Two Worlds, One Journey: Amazon Jungle and Galápagos Islands

Your journey begins in La Floresta, the creative nightlife and artist district of Quito: brick houses from the 1930s, small cafes, and the view down into the green Guápulo Valley.

The heart of the city is the colonial center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978: narrow cobblestone streets, whitewashed facades, above which are the richly decorated domes of the old town churches. Together with a local guide, you will walk across the Plaza Grande, past the Government Palace, the gold-adorned church La Compañía, and the San Francisco Monastery, whose first stone was laid just five days after the city was founded in 1534. On Calle La Ronda, traditional crafts continue, and in the Museum Casa del Alabado, a curator will tell you about the worldviews of the indigenous cultures of Ecuador.

How you spend the day is something we will decide together. For those interested in culinary experiences, we organize a tour of the Mercado de San Francisco, where a guide will take you to freshly pressed Andean fruits and a Locro Quiteño, before the afternoon ends with a guided chocolate tasting of Ecuadorian Arriba cocoa. A private mixology session under the domes of a converted church, guided by an experienced bartender, can also be arranged for you. If you prefer to get hands-on, you can do so alongside a guide: by mixing your own juice at the market stall, during a traditional herbal cleansing with a local Curandero, or by visiting the first Agave museum in South America with its own garden and distillery. For an excursion to Mitad del Mundo, just 45 minutes away, your private driver will pick you up directly at the hotel. There, you will stand with one foot in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern hemisphere, with a view of the Pululahua volcanic crater.

A short flight takes you today from Quito to Coca, the gateway to the Ecuadorian Amazon. By motorboat, you will travel over the Río Napo, then by canoe through flooded forest canals until you reach the Garzacocha Lagoon, on the shores of which your eco-lodge is located, in the buffer zone of the Yasuní National Park, one of the most biodiverse spots on Earth. The coming days will bring hikes through the primary forest and canoe trips by day and night on the lagoon, where caimans and night monkeys roam, while a roughly 30-meter-high observation tower opens your view over the canopy at sunrise. Highlights include an early excursion to a clay lick, where hundreds of parrots and parakeets gather in the morning, as well as a visit to a Kichwa family who will show you their daily life by the river.

From the forests of the Amazon, the journey takes you back to the Andes, to the Hacienda Zuleta in the Angochagua high valley. For generations, this centuries-old estate has belonged to the same family, from which two Ecuadorian presidents also came, and even today, it is a place of living and working: with its own cheese factory, a large vegetable garden for the kitchen, and an embroidery workshop where women from the area continue the traditional Zuleta hand embroidery. On the estate's own Zuleteño horses, accompanied by an experienced rider from the hacienda, you can ride across vast lands with a view of the snow-capped peak of Cayambe and the distinctive Imbabura. In the Cóndor Huasi rescue project, you will also learn how injured and captive-born Andean condors are prepared for their release. After the humid, warm days in the rainforest, the clear, cool Andean air is refreshing, and the tranquility of the old hacienda provides pleasant peace before heading towards the Pacific, to the Galápagos Islands, where giant tortoises, sea lions, and blue-footed boobies will naturally cross your path.

After Zuleta, the journey takes you to the Galápagos Islands, where you will spend a week aboard the Galapagos Explorer. The yacht was created in 1987 in an Italian shipyard; today, its newly designed interior by &Beyond combines European heritage with Ecuadorian design. Onboard, a maximum of twelve guests share three decks, accompanied by a nearly equal-sized crew, while stabilizers and a bow thruster keep the journey between the islands smooth.
Whether the route takes us over the eastern islands Española and Genovesa or the geologically younger western islands Isabela and Fernandina, we will decide together with you. Regardless, the wildlife dictates each day, as it shows no fear of humans: blue-footed boobies dance during courtship, frigatebirds puff up their red throat sacs, and marine iguanas lie on the rocks without being disturbed by your presence. While snorkeling, you will swim alongside Galápagos penguins, sea turtles, and sea lions, close enough to follow each of their movements underwater. A naturalist guide will accompany you both on land and in water, showing you how to distinguish the species of the individual islands.

What shapes the days as much as wildlife unafraid of humans, is the crew: the captain, cruise director, guides, bartender, and kitchen team will know your preferences after a short time, which water, which wine, and which cocktails you enjoy, and will bring you new recommendations at the bar each evening. Culinary delights also await on the journey: local ingredients meet international finesse.