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Otavalo, Ecuador
Apparently cheap AF to go from the border town to Otavalo at £4 each or so.
Big thing is a Saturday artesanal market. Laguna de Cuichoca is a nice idea for a round trip hike as well as Cascada de Peguche which is close to the city center. The only other thing is a condor rescue park.
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Mindo Valley, Ecuador
Looks like we would have to go to Quinto first then catch a bus to here. Likely going to be £5-8 for the whole journey.
Big on nature hikes here so plenty of that if we are keen. Outside of that there's a frog concert which is more of a night tour for frogs specifically. Ziplininig is significantly cheaper here as well as a seven waterfall hike after a cable car we could do potentially.
Tubing, canyoning, mountain biking
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Quito, Ecuador
Bus back from Mondo valley should be easy at £5.
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Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
Fuck the stupid stippl AI feature. We know how to get here by flight.
One thing to note is that most of the activities require a naturalist so have to be part of a tour.
https://theportuguesetraveler.com/galapagos/
Very helpful guide
Free activities we can do:
San Cristóbal
Interpretación center then Cerro Tijeretas viewpoint.
Baquerizo Beach ( good for snorkeling)
Muelle Tijeretas Dock (next to interpretation center)
Exploring the town filled with sea lions
La loberia beach (beach full of sea lions and marine iguanas)
We can try and do the entries of the highland tour by ourselves like Junto crater and the Giant Tortoise reserve.
Santa Cruz
Charles Darwin research station and station beach for snorkeling
Walking the main town (potentially near the docks for sharks, pelicans and sea lions)
Tortuga bay beaches
Visit the love channel
Los gemelos and the lava tunnels and the giant Tortoise reserve
Las Grietas (for more snorkeling)
Isabela
Concha de Perla Lagoon (snorkeling)
Wall of tears and surrounding hikes/parks like Los humedales
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Santa Cruz Island, Ecuador
Highlands tour we can do for free but will need our own transport
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Isabela Island, Galápagos Islands
[Likely] Los túneles tour
Spend the other two days doing our own things that are free.
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Santa Cruz Island, Ecuador
Highlands tour we can do for free but will need our own transport
The bay tour we can also do ourselves but will need transport.
[Potential] Bartolomé tour could be one we do.
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San Cristóbal Island, Galápagos Islands
Highlands tour we can do ourselves with a taxi
[Potential] 360 island tour
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Quito, Ecuador
Won't lie didn't realise that this is the capital. As usual we could do a walking tour to learn the history of the place. We could do stuff to do with the equator at a nearby town. Potentially go to Quilotoa Crater as part of a day trip. We can climb the cathedral and visit pretty streets like Calle la Rhonda. There are some hot springs that cost $23 to enter. Nothing else of note to report that isn't a tour of a place we plan to go to anyway.
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Cotopaxi, Ecuador
Buses from Quito to Latacunga can stop us off nearby the park but we'd have to get some form of taxi closer or try to hitchhike.
Mountain biking/horse riding popular here. The big thing is climbing the main volcano which is at 5,000m altitude. It's apparently a challenging hike mainly due to the altitude and it's mostly uphill (1.2km up for 7km along). There's an easier 1.6km walk around a lake and some wildlife spotting (wild dogs and oxen type stuff).
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Latacunga, Ecuador
Should be easy to get here from the main road. Buses go from Quibto to Latacunga all hethe time for $2.
Quilotoa loop hike 2 nights for the loop and 2 nights around it
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Banos, Ecuador
Take bus from Latacunga to Riobamba then on to Baños. Should leave early as it takes a long ass time and want to make sure we catch our connection.
There is a spot 20 mins away on the bypass where we csn catch a bus directly to Baños. Easy
Enjoying the hot springs would be nice. Casa del árbol is apparently a bit of a tourist trap but maybe something we can decide for ourselves. Cycling to some waterfalls might be fun and cheap. Also plenty of adrenaline activities we may want to choose one to to (rafting, absailing etc).2
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Cuenca, Ecuador
Direct bus from Baños costing $10.
Historic city centre is a UNESCO site so probably nice to wander around. Museum about Panama hats, miradors to see sunsets and rivers and parks to wander around. Maybe the Amaru biopark could be nice to see endemic animals of Ecuador. Some other spots to wander around but very much colonial city vibes.
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Máncora, Peru