Yoga Its Five Elements, In One Country Ecuador Tour

DAY 1: WEDNESDAY- ARRIVAL TO QUITO, ECUADOR

Arrival in Quito, where you will be met at the airport by our guide and transferred to your hotel, overnight.

DAY 2: THURSDAY- INTRODUCING YOGA IN ECUADOR – QUITO CITY TOUR

Early in the morning, our expert in yoga and our guide will be waiting for you to have contact with the first element, the Pachamama, which in Kichwa means Mother Earth. The earth element is often invoked through grounding poses that cultivate a sense of stability and rootedness, connecting your body to the natural earth.

Departure to Quito, where a delicious typical lunch will be waiting for you. In the afternoon, you will explore the colonial site of Quito, where you will walk through the Main Plaza. Visit the Government Palace, the Cathedral, and some of the most important churches built around the 16th and 17th centuries.

After this visit, you will return to your hotel for, overnight.

DAY 3: FRIDAY- THE MIDDLE OF THE WORLD – THE FUNGUS GARDEN – MINDO

In the morning, you will have your second Yoga experience in Ecuador. After breakfast, you will continue to the north of the city to visit the famous Equator Line or Mitad del Mundo, which is located just 40 minutes north of Quito. This monument marks the closest point where the Equator passes.

Archaeological evidence indicates that the pre-Incan and the Inca civilizations recognized and worshiped the path of the equator as the marker of the equinox. Lunch in a local restaurant, and then you will continue to Calacali town, where you will visit the Fungus garden. Here you can learn about the production of five different organic fungi, like shitake, white, and pink oyster, and many others.

Besides, the owner will let you know about all the medicinal properties and uses of the species of this magic fungus’s world, and you can taste different kinds of fungus prepared in different ways.

After this visit, you will depart for San Miguel de Los Bancos in the cloud forest, where you will dine and overnight in Kapari lodge.

DAY 4: SATURDAY- WATER, THE SECOND YOGA ELEMENT, IN THE AMAZING CLOUD FOREST

Early in the morning, our expert in yoga and our guide will be ready to make contact with the Water in this amazing place, You will walk through the trails of this reserve until you arrive at a waterfall or the river. The water can have a healing association, and it is often connected with cleansing, purification, and renewal of our bodies.

Full day to enjoy Kapari Natural Lodge, where you can immerse yourself in nature and its renewed energy. Stimulate good health, concentration, increase creativity, anxiety relief, reduce fatigue and insomnia, among other benefits. Dinner and overnight.

DAY 5: SUNDAY- MINDO & ITS SURROUNDINGS - QUITO

In the morning, you will have a short Yoga session surrounded by the amazing nature. After breakfast, you will depart for Mindo town, where you will live great adventures: you will visit a butterfly farm, where the local guides will explain to you about the metamorphosis of this insect and will introduce you to a different world, the butterflies' world, where they can eat from your hands.

After this interesting experience you have to choose between 2 activities: canopy tour, an amazing journey on which you will travel through 10 cables of different sizes that permit you to fly from tree to tree like a bird; or you can experience the tubbing feeling the adrenaline in your bodies while you will go down along Nambillo river.

Lunch in a local restaurant and in the afternoon, you will visit the Quetzal of Mindo, which is a chocolate farm where you can see and experience the process of how chocolate is made the chocolate from "bean to bar".After this wonderful day, in the afternoon, you will return to Quito, overnight.

DAY 6: MONDAY- QUITO – CUICOCHA LAKE – POLYLEPIS LODGE

After our daily session of Yoga, you will take your breakfast and then you will depart to the north of Quito until you arrive in Otavalo. You will go to Cuicocha Lake, located 30 minutes from Otavalo.

En route, you will stop in Cotacachi town, known for its famous leather handicrafts; here, maybe you can visit one of the leather factories where you can learn the leather process that they use to get their products, like: purses, shoes, boats, wallets, hats, jackets, pants, etc. Then you will go to Cuicocha Lake, which is part of Cotacachi Cayapas Ecological Reserve.

This lake lies inside the crater of an active volcano, surrounded by native vegetation. Lunch in a local restaurant, and then you will depart for the north of our country.

In the afternoon, you will arrive at Polylepis Lodge, where you will have time to rest. Diner and overnight.

DAY 7: TUESDAY- AIR, THE THIRD ELEMENT, IN THE AMAZING PARAMO

Early in the morning, our guide will be waiting for you to hike through the trails of Polylepis lodge to be in contact with the third element, the Air. Air represents love, openness, freedom, mobility, positivity, and intellect. The sense most associated with the air element is touch because you can feel the fresh and cold air of the paramo on your face.

This reserve it is the only place in the world where you can find two ecosystems in the same area, the Millenary forest of Polylepis and the Frailejones Paramo, which is a native plant of the Andes Highlands and one of the favorite foods of the Spectacled bear. Lunch and a free afternoon to rest and enjoy the extra services of the lodge.

At night, the local guide will be waiting for you to hike through the Polylepis magic forest, where elves and gnomes come to life for the cold nights of the wasteland. Return to the lodge, overnight.

DAY 8: WEDNESDAY- OTAVALO: THE MOST IMPORTANT INDIGENOUS MARKET IN SOUTH AMERICA

After a short session of Yoga surrounded by this amazing paramo, you will take your breakfast and then you will return to Otavalo (2 and a half hours approximately). You will take your lunch in a local restaurant, and then our guide will drive you to the famous Ponchos’ Market, which is considered the most important indigenous market of South America.

Here you can find colorful handicrafts like rugs, clothes, Panama hats, pictures, jewelry, etc. Shopping time, and then you will go to Cabañas del Lag, where you will dine and stay overnight.

DAY 9: THURSDAY- FIRE, THE FOURTH ELEMENT, WITH AN ILUMAN SHAMAN – PAPALLACTA HOT SPRINGS

After breakfast, you will have your Yoga session based on the fourth element, the Fire. Fire is at the core of yoga practice. In the spiritual sense, fire refers to the core of consciousness, the infinite divine energy, which can be and become whatever it wishes.

In base on this element, after breakfast you will depart to Iluman, a famous village for its traditional healers who drive away sickness using ancient rituals and their vast knowledge of local herbs and plants, some of which are now used in Western medicine.

Lunch in Hacienda Pinsaquí, one of the most beautiful haciendas in Ecuador, and then you will be ready to depart to Papallacta region,n located in Cayambe - Coca Ecological Reserve this protected area has an area of 400,000 hectares (1 million acres) composed mainly by páramo, primary forests, rivers and lagoons. Late afternoon, you will arrive at Papallacta Hotel, where you can rest, have dinner, and overnight.

DAY 10: FRIDAY- RELAXING IN PAPALLACTA – QUITO’S AIRPORT: INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT

Early in the morning, you will have your last Yoga session to connect with your ether element. Ether is space, stillness, that which contains and holds. Ether is the element that connects us to spirit and intuition. An etheric person demonstrates qualities of imagination, expansion, subtleness, and dreaminess.

After breakfast, you can walk through the trails of the area, or we can rest and enjoy the hot springs and the thermoludic area (SPA) that this place offers. The SPA's hydrotherapy area consists of five hot thermal pools and one cold pool. The Thermoludic Area is the ideal place to experience a variety of different hydro massages using either water jets or air bubbles.

After an unforgettable expedition in Ecuador full of exercise, meditation, healthy food, amazing landscapes, nature, and adventure, you will be transferred to the airport to catch your international flight home.

END OF THE SERVICES

A NOTE ON THE ORDER OF THE ITINERARY:

Itinerary subject to change based on local conditions. It could be flexible according to the client’s interests. Wildlife is very unpredictable and is not guaranteed to be found.

PRICES INCLUDE: Private transportation, bilingual naturalist guide, Yoga specialist, accommodation based on double rooms in all the hotels and lodges detailed in the itinerary (single supplement under request); meals as described on the itinerary, entrance fees to: yoga sessions, museums in Quito, Middle of the World, the Fungus Garden farm, butterfly farm, Canopy or tubbing tour, El Quetzal de Mindo farm, Cuicocha lake, shaman experience, Papallacta hot springs and SPA

NOT INCLUDED: Travel insurance, meals not specified, alcoholic drinks, tips, and personal expenses, any massage or treatments in Papallacta.