


Day Four: Wednesday 8th March
Those that wish to will rise before dawn and walk through the forest in the liminal moments between night and day to join in a traditional guayusa tea ceremony, a part of daily Achuar life, drinking tea and sharing our dreams. Spending time in a family home where the elders of the household will help us interpret our dreams. After a delicious breakfast we will hike to a sacred water fall and take part in a tobacco ceremony. As we move through the jungle we will learn from our Achuar guides all about the medicinal plants, and Achuar cosmology, the uses of plants and trees as pharmacy, hardware store, and pantry for the people. We will learn about the peoples relationship with the forest and her creatures. And then we will rest, or bathe in the river.



Day Five: Thursday 9th March
Today we will go by canoe upstream on the mighty Pastaza River, and then we will float down on balsa rafts as we relax and listen to the sounds of the forest, keep your eye out of pink river dolphins! In the afternoon we will take part in a fun cultural exchange, the Achaur would like to show us some traditional songs, dances, and poetry. The ladies will teach us how to make their famous Achaur pottery, the men will have a chance to try their hand at weaving (a mans job in Achaur culture) and we can all test out our aim with the blow gun. Then as this is an exchange the Achuar would love us to share our culture with them so if you have a song, play an instrument or have some skill to show off this is the time to do it (and all is totally voluntary, don't feel you need to perform!) We will also have an opportunity to buy traditional Achuar handicrafts.

We will also distribute medical and school supplies to the village, if you would like to bring things with you please speak with us.


Day Six: Friday 10th March
Today we will pack up, and then our bags will be taken to our next destination by canoe, we will leave with day packs and walk through the jungle for most of the day, stopping at a sacred water fall on our way to the village of Wayusentsa. This walk is a very powerful experience to really get a sense of being in the deep jungle with the Achuar. Once we arrive at our home for the night we will bathe and swim in the Capawari river. Those that wish to can take part in an ancient Achuar ceremony this night with he renowned Achuar shaman Raphael Taish.



Day Seven: Saturday 11th March
After a lovely breakfast and a swim for those who are up for it, we will be met by canoe and taken on a beautiful ride downstream, a perfect chance to watch for birds - macaws, the Hoatzin - a prehistoric bird, Toucan and hopefully the magical pink dolphins, or even a sloth swimming slowly across the river, the ride will be for an hour and a half to Kapawi Ecolodge, a stunning lodge owned by the Achuar nation where we will stay in huts on stilts above a lagoon. After a delicious lunch you can rest, take a walk on the self guided trail into the forest, a great chance to feel what it is like to walk alone in the jungle but feel very safe. Or you may choose to hang out in the hammocks in your hut or in the bar and listen to and watch for the incredible diversity of birds. We will stay here for two nights.


Day Eight: Sunday 12th March
For those those are keen bird watchers there is a dawn trip to the clay lick in the canoes to see all the parrots and macaws come to feed, absolutely stunning! After a delicious breakfast. Those who wish to can go kayaking into lagoons or float down the river in inflatables and if any one would like to fish for piranha now is the time! After lunch there will be a hike to lagoons to search for caiman (amazonian alligators) again if you prefer to rest and read or write in your journal you are welcome to stay at the lodge and do so.




Day Nine: Monday 13th March
After a lovely breakfast we will fly out of the jungle back to Shell. Where we will be met by our luxury bus and we will head up into the mountains again an hours drive will take us to Luna Runtun volcanic spa. Where you will have a massage booked for you included in your trip and if you would like to do more pampering there are many wonderful offerings such as volcanic ash scrubs, or you may want to relax in the volcanic pools high up on the volcano Tungurahua over looking the town of Banos with its lights twinkling below.


Day Ten: Tuesday 14th March
Some of you may want to have a treatment or two in the morning before we head down to the town of Banos, for lunch and to visit the church of the holy waters - where many miracles have been performed, great place for a shop, artisanal products and famous ecuadorian sweets, chocolates and coffee. Then we will drive for an hour and a half to Hacienda San Augustin de Callo, a historical landmark turned into an exclusive hotel near Cotopaxi National Park in Ecuador. Since the 15th century San Agustin de Callo has served as Inca fortress, Augustinian convent and temporary home for the French Geodesic Mission whose scientific results helped to determine the true shape of the planet. In 1921 the Hacienda was purchased by General Leonidas Plaza Gutierrez, leader of the liberal Revolution who then went on to become President of Ecuador, the hacienda is still in the family and run by his great grand daughter Mignon Plaza. It is a wonderful grand yet homely place, the dining room is entirely of Incan construction and the food is out of this world.




Day Eleven: Wednesday 15th March
After a rejuvenating lie in for those who wish for one (others can ride a bike up the mountains or hike at dawn!) We will meet and those who wish to can go on a 3 hour horse ride on the splendid horses of the hacienda suitable for inexperienced and experienced riders. We will ride along incan paths towards the most perfect conical volcano in Ecuador - Cotopaxi through a pine forest to plains just below the volcano with magnificent views of the surrounding mountains.

Another ridiculously delicious lunch, relaxing by the fire, tea and then we will drive an hour to Quito were we will have dinner and drop those who are leaving on the night flights back at Quito airport.



Or if you would like to extend your trip we are happy to help you arrange that - for example a four or five day Galapagos excursion, or further hacienda visit - please ask and we will send you some options.



If you would like more information, or to book your trip please contact us using the form below, we would also be delighted to arrange a call with you if you would like to discuss the trip further.

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