ECUADOR B FIELD COURSE (Amazon and Galápagos)

LENGTH: 10 Days/9 Nights

FIXED DEPARTURE DATES: Dates available upon request. Please contact Rainforest and Reef by e-mail: info@rainforestandreef.org or call toll-free: 1.877.255.3721.

*Our standard ECUADOR B FIELD COURSE itinerary can be modified in content and length for SPECIAL INTERESTS and NEEDS.

*Other JUNGLE LODGES, such as the NAPO WILDLIFE CENTER, LA SELVA and KAPAWI are also available to individuals and groups in Ecuador’s Upper Amazon Basin.
Note: Please also see our ECUADOR C FIELD COURSE, which is hosted by the non-profit organization Jatun Sacha Foundation. A sample itinerary can be seen at http://www.rainforestandreef.org.

*Affordable EXTENSIONS including an OLD TOWN QUITO CITY-TOUR (half or full-day); OTAVALO MARKET and NEARBY VILLAGES; SAQUISILÍ MARKET (half or full-day); COTOPAXI NATIONAL PARK and the AVENUE of the VOLCANOES (half or full-day); VILLAGE of BAÑOS and the AVENUE of the VOLCANOES (3d/2n) and CUENCA are available upon request before or after our ECUADOR B FIELD COURSE. Please contact Rainforest and Reef for details and pricing by e-mail: info@rainforestandreef.org or call toll-free: 1.877.255.3721.

*WHITE-WATER RAFTING and TREKKING are also available in Ecuador upon request.

*An affordable EXTENSION to CUZCO and the LOST CITY of the INCAS-MACHU PICCHU is also available to individuals and groups. Please contact Rainforest and Reef for details and pricing by e-mail: info@rainforestandreef.org or call toll-free: 1.877.255.3721. Pricing and itineraries are also available at http://www.rainforestandreef.org. Look under our PERU A, B and C FIELD COURSES, as well.

Note: Individuals/groups must fly Quito-Lima, Peru or vice-versa if they are going to combine Ecuador and Peru.

*FIELD COURSES for those with SPECIAL INTERESTS, such as BIRDING and GARDEN GROUPS are available upon request. Sample itineraries can be seen at http://www.birdingtours.org (being updated), http://www.gardentours.org (being updated) and also http://www.rainforestandreef.org. Please contact Rainforest and Reef for details and pricing by e-mail: info@rainforestandreef.org or call toll-free: 1.877.255.3721.

*SPANISH IMMERSION PROGRAMS for individuals/groups are also available in Ecuador. A sample itinerary can be seen at http://www.iwanttolearnspanish.org (being updated) and also http://www.rainforestandreef.org. SPANISH IMMERSION is also available in the rainforest. Please contact Rainforest and Reef for details and pricing by e-mail: info@rainforestandreef.org or call toll-free: 1.877.255.3721.

FIELD COURSE COST: 2210.00USD per person. Based on a minimum of 15 full-paying participants. One Group Leader FREE for the ground portion of our ECUADOR B FIELD COURSE with 15 full-paying participants. Cost is based on triple and quadruple occupancy. Double and single occupancy available upon request, usually at an extra cost.

Notes: The pricing above is based on use of the M/Y Aída María for the 4d/3n cruise in Galápagos. If the Aída María is not available for the dates requested, another vessel will be used, and prices will then be subject to change.

Group Leaders, please contact Rainforest and Reef for details about STIPENDS, FREE SPACE and GROUP RATES.

For individuals, families or groups of less than 15 full-paying participants, please contact Rainforest and Reef for pricing by e-mail: info@rainforestandreef.org or call toll-free: 1.877.255.3721.

Includes: All INSTRUCTION and BI-LINGUAL GUIDE SERVICES; all MEALS and LODGING as stated in the itinerary; all GROUND and WATER TRANSPORTATION within Ecuador; ROUND-TRIP DOMESTIC AIRFARE QUITO-COCA-QUITO on DAYS 2 and 5; ROUND-TRIP DOMESTIC AIRFARE QUITO-GALÁPAGOS-QUITO on DAYS 6 and 9; all ENTRANCE FEES to NATIONAL PARKS (except GALÁPAGOS NATIONAL PARK ENTRY FEE of 100.00USD) and OTHER SITES.

Does Not Include: ROUND-TRIP INTERNATIONAL AIRFARE to Ecuador; DOMESTIC AIRPORT DEPARTURE TAX (6.50USD per person) Quito-Coca-Quito on DAYS 2 and 5 (total 13.00USD); DOMESTIC AIRPORT DEPARTURE TAX (6.50USD per person) Quito-Galápagos-Quito on DAYS 6 and 9 (total 13.00USD); GALÁPAGOS NATIONAL PARK ENTRY FEE (100.00USD); INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT DEPARTURE TAX (38.00USD per person); GRATUITIES and PERSONAL ITEMS.

ITINERARY:

MEAL CODES: B-Breakfast, L-Lunch, D-Dinner

Note: On the MEDICAL INFORMATION FORM that you will be receiving shortly after registration, please make us aware of any special meal requests and/or dietary restrictions….vegan, vegetarian, etc., that you or members of your group may have. We will be pleased to fulfill your requests/needs.

DAY 1 ARRIVAL QUITO-ECUADOR B FIELD COURSE ORIENTATION. Following your arrival at Mariscal Sucre International Airport, outside of Quito, you will be met by our Ecuador B Field Course Staff and transferred to your hotel. Following dinner, there will be an orientation session to our Ecuador B Field Course. Overnight Quito. D

DAY 2 QUITO-FLIGHT QUITO-COCA-BOAT TRIP on the NAPO RIVER to SACHA LODGE. After an early breakfast, we will be transferred to the airport Quito for our flight Quito-Coca (~40 min.). Following our groups arrival, we will be met by Sacha Lodge Staff and transfer by boat on the Napo River to Sacha Lodge. Begin 4d/3n program and overnight Sacha
Lodge. B L D

Notes: Due to weight limitations for the flights Quito-Coca on DAY 2 and Coca-Quito on DAY 5, each participant is allowed to bring a maximum of 25 lbs. of gear. Extra luggage can be left behind in a locked storage area at our hotel in Quito.

During trip to Sacha Lodge, some gear, such as camera equipment, etc. are stored in plastic bags to keep them dry from water-spray that sometimes comes over the edge of the boat.

Sacha is one of the finest Lodges in the entire Amazon. Activities are varied and unique, including an incredible rainforest canopy walk-way. You will be surrounded by pristine, primary rainforest during your entire stay. Please see http://www.sachalodge.com.ec/ for trail descriptions and images from Sacha Lodge.

DAY 3 Activities Sacha Lodge and overnight. B L D

DAY 4 Activities Sacha Lodge and overnight. B L D

DAY 5 SACHA LODGE-BOAT TRIP on the NAPO RIVER to COCA-FLIGHT COCA-QUITO. Following an early breakfast and our last activities out of Sacha Lodge, our group will return to Coca by boat and fly Coca-Quito. Dinner on your own. Overnight Quito. B L

GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS
The Galápagos Archipelago is a cluster of 13 major and six smaller islands, scores of low-lying islets and 47 coral reefs located in the Pacific Ocean, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, South America. Galápagos is a province of Ecuador and the largest in its' National Park System. Five of the islands are inhabited and the rest are considered a Biosphere Reserve, a protected world of animals and plants, of soils and surf that preceded man by millions of years. Ten million years ago, raging volcanoes erupting over time, created the mystical Archipelago de Colón, that we know today as the Galápagos Islands. Scattered across a vast 17,000 square miles of ocean and discovered in 1535, the archipelago has remained sequestered from the mainland. No mainland connection has ever existed. Here, pirates buried stolen treasure, castaways found refuge, and, in time, a myriad of reptiles, mammals, birds and plants drifted or flew to its' shores. It was Charles Darwin's September 1835 exploration of the Galápagos while serving as the Naturalist on the British ship HMS Beagle, and his subsequent 1859 publication, "On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection" that first brought world attention to the Islands. Long isolated in this unique environment, the Islands, their plants and animals became a living laboratory and were to forever change the course of Biological Science.

Beautiful and bizarre, you are in for an extraordinary experience with some of our planet's most intriguing flora and fauna! So rare are its' species that virtually all the reptiles and many of the plant and bird species here are found nowhere else in the world….curious mockingbirds peck at your shoelaces….prehistoric land iguanas….13 species of Darwin's finches....600 pound land tortoises….boobies with red feet....boobies with blue feet....marine iguanas....crimson-throated frigatebirds showing off for their mates….waved albatrosses….the pinkest flamingos on earth and so much more! Untouched for centuries, these creatures have no fear of humans. Where else can you swim with penguins on the equator, snorkel with a sea-lions in secluded bays or sit for hours and watch birds perform unique and, at times, comical mating dances?

You will be captivated by the moon-like landscapes and mist-covered volcanic peaks, green and red sand beaches, forests of opuntia cactus that grow taller than man. This surreal setting is as mysterious as the creatures that inhabit it. In an effort to preserve the islands just as they were centuries ago, the Galápagos have been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The National Park Administration and the Charles Darwin Research Station, founded in 1964, look after the conservation of the Islands where all native mammals, reptiles and birds protected.

Anyone interested in natural history, wildlife and geology will find a visit to the Galápagos a rare and truly unforgettable travel experience.

DAY 6 QUITO-FLIGHT QUITO-GALÁPAGOS. Begin 4d/3n cruise in the Galápagos. Overnight M/Y Aída María. B L D

DAY 7 GALÁPAGOS. Activities Galápagos. Overnight on the M/Y Aída María. B L D

DAY 8 GALÁPAGOS. Activities Galápagos. Overnight on the M/Y Aída María. B L D

DAY 9 GALÁPAGOS-FLIGHT GALÁPAGOS-QUITO-FAREWELL DINNER. Following breakfast, our group will We will then return to Quito and get cleaned up after a long day. This evening we will have our “Farewell Dinner” at Rincón la Ronda. It is well known for its colonial architecture, old-time charm, Ecuadorian cuisine and Andean music. Overnight Quito. B L D

DAY 10 DEPARTURE. After an early breakfast and farewells to our Ecuador B Field Course Staff, you will be transferred to Mariscal Sucre International Airport, outside of Quito for your return flight home. B

Note: Due to weather conditions and circumstances beyond the control of Field Course Staff, certain activities may be changed or done on different days in the best interest of the group.