Calgary Outdoor Club Deep Amazon Adventure Itinerary  

  www.untamedpath.com 
 

Exciting, very active special custom designed adventure for the Calgary Outdoor Club participants with the intention to get you deep into the Amazon region of Ecuador in South America at a discounted rate.  Days will be full and activities include canoeing, rafting, hiking and learning about indigenous culture and natural history from the native people of these regions. Accommodations range from double, triple, quad or dorm rooms to camping with latrines and simple traditional thatched roof hut style accommodations with shared indoor bathroom or outhouse. You are guaranteed to come home filled with a whirlwind of incredible memories from South America!

March 5: The adventure begins…Fly to Quito (2800 meters), transfer to accommodations with Untamed Path driver (20 mins).
Night at a small and simple inn in Quito. All meals on your own.  

March 6: Transfer from Quito to the cloudforest (2 hours) where you will meet up with 1 region specific guide for your group. Drop your gear in the dorm room firstly (climb a ladder to get up to your accommodations in this dome made of natural materials-great views of the surrounding cloudforest).  Then hit the trails to hike for the rest of the day (bag lunch during the hike) with a guide and learn about cloudforest ecology. Dinner back at the dome is served family style and then get a good night sleep!
Night in the cloudforest.  B, L & D included. 

March 7: Optional early morning birding hike at dawn or others may opt to hang out on the deck with a cup of coffee and watch the hummingbird display at the feeders. Breakfast and then load into vehicles to travel approximately 1 hour to the river. Load into the boats for an exciting day of cloudforest rafting (Class III on a scale of I to V, no prior experience necessary but the ability to swim IS necessary). You will have area specific raft guides with you (6-7 people per boat, 1 guide per boat). Picnic lunch alongside the river. Pass by local villages alongside the river, paddle through fun rapids and enjoy the lush cloudforest-like environment.   At the end of the day return to Quito (3 hour drive) arriving to the hotel around 7:30 pm for dinner and get ready for tomorrow’s flight.
Night in Quito (same hotel as Day 1) B, L & D included. 

March 8:  Breakfast and then transfer 20 minutes to the airport for 35-minute flight over the Andes and into the Amazon Basin. On a clear day the views of snow covered volcanoes meeting the rainforest in the remote and inaccessible eastern escarpment are spectacular. Upon arrival you will be met by your English speaking area specific guide and hop in a bus for the journey of several hours to a remote indigenous village. Traveling along this road offers a unique insight into how local people are living in this fragile area. At the river get acquainted with your local guides and have lunch before heading downstream by dugout motor canoe on the river. After 2-3 hours arrive at the lodge where you will receive an orientation to the next few days in the rainforest then a well-deserved dinner after a full day of travel! Welcome to Amazonia!
Night staying at simple rainforest huts. B, L & D included. 

March 9: After breakfast depart as a group to navigate the river downstream to its confluence with another nearby river and follow it until you arrive at a small indigenous village tucked deep in the rainforest. The people of this small remote indigenous village struggle to hold onto their traditional way of life while protecting their forest from the pressures of oil exploration and illegal logging. Tourism is an alternative economy for them, which helps tremendously. It takes at least seven hours to get there by dugout canoe (great wildlife viewing opportunities along the way). Stop for lunch on a sandy beach. Set up camp nearby along the river and have dinner. 
Night camping in the rainforest. B, L, D included. 

March 10: After an early breakfast split into 2 groups of 6-8 people.  In the morning accompany several indigenous peoples from this tribe into the forest for a longer hike to learn about the rainforest and their amazing relationship with it. Demonstrations on how they use the different plants to build their houses, weapons for hunting and use of medicinal use of plants. The option may present itself to join them on a simulated traditional hunt to stalk wildlife with their blowpipe and curare darts (you won’t actually kill any animals but these folks are very tuned into this more instinctual animal tracking sense). This can get pretty exciting! In the afternoon visit a hidden oxbow lake to fish for Piranha. Return to the camp for dinner (and maybe eat some piranha J).
Night camping in the rainforest.  B, L, D included. 

March 11: Early in the morning drift quietly down the river with the opportunity to observe different birds and mammals. This region is renowned for it’s healthy forest and opportunities for sighting wildlife are good. However, the animal’s job is to hide and they are very good at it. Stealth, patience, silence and a bit of luck are the requirements for the best sightings! Back to the camp for breakfast then visit the nearby village and learn about their culture and way of life. These indigenous people have been in contact with our civilization for only a few decades and traditional knowledge is still very much alive and in daily use. They are enthusiastic to share it with visitors.  After lunch, time is purposefully set aside for whatever opportunities for cultural interaction might arise. There is always something meaningful and fun. You will see that this indigenous culture shines when released from our cultural norms of schedules and planned activities. Their culture is very much an ‘in the moment’ concept and definition of time. You never know what they could decide to do with their time; if you are open and engage in sharing your culture with them they are most responsive. Could be a singing or tree climbing contest, a time for storytelling or playing a ball game against almost the entire village!
Night camping in the rainforest.  B, L, D included. 

March 12: After breakfast break down your camp and navigate more of the river downstream to a new area of the forest to set up a new camp. This is deep in primary rainforest where very few travelers get to visit. In the afternoon there is time to go on a long hard hike where the guides explain more about the complex system of the rainforest ecology. At night navigate along the river and search for caimans and other nocturnal animals.
Night camping in the rainforest.  B, L, D included. 

March 13: Traveling upstream by motor canoe today brings you back to the simple lodge where you spent the 4^th night of the trip. Here you can go paddling with small dugout canoes in the oxbow lake. Time to relax and enjoy the last of the sweet rainforest chorus of the day birds and insects into the night sounds before dinner.
Night staying at simple rainforest huts with outside facilities. B, L, D included.  

March 14: Very early in the morning do a short hike to observe birds and mammals (optional). After breakfast pack up your equipment and navigate the river upstream to the road. On the way you will stop for lunch on a sandy beach. On the bridge you will see your bus waiting for you to take you to the airport for the flight back to Quito, transfer to your hotel for a good night’s rest!
Night at a small and simple inn in Quito. B & L included D on your own. 

March 15: Explore colonial Quito for the morning with a guide and vehicle. The colonial city was declared a UNESCO Heritage site in the 1970’s, the architecture is beautiful. Visit the classic South American plazas and a few stunning monuments by foot. Depart Quito after lunch to travel 2 hours to a hot springs lodge (stunning mountain scenery). Time upon arrival to soak in the rock-lined pools or hike on your own along the river trail above the lodge surrounded by the unique ecosystem of a Polypsis forest.
Night at hot springs in simple cabins.  B included, L & D on own 

March 16: Morning to relax at the hot springs after a very fast paced trip. Some people will want to visit the small interpretive center and hike on the trail along the river on their own and others will want to sleep in and have a later breakfast and soak in the pools. Depart from the springs after lunch and with good luck you will have a clear day for views of a snow-capped volcano (approx 5790 meters high) in the distance en route to Quito (2 hours). 
Night in Quito.  All meals on your own. 

March 17: Early morning transfer to the airport (20 mins) and fly home internationally.
Night at home! B included, L & D on your own. 

Note:  Cultural sensitivity required during the deep rainforest portion of the trip. Your guide during this portion of the trip will help you with these guidelines. 

This is an active trip with full days. A sense of adventure and some flexibility are important for this remote trip. 

The itinerary above includes all nights accommodations (basic and simple with some shared bathrooms, some private bathrooms and some outdoor pit toilets), meals as listed (local Ecuadorian cuisine, simple and locally available ingredients), transportation as listed (van, bus, canoe, raft, back of a truck) guide service as listed (local area specific guides rather than 1 guide with you for the entire trip, in town nights are on your own), round trip in-country airfare and activities as listed.  

Please note that all activities are subject to change according to local conditions. Any itinerary changes will not be taken lightly and will be made with the group’s best interests in mind. The place where this note is most applicable is in the rainforest because you will be visiting with a group of indigenous people whose culture is quite spontaneous and there will be unique opportunities which present themselves at various points during the trip depending on your interests and local conditions. There will be other guests staying at some of the lodges that you are visiting.