The Condor Trek in Ecuador is one of the most famous hikes in the Andes mountains. This trek travels around the eastern Andes, begins in the Cayambe-Coca Reserve at Papallacta before heading into the Antisana Reserve until it reaches Cotopaxi National Park.
The highest altitude of the trek is 4,500m / 14,763ft (the base of Volcano Sincholagua) in Ecuador’s stunning paramo as it passes the Antisana and Cotopaxi mountains.
Includes:
- Professional Guide
- Private Transportation
- Meals (B=breakast/BL= box lunch/L=lunch/D=dinner)
- Camping Equipment (kitchen utensils, tents)
- Accomodation in double tent
- Horses
Excludes:
- Entrance fees
- Personal equipment (Boots, sleeping bags, gloves, waterproof jackets and pants, etc.)
- Tips
- Personal expenses and anything not specified above
Itinerary 4 Days
We will leave Quito in the morning in private transportation traveling for about two hours to a small town called El Tambo, located at 3,400m. At this point we will load up our packhorses with our equipment and begin the trek which will take around 4 hours.
The trail will primarily be muddy and consists of crossing small rivers where rubber boots are essential.
We will set up camp near a small lagoon, called Laguna del Volcan. Overnight in tents (-/BL/D)
After breakfast, we will start hiking up through muddy areas and small forests until we reach higher and drier paramo zones. That will take us about 3 hours.
Once here, we still have to hike for another 3 hours admiring the magnificent and massive Antisana glacier and Santa Lucia Lake.
We will get at our second camp located in a sheltered valley. Overnight in tents (B/BL/D)
After a healthy breakfast from our guides, we will pack everything and leave behind the green flat meadows of Antisana and start ascending towards Sincholagua to camp at 4,000m.
This hike is much drier and leads us through high paramo regions, crossing a few roads, and leading up to the valley of La Mica Lake.
If we are lucky we might see some condors around this area. (B/BL/D)
During the last day our journey will lead us towards the gigantic rock walls from Sincholagua, before taking the ridge that descends to Cotopaxi National Park at 3,800m, where our vehicles will be waiting for us to travel back to Quito in the afternoon. (B/BL/-)
