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Vicuna - a Legendary Treasure of Andes
offered by supplier M15945 (view this supplier profile)
Key Information:
Tour Duration: 3
day(s)
Group Size: 4
- 16
people
Destination(s):
Ecuador
Specialty Categories:
Ecotourism
Hiking & Trekking
Season: January - December
Airfare Included: No
Tour Customizable: No
Minimum Per Person Price: 327 US Dollar (USD)
Maximum Per Person Price: 629 US Dollar (USD)
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The Vicuñas are the snob cousins of the Llamas and Alpacas. Its skin is called Vicuna - a Legendary Treasure of Andes because it is finer than Kashmir and 5 times more expensive. That became the great disaster for their lives. Even today many poachers are hunting the Vicuña and they must be protected by patrols. In the upper Andes of Ecuador you can see free-living Vicuñas in the natural surrounding of Chimborazo Mountain. The program will also include the orchid fields at Sangay National Park in the surroundings of Tungurahua gateway to the Amazon rain forest.
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: After a very interesting drive where we can learn how vegetation is determined by altitude, let us introduce you to the Avenue of the Volcanoes. We get into Cotopaxi the legendary moorlands of the Andean Condor, Andean gull, teals and hummingbirds. Treks at different altitudes will let you discover unusual flora and fauna of the upper Andes interpreted by a Naturalist. The hike will also provide acclimatization for a climb into the Glacial of Cotopaxi at 4.800 m.
Lunch will be served at a Colonial hacienda "La Cienega", where Alexander von Humboldt and many scientists like La Condamine also stayed. In the afternoon we will reach Baños. May be there are staggering views over the eruptions of Tungurahua. Dinner and accommodations will be at a very nice and familiar hotel "Villa Gertrudis" or in the traditional hotel "Sangay".
Day 2: After breakfast you learn about the impressive landscape of Baños. It is frontier between the Andes and the Amazon rain forest. As result of its location, the mountain is full of splendor vegetation and tremendous waterfalls. From Tungurahua there is a breath-taking view to a pretty landscape. After viewing the wonderful landscape we will have a little trekking to the stunning waterfalls of Río Verde.
In the afternoon we join an Indian community at Chimborazo. This tribe kept up their habits and is still living like their ancestors hundred of years ago. The indigences welcome us very friendly and you get the opportunity to have a view into their daily life. This community stay is very special experience because it is the first time you can enter an Indian community like this. They will serve dinner. Accommodations will be under shelter of the Indian community.
Day 3: After an early breakfast, we head into the vast plains of the Chimborazo - Carihuairazo fauna reserve to have a trekking into any of their secret places having the opportunity to walk through free Vicuñas wandering in remote areas. Horse back riding is also available for those with a more adventurous spirit. Vicuñas resent humans, as they are their natural enemy for about 500 years since the ambitious Spaniards invaded our land. At Inca times, this was a sacred possession and only the "curacas" could wear their skin.
The breath-taking landscape offers you views from the Amazon until the Pacific Ocean . The mighty, snow-covered volcano Chimborazo (6.310 m) king of the Andes is the middle of all. Our Indian hosts also Breed about 400 Alpacas in the lower fields of the reserve where agriculture is still possible. Alpaca seem like a ball of wool you like to cuddle in. Lunch will be served at the community with fresh harvested cereals. Then we start the return to Quito or take our connection for our next adventure in the middle of the world.
The suggestions are:
- "El Trencito de los Andes", Ingapirca Inca ruins and Cuenca
- The Chocolate path into Guayaquil and Machalilla National Park, our second Galapagos and beach resort
- The Amazon Rain forest.
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Prices (Tourist - First Class):
- 3 persons: US$ 579 - US$ 629
- 6 persons: US$ 389 - US$ 439
- 10 persons: US$ 327 - US$ 327.
Price Includes:
- Accommodation in the above-mentioned hotels
- Indian community Food as above mentioned
- Tour in private air-conditioned Buses
- Senior English-speaking guide/ naturalist
- All national park permissions and Taxes.
Also see tour packages in:
South America
Ecuador
Ecotourism
Hiking & Trekking
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, ext: 15945
