Ecuador Adventures

WAORANI EXPEDITION

TRANSPORT QUITO –COCA/COCA – QUITO:

Public Bus:
The night bus from Quito to Coca leaves at 9:30 pm at the terminal of “Transportes Esmeraldas”on February 12th. The night bus back to Quito from Coca leaves at 8:30 pm or 9:30 pm on February 16th. (Recommendation: Please buy your tickets at least 3 days before the trip! If you prefer, we can buy the ticket for you!)

By plane:
The plane from Quito to Coca leaves at 7:30 am with VIP airlines on February 13th (cost: 69,58 USD). The flight back to Quito from Coca leaves at 5:30 pm with TAME Airlines on February 16th (cost: 63,34 USD)

DAY 1: COCA/NEONENO COMMUNITY CAMPING
The tour starts in the city of Coca, the meeting point is Hotel Auca at 7:30 am for those who arrive by bus, then we pick up those arriving by plane at the airport. We continue our trip by local bus to the bridge of the river Shiripuno (2 hours approx.). Snacks. Then we continue by motorized canoe or rafts down the river to the Waorani community “Neoneno” where we build our camp. The trip takes approx. 4 hours and gives you a first impression of the diversity of the wildlife in the jungle. We might be able to see parrots, tucans, monkeys etc. along the way. Dinner.

DAY 2: JUNGLE HIKE / NEONENO CAMPING
Breakfast. We hike through the jungle (3-4 hrs approx.). During the hike you can enjoy a panoramic view of the Amazon basin at 310 metres above sea level. The Waorani guides will show us the way and explain us the biodiversity of the jungle, the use of medical plants which the community uses to heal illnesses. Lunch. In the afternoon we are going to have a party with the Waoranis. They will show us their hunting techniques with their blow gun and lance. Dinner at night.

DAY 3: MOTORIZED CANOE / WAORANI COMMUNITY – SHIRIPUNO LODGE
Breakfast. We leave by motorized canoe down the river for approx. 3 hours. During the trip we will observe different bird species along the Shiripuno river. Arrival at Shiripuno Lodge and lunch. Time to relax in the afternoon. At night we leave the lodge by canoe to observe caimans at the shore of the river as well as other reptiles and insects in the jungle. You can also hear some birds which are active at night. Arrival at the lodge. Dinner.

DAY 4: WALK IN THE JUNGLE/SHIRIPUNO LODGE
Breakfast. We walk through the jungle to a viewpoint from where you can observe the overwhelming Amazon jungle which surrounds us, part of the Yasuni National Park. From there we start our way back to the bridge of Shiripuno. Lunch. Transport back to Coca.

Cost: 80 USD per day per person (min. 4 pax)

INCLUDES:
Transport from the start of the tour (Coca) and back, 3 meals per day (expect breakfast on day 1 and dinner on day 4), lodging or camping, rain coats, rubber boots, purified water, bilingual guide, waorani guide.

DOES NOT INCLUDE:
Transport Quito – Coca / Coca Quito by bus or by plane, extra drinks, tips, entrance to the Waorani territory (20 USD)

Contact:

info@barefootexpeditions.com

Popularity: 1% [?]

Popularity: 13% [?]

Weekend Rafting/Camping Trip in Ecuador’s Rainforest

April 11th & 12th

Join Barefoot Expeditions on this special discounted adventure tour. Overnight rafting and camping trip to the Toachi  & Blanco rivers. We will depart from Quito on Saturday April 11th at 8:00 am.  After arriving at the Toachi Alto around 10:30 am we will start the adventure, we will raft for 5 hours.  Then we will stop at our camp area where we will set up our tents and enjoy a bonfire and food.  The next morning after breakfast we will continue te rafting  for 4 more hours until we get to the little riverside town called “Flor del Valle”.  Contact us for more information.

Group of Adventurers Whitewater Rafting in Ecuador

The price includes: private transportation, 2 meals on Saturday and 2 meals on Sunday, professional guided rafting, all the camping equipment necessary and unforgettable fun.

Price $180 per person.

Please contact us for more information and reservations.

Popularity: 41% [?]

Everybody has a goal or just wants to do something without an apparet reason. The last few days of our trip in the Patagonia, we met a Chilean friend, Mauro, who -as he told us- for a few months had the goal to hike from the Bader valley (in the base of “Los Cuernos, La Máscara, La Hoja y La Espada”)  towards the Torre Valley (in the base of South, Central and North towers) in Torres del Paine, Chile.

As the good friends that we are, we joined our friend to accomplish his goal.  For us it sounded like a very interesting trek, far away from the crowd that you may find in the famous “W” hike in Torres del Paine.  We left Puerto Natales in a bus that goes directly to the Park entrance ($25 foreign fee), took a transfer towards one of the nice lodges in the area.  And here is where the adventure started.  The first day, the hike was nice and short (2 hours).  At night it rained a lot!, the next morning we were about to quit.  But an hour later, the sky openened, and we enjoyed a delicious breakfast under the nice and warm sunlight.  We decided to continue the hike, it was his lifertime dream, it wasn’t fair to quit!

We had time to get our stuff dry and started a long hike.  We had to walk barefoot to cross streams that had become actual rivers that day because of the rain.  The water was cold, very cold.  9 hours later we arrived to the heart of Bader valley, an amazing place.  We were surrounded by huge granite walls and had to camp under very patagonian conditions (cold and wind).  The next was a hard day (again).  We spent almost 10 hours walking in a morraine with huge rocks, rapelling 200 m (with rocks falling) and walking in a glacier, towards the lagoon in the base of the towers, that was a great place to spend our third and last night in the Park.  The next day, we hiked 3 more hours, and back to Pueto Natales to enjoy a delicious “Lomo a lo pobre” that was one of our biggest motivations up there..

Aerial view of Torres del Paine. In red, our hike!

I am very happy that we did this hike, we could enjoy a unique part of Torres del Paine.  I bet that the “W” hike is as great a what we did, but having the chance to enjoy the towers with a feeling of solitude is irrepleaceable.  Up there, I felt that we were alone in the world.  and that is  a wonderful feeling.  Is a great experience for those searching a little more adventure when visiting the Torres del Paine, althought it has to be done with the companion of an experienced mountaineer.

Here a short slideshow of this trip..

If you like comfort:

By car, you can get to any of the few nice and warm lodges, with great views and great food as well.  In this places, you can enjoy activities like horseback riding, one day hikes  or just enjoy the views sipping a cup of hot chocolate. Click here to see some of the lodging options in the area

Popularity: 48% [?]

Quijos river is our #2  in the Top Ten most Exciting and Beautiful Rivers in Ecuador.  A couple of weeks ago we took a group of eight “quiteños”, an hungarian and three american girls, to enjoy this unique experience rafting the Quijos river.

Quijos River, Ecuador

Once we arrived to the river shore, the guides provide the gear (neoprene wetsuit, spray jacket, helmet and paddle), then gave a safety talk, and just before starting the trip, everybody had to jump in the water to swim a smooth rapid to get wet and get used to the water´s temperature, just to be prepared in case the raft flips.

The first few rapids, we had the chance to practice paddling instructions.  Then the river starts to get interesting with tougher rapids such as ”Picapiedra” where everybody was having fun, and the ”casi me morí” where one of the rafts flipped.  Inmediately, the guide re-flipped the raft and pull everybody back to the raft.  Sometimes flips are great opportunities to realize that even you are having fun, you are actually doing an extreme sport, and still have to focus on what you are doing, in this case, working together and paddling better.

In the bigger rapids (in this case the “Toro” rapid), after scouting, the tourists (and guides) have the chance to choose either they feel like run it or not.  This time, one out of 12 decided not to do it, and we respect that a lot!.  The guides also have to make decisions, such as who would lead the rafts, who would be the safety kayaker, all these, to minimize the risk in this kind of rapids.  One of the rafts flipped at the end of the rapid, but again, the guides managed the situation an kept going.  The third and last flip ocurred when we were half way in the river.

At the end of the trip, everybody was happy and relaxed, enjoying a grear riverside buffet lunch. All of them with a new story to tell their friends.

Enjoying the canyon in Quijos river, Ecuador

Popularity: 64% [?]