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Are you planning your journey to Ecuador and in search of an ideal itinerary for 7 days in Ecuador? In this text, I’ll share our itinerary for one week in Ecuador, visiting Quito, Mindo Cloud Forest and even the Amazon rainforest, the place we stayed for 3 nights in a lodge in Yasuni National Park. This 7-day itinerary for Ecuador is ideal for individuals who get pleasure from visiting loads of completely different places and love nature and chicken watching! Sounds attention-grabbing? Keep studying!
Before we begin, right here’s a fast overview of our itinerary:
Our itinerary for 7 days in Ecuador (the overview)
Day 1: Arriving in Quito, driving to Mindo
Day 2: Birdwatching in Mindo, visiting Mitad del Mundo, night in Quito
Day 3: Flying to Coca, staying at Napo Cultural Center in Yasuni (Amazon journey)
Day 4: Amazon rainforest
Day 5: Amazon rainforest
Day 6: Flying again to Quito, exploring the town centre
Day 7: Quito within the morning and flying again dwelling (by Lima)
Quick hyperlinks:
I’ve been advised many occasions that having crucial hyperlinks in a single place helps to simplify the reserving and planning course of, so right here you go; listed below are crucial hyperlinks talked about on this publish:
Mosquito-proof clothes for the jungle: Craghoppers Range
Hotel for the primary evening in Quito: Ibis Quito
Hotel for the second evening in Quito: Hotel San Fransisco de Quito
Hotel in Mindo: Casa Divina
Tour 1 in Mindo: (Zip Line) https://viator.tp.st/OpAf1Rw5
Tour 2 in Mindo: (Bird Watching) https://tripadvisor.tp.st/cv4cauAx
Car rental: test availability
Jungle lodge: Napo Cultural Center
Quito strolling tour: ebook right here
Is it secure to go to the Amazon Lodges in Ecuador?
Many persons are questioning whether or not it’s secure to go to the Amazon in Ecuador and usually, it’s fairly secure. It’s truly method safer than I’ve imagined. By “safe”, I imply secure from lethal ailments, parasites, bugs and snake bites. Yasuni National Park, the place we stayed, is free from Malaria, so that you don’t should be too nervous about it. However, there are many different tropical ailments – you at all times should be cautious and put on acceptable garments.
What to pack for Ecuador (particularly the Amazon jungle half)?
When you ebook your lodge in Yasuni National Park, they often ship you a packing record and a few suggestions when it comes to clothes. If you’re reserving a brief tour (4 days – 3 nights) identical to we did, you undoubtedly want 2 pairs of fast-drying pants or trousers (nevertheless you name them the place you’re from) – and no, you possibly can’t purchase them in Ecuador except you wish to pay 2-3x the value you’d pay again dwelling. We discovered the identical manufacturers in Quito as those we had seen in Cotswolds Outdoors in London however for 2-3 occasions the value (over $100-120), so make sure that to purchase them upfront to keep away from disappointment!
I’d advocate shopping for particular anti-mosquito trousers (they actually labored for me – I solely received 1 chunk on my leg) like these ones and long-sleeve anti-mosquito shirts like this one. I like to recommend bringing 3-4 shirts with you, because it’s actually sizzling and all people sweats lots within the jungle!
Also, make sure that to carry lengthy socks with you, as you can be carrying rubber boots 90% of the time. Don’t hassle with bringing particular sneakers, as you’ll largely be carrying offered rubber boots and nothing else (aside from some sneakers or sandals when going to eat at a lodge restaurant)
Alright, now let’s begin with the itinerary for 7 days in Ecuador: Quito, Mindo and Amazon journey in Yasuni National Park
Day 1: Arriving at Quito Airport, driving to Mindo, an evening at Casa Divina
Quito airport expertise & choosing up our rental automotive
Quito airport border management expertise was fairly easy – not like the expertise, we had in Bolivia on our final leg of the journey (nothing main, but it surely took ages). It took us lower than 20 minutes to move all of the border checks and decide up our luggage in Quito. Quito airport is fairly small, but it surely’s tremendous fashionable and truly very good.
The solely barely detrimental expertise was our automotive rental expertise. We rented vehicles in Central and South America earlier than, and for some motive, the expertise is at all times fairly unhealthy – you both get a a lot worse automotive than the one you booked with no refund below the pretence that your “booked” automotive just isn’t obtainable and your solely possibility is to just accept this new worse automotive, or you must pay additional. We at all times comply with a worse automotive – this time, we received a guide as a substitute of an automated (although we booked an automated and paid additional for it) – our solely possibility was to just accept this guide SUV or downgrade to a compact automated automotive which might not have the ability to drive the place we wanted to go. All automotive rental corporations have horrible rankings and critiques in South America, so it’s best to have some fairly low expectations. Ah, and so they needed to cost us an $8000 (USD!) deposit for this automotive although it was $800 in our contract, and so they solely agreed to cost us $800 once we despatched them the copy of our reserving affirmation – so ensure you have web entry, or you may have all of the paperwork printed, so that you don’t get tricked like that.
Driving from Quito to Mindo
After we picked up our automotive, we drove to the closest shopping center that had quick-drying and mosquito-proof clothes as we shortly realised that what we introduced with us (1 pair of anti-mosquito trousers and a pair of shirts every) was not sufficient for two days in Mindo and 4 days within the Amazon jungle. We discovered a couple of shops promoting quick-drying tourers appropriate for the jungle, e.g. The North Face and many others., however all the pieces was far more costly than in London – e.g. the identical trousers we purchased within the UK for £50 ($65) have been $130 in Ecuador, so we regretted not bringing extra acceptable garments with us! Lesson realized!
Tip: Even although it may appear logical to purchase jungle garments in Ecuador, it’s cheaper and simpler to purchase them in your nation and convey them with you.
After a fast lunch, we lastly began our drive in the direction of Mindo. Mindo is among the most lovely locations in Ecuador and it takes round 1.5 to 2 hours to get there relying on the place in Quito you’re departing from and on the visitors and climate situations. It’s truly sooner to get there from Quito airport than from Quito centre.
The street to Mindo may be very scenic! You will move very tall mountains, lovely forests and loads of gorgeous views. There are additionally a few cafes on the best way; nevertheless, I’d in all probability advocate consuming one thing earlier than beginning a journey to Mindo.
Exploring Mindo
Mindo is a small city well-known for its Cloud Forest – a really particular ecosystem, a tropical evergreen forest, which is dwelling to a really excessive variety of birds. You can discover Mindo on the prime of worldwide rankings for chicken recognizing. The city itself may be very small and unassuming. It’s not very manicured as nicely – the roads are unpaved, and plenty of stray canine are working round.
Casa Divina
We arrived in Mindo round 4pm and whereas it was nonetheless gentle, we determined to stroll and discover the paths of our resort, Casa Divina, after a fast check-in. Casa Divina is an incredible family-run guesthouse based by an American girl and her Ecuadorian husband. Both of them and their youngsters work at Casa Divina and are very educated and pleasant. We had an evening jungle tour across the Casa Divina with the founder as nicely.
There are 2 quick trails on the territory of Casa Divina and we walked one of many trails (though by some means we managed to get misplaced and did a whole circle across the property and even ended up on one other path of one other property and spent an hour up within the forest as a substitute of quarter-hour).
Where to eat in Mindo
There are a couple of good eating choices in Mindo. We had a fast dinner within the Persian House, and the meals was pretty! Monmot Bistro and Fuera De Babilonia are additionally good choices for lunch or dinner in Mindo.
Day 2: Birdwatching in Mindo, visiting Mitad del Mundo, night in Quito
Birdwatching in Mindo
We spent your complete morning of our second day in Ecuador birdwatching. In order to see most birds, you should get up very early. Casa Divina has a improbable rooftop terrace and a small spot the place they lay fruits each morning, so the birds come to the property for a morning feast. While the terrace of Casa Divina often opens at 7am, we requested to open it a bit earlier and went there already at 6:30 within the morning.
In the subsequent 1.5 hours, we noticed many superb birds, together with toucans and guans! While a few of them got here to eat fruits, some others have been simply flying round. At 8 am, we had breakfast downstairs, trying on the Colibri within the backyard, and at 10am, we left Casa Divina and went to our subsequent vacation spot.
The greatest issues to do in Mindo in 24 hours
Mindo Zip Line
Even although Mindo is a tiny city, there are many issues to do. The very first thing on our itinerary was the zip line. The zip line in Mindo was superb. It’s often fairly busy, so I like to recommend reserving upfront. You can ebook it on-line right here. The zip line consists of 10 completely different tracks of various lengths and issue ranges. All of the tracks have completely different views as nicely!
Mindo Cable Car
Mindo Cable Car can carry you to the well-known Nambillo Waterfall, so that you don’t have to hike there in the event you don’t really feel prefer it or don’t have sufficient time. The cable automotive can also be fairly superb – it has open cabins, so you possibly can simply observe the environment, take photographs and search for birds! You can ebook your ticket upfront right here.
Cocoa and chocolate tasting and excursions
Mindo has a very good local weather for rising cocoa beans and making chocolate. If you wish to be taught a bit extra about how cocoa beans are grown and the way chocolate is made, you possibly can ebook one of many cocoa and chocolate taking excursions like this one.
Alternatively, you possibly can go to a restaurant like Mindo Chocolate and take a look at chocolate there in addition to purchase some candies at the native retailer.
Butterfly sanctuary – Mariposas de Mindo
Another well-liked attraction in Mindo is the butterfly sanctuary.
This one you possibly can go to with out pre-booking. It prices round $6 per individual to go to and even features a small tour. You can see 3 sorts of butterflies there, and there are such a lot of of them, hundreds or extra!
Take a birdwatching tour / see cock-of-the-rock.
Some individuals come to Mindo to see the well-known and really uncommon chicken, cock-of-the-rock. In order to see them, you truly have to get up additional early and hike for some time. You can have increased probabilities to see cock of the rock in the event you go along with a information, and it may be the best choice although the excursions are fairly costly. You can discover out extra about these excursions right here.
Heading again to Quito, visiting Mitad del Mundo
We spent the primary half of our day in Mindo, visiting among the greatest sights, then had lunch there and round 2:30 pm, we headed in the direction of Quito. On our method, we determined to cease at one other world-famous attraction, Mitad del Mundo!
Mitad del Mundo is a line which separates the North and the South Hemispheres. Well, in actuality, the precise line is someplace 200 meters away within the village, however in Mitad del Mundo, you possibly can go to a museum, put a couple of stamps that you may stamp your passport with, eat one thing on the numerous eating places and purchase some souvenirs on the native shops. And, in fact, you possibly can take loads of photographs!
Spending a night in Quito
We arrived in Quito round 6pm, checked in at our resort Ibis and spent a while resting within the room. Then it was already time to go for dinner, and we discovered a really good road meals market very near Ibis Quito!
Days 3-5: Taking a flight to Coca, beginning our Amazon Adventure at Napo Cultural Center
Flying to Coca
The spotlight of our journey to Ecuador was our 4-day expertise at an Amazon Lodge positioned within the coronary heart of Yasuni National park. In order to get to Yasuni, we wanted to take a flight to Coca Airport, change to a speedboat, and spend one other 2 hours there to achieve the lodge. Usually, the lodges organize the speedboat, however they’ll additionally assist you to with the flights. In our case, we simply booked flights to Coca immediately with Latam airways.
The flights to Coca often depart within the morning and land in Coca round 9am or 10am. The flight is often very quick – we solely had 5 minutes with the seatbelt log off – the remainder of the flight was both the accent or the descent.
Coca to Yasuni National Park
Upon arrival at Coca Airport, we took a taxi to the river port, the place all of the speedboats to lodges depart from. The taxis often stand and watch for individuals on the airport, so there isn’t a drawback to find one. Make certain to carry some money with you as there are not any providers like Uber or Cabify in Coca. The journey to the river port solely takes about 5 minutes.
At the riverport, our information was already ready for us! However, we needed to wait for an additional hour, as we have been scheduled to depart in the identical speedboat as one other couple, going to a different lodge (Napo Wildlife Center). Keep that in thoughts in the event you ebook your individual flights (most clients may arrive on the flights urged by the lodge).
The boat journey to our lodge, Napo Cultural Center took lower than 2 hours and was very fulfilling because it was a highly regarded and sunny day (it does get chilly on a speedboat when it’s wet or stormy, as we discovered on the best way again). We have been additionally supplied a really pretty lunch field so we arrived to the lodge fairly full.
Napo Wildlife Center is positioned 2 extra hours away, so the couple who went there, continued their journey by speedboat for 15 extra minutes after which modified to a kayak, the place they stayed for 1.5 extra hours.
Our expertise at Napo Cultural Center – an incredible reasonably priced amazon lodge in Ecuador
When we arrived at Napo Cultural Center, we have been greeted by the chief of the group, who supplied us a couple of snacks and refreshments. Throughout our keep at Napo Cultural Center, everybody who labored there was unimaginable – very pleasant and well mannered! From our superb information to the chef on the restaurant and other people from the group, all people made us really feel very welcome!
I wouldn’t go deep into our itinerary, because it differs relying on the season, the climate and the variety of individuals within the group. We have been extremely fortunate to reach on the dates when there have been no different arrivals, so we just about had our information to ourselves – he was our non-public information! There was just one different visitor on the lodge throughout our first two days – he got here there for a very long time for analysis functions and had his personal information.
Which actions to anticipate at Napo Cultural Center
Pretty a lot daily at Napo Cultural Center follows a particular schedule. You get up often fairly early within the morning (all of the chicken exercise occurs within the morning). By 7:30am, you should have already completed breakfast and become an outfit match for venturing outdoors the lodge. These early hours are at all times one of the best, for my part, as it isn’t so sizzling but.
During the morning journeys, you possibly can both go to the clay licks or to one of many statement towers if the climate permits. You also can keep on the lodge, go to the ladies in the neighborhood, and see them carry out their conventional dances and rituals.
Then you often return to your room for a fast change and head out for lunch within the frequent space of the group’s predominant constructing. After lunch, you often have an hour or two to relaxation to keep away from venturing out in the course of the hottest hour of the day.
Around 3 or 4pm, you meet together with your information once more and enterprise out for a shorter stroll/journey to an statement tower or a stroll across the group’s territory to look out for birds.
Then you may have dinner round 7pm and after dinner, you’re often free or you may also have some actions like an evening jungle stroll. There are not often actions after dinner, so that you often get a while to relaxation.
What to pack for a keep in an Amazon lodge in Ecuador
When we have been planning our journey to Ecuador, we have been puzzled about what to carry there, particularly in April, as April tends to be the rainiest month in Ecuador. We have been planning to carry just one pair of fast-drying lengthy trousers and a few shirts every, however after a visit to Mindo, we realised that it’s undoubtedly not sufficient. As I discussed earlier than, procuring choices for these clothes in Ecuador are very restricted, so bringing sufficient garments with you is a lot better and cheaper.
I like to recommend at the very least 3 pairs of fast-drying trousers, 3 shirts and three pairs of socks for this itinerary. You don’t want a hat or cap as lodges like Napo Cultural Center usually present them to you. As for garments, you can be carrying rubber boots 99% of the time. You will even be supplied with a raincoat by your lodge.
For fast-drying trousers and shirts, I like to recommend the model known as Craghoppers – they’re bought on Amazon worldwide in addition to in shops like Cotswold Outdoors. One of their strains additionally has mosquito safety – and I can let you know that’s true; they’re already handled with some form of mosquito repellent.
I additionally advocate bringing a water-resistant backpack like this one and a water-resistant case to your telephone. Try to carry some binoculars and a few flashlights with you as nicely.
Did we get pleasure from staying in Yasuni National Park? How many days are sufficient in an Amazon lodge in Ecuador
Overall, we actually loved Yasuni National Park and Napo Cultural Center. It was really an unforgettable expertise, one to recollect without end. Some moments have been completely surreal – for instance, seeing the rainforest “breathe” with water evaporating after a extreme rain storm or strolling round the area people and seeing a whole bunch of essentially the most lovely birds! There have been additionally underwhelming experiences – e.g. not seeing any parrots within the clay licks, not having the ability to get to the second clay lick due to the storm, and getting completely soaked and chilly in a kayak – however even these moments have been distinctive and memorable.
It’s troublesome to say what number of days it’s best to keep in an Amazon Lodge in Ecuador. Everybody has completely different pursuits and plans. I’d say that we have been comfortable we stayed 4 days and three nights – it was simply sufficient to have the ability to see all the pieces we needed to see! There have been shorter excursions – solely 3 days and a pair of nights, however contemplating a protracted journey to the lodge, it sounds a bit too quick. 5 days and 4 nights can be a bit an excessive amount of for us already, as some actions begin being repetitive.
Day 6: Flying again to Quito, exploring the town centre of Quito
The journey again to Coca
On our sixth day in Ecuador we needed to get up very early, round 5:30 am to have the ability to catch the pace boat to Coca. Our information travelled with us – and identical to on arrival, they packed a pleasant breakfast for us, which was very considerate.
The return journey wasn’t as nice because the journey to the lodge. The climate was fairly stormy and by some means felt very chilly. That’s why within the packing lists urged by the lodge you’ll find a heat jacket. It’s arduous to imagine that you just may want a heat jacket in a rainforest near the equator, however sure, you truly do, particularly early within the morning whereas sitting in a fast-moving boat. Luckily, we had hoodies and scarves ready for Quito (Quito isn’t very heat on account of its excessive elevation), so we felt ready.
We arrived to the airport with a few hours to spare. Coca airport is tiny, there isn’t a lot to do there. However, there are two cafes the place you possibly can eat one thing in case you’re hungry or simply have a cup of espresso.
Exploring the Historic Centre of Quito
On arrival again to Quito round 11:30 am, we now not had a rental automotive and needed to take a taxi. Uber works very nicely in Quito, nevertheless, taxis from the airport are a bit pricy. We paid round $30 to get to the town centre (which took round 50 minutes due to visitors).
We left our luggage at our resort – we booked Hotel San Fransisco de Quito. It was very reasonably priced and appeared identical to the “Casita” from the Encanto cartoon! However, in case you have an even bigger finances, these two inns may be even a greater possibility:
Hotel Casa Gangotena or Plaza Grande Hotel
Quito has among the greatest preserved and most spectacular historic centres amongst all South American and Central American cities. The metropolis centre is large and has so many gorgeous buildings. If you may have a possibility, I like to recommend becoming a member of a strolling tour that will carry you to the principle highlights within the metropolis. You can test the costs and availability of a strolling tour round Quito right here.
The predominant issues to see in Quito
If you favor to discover Quito by yourself, I like to recommend seeing/visiting these locations:
- Basilica del Voto Nacional
- San Francisco Church
- El Panecilo
- Iglesia La Compañía de Jesús
- La Ronda road – there are loads of good conventional eating places there, plus the road may be very fairly
Also, loads of inns in Quito (just like the one we stayed at) have lovely terraces overlooking the town. You can often take some superb photographs from these terraces! If your resort doesn’t have one, you possibly can maybe go to a panoramic restaurant or a cocktail bar as a substitute!
There can also be a teleferico in Quito, and it results in a hill with some gorgeous views! If the climate permits, undoubtedly head there as nicely!
The security in Quito: easy methods to be secure
Unfortunately, social inequality is sort of robust in Quito, and crime is on the rise within the capital. It just isn’t suggested to stroll within the metropolis centre of Quito after darkish – loads of vacationers get mugged. If you’re strolling there after darkish, you may be stopped by the police and escorted to the resort the place you’re staying. The inns additionally shut their doorways after darkish.
I additionally advocate being cautious within the metropolis centre of Quito, even in the course of the day and ensuring you don’t stroll round together with your backpack or bag open, making you a simple goal for pickpockets.
Day 7 in Quito: breakfast and flying again
On our final day in Quito, we needed to get up fairly early, have breakfast and head to the airport to catch a flight to Bogota after which to Lima. The journey to the airport took round 40 minutes this time, a bit sooner than in the course of the day because the visitors wasn’t as heavy but. If you’re departing in the course of the day and even worse – between 5pm and 7pm, the visitors may be very heavy. In this case, make sure that to permit at the very least 1 hour 20 minutes to your journey to the airport. Besides, the airport in Quito may be very good, and you’ll simply spend some additional time having fun with the outlets and cafes within the airport.
Summary of per week in Ecuador: Quito, Mindo and Amazon Lodge
I hope you loved our weblog publish about spending per week in Ecuador! This 7-day itinerary for Ecuador focuses on essentially the most spectacular locations for chicken and nature lovers.
During these 7 days in Ecuador, we had an opportunity to discover Quito, Mindo and head to Coca for Yasuni National Park and a correct Amazon Lodge expertise. Even although 7 days seems like lots, we weren’t capable of see another superb locations in Ecuador, like Cotopaxi, Quilotoa, Banos and Galápagos Islands. To see all the pieces Ecuador provides, you possibly can simply spend 2 weeks in Ecuador. However, this itinerary may be an excellent possibility in the event you solely have per week in Ecuador, particularly in the event you like chicken watching.
Some different posts you may like:
5 days in Peru: Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu
5 days in Bolivia: La Paz & Salar de Uyuni
3 days in La Paz: one of the best issues to do and day journeys from La Paz
Weekend itinerary for Lima: one of the best issues to do & eating places to go to