Name: 13 Day Take Over Ecuador on a Guided Adventure Motorcycle Tour
Brand: Ecuador Bike Rental by Sleipner
Price: 5972 USD
Availability: InStock

Accommodation

Check-in Time:

09:00

Check-out Time:

18:00

Your accommodation will be single occupancy base in hotels and first-class community eco-lodges.

Program

Day 1: QUITO – COTOPAXI – QUILOTOA | 203 km (125 miles)

We’ll have a briefing in Ecuador Bike Rental’s headquarters in Quito, located in the heart of the capital. Here’s where the last paperwork will be filled, gear will be given and tested for your better comfort and protection, and the bike of your choice will be delivered. We’ll have a quick brief on the roads, traffic signs, police guidelines, safety, and a quick guide to your motorcycle.

The departure will be at 9 am sharp after all the formalities and checks on the route. After a ride of approximately one hour, you’ll be getting to know the roads better and be familiar with the traffic. We’ll stop for refueling just outside of Quito and have a small chat about what will be coming next.

We’ll take a detour from the Pan-American highway towards a countryside road to show you the marvelous landscapes drawn as we get closer to Cotopaxi volcano, which with its 5897 meters (19347 ft) summit height, is the second-highest volcano in Ecuador. Its surrounds are populated with haciendas that end close to the Cotopaxi national park. Its flora and fauna include most of the species from the highlands in Ecuador, such as deers, foxes, highland rabbits, wild horses, and a huge variety of birds.

As we refreshed our sight with all this green and away from traffic, we’ll merge towards the Pan-American highway again to retake our route towards the highest point on the tour, the idea is to do it slowly to acclimatize ourselves and make sure we enjoy the motorcycle ride.

About 45 minutes later, we’ll take another detour to Quilotoa lake. An iconic formation seating inside of the Quilotoa volcano crater. The road towards Quilotoa is one of the best asphalted twisty roads in Ecuador, where besides the change in landscapes, it represents quite a fun ride towards today’s destination. Our hotel has a front view of the emerald-toned water of the lake, our lodge will be ready for us. Worth mentioning that we’ve selected the best community lodge in the area to complement your motorcycle tour. Ecuador Bike Rental by Sleipner tries to support as much as possible community programs in the country as part of its sustainable tourism initiative.

Day 2: QUILOTOA – VELASCO IBARRA – MANTA | 308 km (193 miles)

Rise and shine deep in your warm blankets for another exciting day. A filling breakfast is waiting for us just in front of Quilotoa, and from there to get ready on our motorcycle rentals to go back to that exciting road from yesterday. This time to lower lands towards the coast.

The change in bioclimates is easy to spot in every kilometer. The twisties will take us towards Velasco Ibarra, a small town on the way to the coast where we’ll make a stop for lunch. And where food variety is amazing, as is the transition from the Andes to the Coast. From here, the ride to the Coast has the colors from the trees embracing the road in the form of a tunnel.

Needless to say, the change in temperature as we approach the Pacific Coast to start our Spondylus route. Manta, our today’s destination is one of the three main ports in Ecuador. The 4-star hotel of selection is right behind Playa Murcielago (Bat’s beach), where single-room accommodation will be waiting for you. After our check-in, we can rest nearby the swimming pool before we walk to the main street in the city for dinner.

Day 3: MANTA – MONTAÑITA | 155 km (94 miles)

Going down south on the Spondylus route, we’ll hit several villages and towns, most of them with their own history, gastronomic variety, and stunning beaches. The ride goes a few meters away from the coast, so there will be plenty of opportunities to delight our sight. Did you know that the route is called Spondylus due to a shell? The Spondylus shell can be found primarily on Ecuadorian coasts and its pink color was pretty valued by the tribes living here hundreds of years ago as they used it as their own currency method.

We get to enjoy Los Frailes beach, a beach not known by tourists that conserves its charm over the years due to its access. We’ll ride an easy off-road for about 2 km to enter the beach.

We’ll make a stop on the beautiful beach of Puerto Lopez for lunch, its calm will be refreshing after the ride we had. Then, off to Montañita, the party town. We’ve selected a comfy lodge there near town but away enough from it so you can sleep at ease. As soon as we’re done with the check-in and taking advantage of the afternoon waves, we’ll have our surfing class waiting for us. Local surfer instructors will teach us how to ride waves this time. At night, after dinner, Montañita party town will be waiting for us to have a good time.

Day 4: MONTAÑITA (ACTIVITIES)

A resting day is just ahead of us. After a late breakfast, we’ll have the whole day to stay at the beach, rent surfboards to practice what we learned the day before and if you’re keen, ride light to nearby beaches to see more.

An interesting fact about Montañita, its origins go way back to the 1960s when the beach was “founded” under a hippie culture and surfing hotspot. Filled with colors all around the center of the village, this place will keep you awake and alive at all times. Montañita, meaning “Little Hill” is an outgrowing town on the coast and over the past decade has become the top destination for locals and tourists. As an international convention center for all tourists and sports, It is a village on the peninsula of Santa Elena province. It is commonly known for its strong surf beaches and bohemian lifestyle. Its top attractions are nightclubs and nightlife. This will be our little escape to have fun and disconnect from the world.

Your lunch will be ready at the hotel, following a surfing lesson which allows you to blend with the locals in their venue. Surfing will test you completely, it is a difficult sport to master, but once you get it down, you won’t be wanting to get out of the water any time soon.

Day 5: MONTAÑITA – SALINAS – GUAYAQUIL | 183km (114 miles)

In every kilometer of the way, your eyes will be satisfied with beauty and joy. After a filling breakfast in the «city of sin”, we’ll take our ride to the further out point in South America in the Pacific Ocean, Salinas.

La Chocolatera in Salinas is a point where converging currents, lift the sandy bottom and give the chocolate brown of the sea, hence arises the name. It offers a unique, colorful, and here combines two ocean currents that cause a crash of waves against the rocks and waters are passed by the intense sunlight, creating multiple rainbows.

From there to Guayaquil. El Astillero is the main port in Ecuador and hence, due to the economic movement the city has, is one of the prettiest cities in Ecuador. As we enter the continent again, the shrimp farms and other plantations give us the chance to see and interact with the locals and their ways of living. Ecuadorians are known for being pretty friendly with their visitors and won’t hesitate to go the extra mile to make sure you will have a good time. Our 4-star hotel is in the middle of the metropolitan area in Guayaquil and has all the commodities to keep you satisfied and rested. Nearby, there is a shopping mall, where we can purchase any other thing we might need during the rest of the trip.

Day 6: GUAYAQUIL – MACHALA | 187km (116 miles)

Good morning from Guayaquil, the city of the Astillero. The first thing you notice when you wake up is the warmth of the Ecuadorian coast. We will have breakfast at the hotel, enjoying once again the great seafood Ecuador has to offer. After filling our tanks with this great local gastronomy, we will take a direction towards the south of the country. A town well known for its beautiful women and hard-working farmers. This is Machala.

Still, on the Spondylus route, we pay a visit to the banana capital of the world. There is a high probability that those delicious fruits you get back home come from here. Another good attraction of the place is the petrified forest of Puyango in the border between Machala and Loja. The route is as colorful as it gets, changes thanks to the influence of several valleys we have to get to the capital of the province. When we approach the province, you’ll notice endless banana plantations and as we enter the city, the sight of several churches all around to welcome us. Meals will be served as we finish our check-in, and have the rest of the afternoon to enjoy a city tour.

Day 7: MACHALA – LOJA | 233 km (145 miles)

After our breakfast in this lovely city, we’ll pack our bags and set our steel horses to continue with the tour on our motorcycle rentals. At the same time as we farewell the banana capital, we are also saying bye to the coast. Don’t worry tho as the Andean region will be waiting for us with its wonderful people and cuisine. We’ll ride it from south to north, starting with the closest city to the Peruvian border: Loja.

The music capital of Ecuador is so rich in culture because of its architecture, its art contribution to the world, and for being crib of many illustrious people. The nearby towns to Loja are also known for being selected by retired foreigners to be their place to live.

Loja is also known as one of the cleanest cities in Ecuador. Many traditional parades take place here, the most remarkable is La Virgen del Cisne parade (the Cisne Virgin’s Parade). The whole city dresses to party and everyone is out in the streets requesting its blessing and protection. Prior to arriving at our hotel, we’ll ride around the city being part of its history.

Day 8: LOJA – CUENCA | 213 km (132 miles)

Today’s ride will start early with our motorcycles ready. Cuenca, the city filled with more history than any other in Ecuador is waiting for us. As we head north, the route of the Guayacan will be a constant for the next kilometers, and we hope you notice the difference in accent proper of this city. Their Spanish is colored by a sweet singing, however, free of slang and short words, like the rest of the country. Hence is well known that Ecuador is one of the best countries to learn Spanish due to its neutrality.

Cuenca is a city with its historical contrast. Just a bit lower in altitude than Quito, the temperature oscillates from 14 to 18 deg. Celsius all year long. This is because of the valley where it seats. Its mountain walls around allow the entry of four main rivers: Tomebamba, Yanuncay, Machangara y Tarqui that crosses from west to east.

Its architecture gave Cuenca the title of Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 1999. Its 200 hectares in the historical center present the visitors the richest density in churches than anywhere else in Ecuador. Besides the religious buildings, the edification of colonial and republican houses presents the contrast that appears on photos in every international magazine.

-Day 9: CUENCA

Well, enjoy one full day in Cuenca to get to know this city a bit more. If you like, we can get to see the town of Chordeleg on our motorcycles, it’s known as the «golden stream” thanks to the number of gold workshops and other precious metals in the rivers around the area.

Besides their handcraft, their ceramic shops go all the way to Ingapirca. The most famous ruins in Ecuador and the land of the Cañari. Now the area is one of the most visited.

Day 10: CUENCA – BAÑOS DE AGUA SANTA | 332 km (206 miles)

Riding the Andes has been on the bucket list for many. And this part of the road will take you through the Ecuadorian Andes highlights. As we leave Cuenca, there will be many small villages on the way. One, in particular, is famous for its train stations. This is Alausi, a picturesque village from where the train to Nariz del Diablo (Devil’s nose) departs. The curious thing about the path this train takes is that to reach its destiny, it needs to go downhill in a back and forth motion.

This is going to be the longest day of riding on our tour, as we keep going north, we’ll encounter the colossal Chimborazo. An inactive volcano is known to be the closest point to the sun if measured from the center of the earth, and besides it, Carihuairazo. As the Quichua myth tells, this last was beheaded by Chimborazo in war to conquer the love of mama Tungurahua, and that’s why it doesn’t have any cone at the top.

Tungurahua volcano’s base is the seating of Baños. A town known by its thermal waters, hundreds of impressive waterfalls, and being crossed by far too many water streams, all merging towards the main rivers: Napo and Pastaza towards the Amazon River. This geography makes it excellent for any extreme sports: rock climbing and mountaineering, and water sports like river rafting, kayaking, and canyoning. Hence, we’ve selected this town as one of the venues for our motorcycle ride.

At night, after dinner, we’ll have the chance to go partying if you wish as tomorrow will be a rest day. Our hotel will be waiting for us in the middle of town. Close enough to everything and far enough to get some good rest.

Day 11: BAÑOS DE AGUA SANTA

As mentioned before, the day will start with an amazing buffet breakfast and telling the stories from last night, and from there, there is a diversity of things we can do. Depending on your preferences, we can go extreme and go for river rafting, canyoning or rock climbing; or we can take it a bit chill and do the waterfall routes, sightseeing of Tungurahua and its constant eruptions, and visit the historical part of town. What you would like to do to enjoy yourself?

Baños is an inexpensive town and all these activities are led by local experienced guides. Another tourist spot is Pailon del Diablo. A nice hike toward one of the highest waterfalls in Ecuador. On the way, you’ll appreciate the number of orchids and flora. By being the gateway from the Andes to the Amazon basin, the biodiversity in Baños has it for all likes.

Day 12: BAÑOS DE AGUA SANTA – LATACUNGA – OTAVALO | 274 km (170 miles)

On our second last day, after filling our souls with a well-deserved breakfast and feeling rested, we can prepare our motorcycle rentals towards the North. Passing beside Ambato, the fourth largest city in Ecuador, we can continue learning from different indigenous cultures along the way. We find Salasacas, then later on Salcedo, each town and village with their own way of life, however, unified by Quichua, their common language.

As we arrive at the North, Cotopaxi, and Illinizas (north and south) will be there to greet us. Otavalo has the concentration of the major lakes in Ecuador, and our hotel is just in front of Lago San Pablo. Otavalo market is the favorite spot for everyone to buy a souvenir. The whole center of Otavalo has been taken by its indigenous descendants and provides color to the end of today’s adventure.

The hotel with a fireplace in every room has the habit of insert warm water bags in your bed while we are having dinner in order to have that comfy feeling that our grandparents enjoyed long ago.

Day 13: OTAVALO – CAYAMBE – QUITO | 96 km (60 miles)

Once we’re done with a succulent breakfast, we’ll visit Peguche waterfall. a mystic place venerated and used as a healing sanctuary by the shamans in the north of the country due to its energetic properties.

Lunch will be served and it will be based on local cuisine, a unique experience different from anything you could try elsewhere in Ecuador. After you had enjoyed the beauties of the Northern part of Ecuador, its culture, and food, we’ll head back to Quito’s headquarters to finalize our tour. This doesn’t mean the end of the fun, as we will have 120 km of pure twisties to ride with good asphalt.

Instructors

Davos “Gambito" Garces

David is an Ecuadorean globetrotter that lived mainly in Ecuador, all over Europe, and US. Speaks fluently three languages, English, Spanish and Portuguese. His motorcycle career started at age 14, and since then he hasn’t been able to get off bikes and has been riding in all sorts of terrains as every good biker should. He has an amazing short run on superbike races, being on the 3rd place in the Nationals in 2013 and 2014 in the 1000 cc. category racing for Ducati, and 1st place in the 1000cc. Panamerican Championship in Peru in 2015 also racing with Ducati. Pretty friendly and approachable.

Location

This motorcycle tour will take place in Ecuador. The locatons will include Quito, Manta, Montanita, Guayaquil, Cuenca, Machala, Banos, and Otavalo.

Ecuador

Ecuador has many climate zones, from tropical along coast to cooler and dryer inland at higher elevations and tropical in Amazonian jungle lowlands. Ecuador is unusual in that one can choose any climate one wishes by where in the country one travels to. Adding up the thrill of riding a motorcycle makes it even more fun. Lying on the equator means there is no summer or winter; however, there are typically wetter and drier seasons. The ‘wetter’ season is usually between December – June, while the drier season runs from July – November.

On this tour, you will be part of this merging. Following the water routes, you will transfer from the highlands from the Andes to the whole Coastline, baptized as Spondylus due to a colorful shell that leaves all along the Pacific Ecuadorean Coast. Enjoy this tour, fully thanks to our motorcycles and your riding experience using the best hotels and eco-lodges to make this one wonderful experience.

We strongly recommend you to arrive at least 2 days earlier so you have some spare time to get used to the altitude if need be and also to visit around the capital, San Francisco de Quito. It has won 4 tourism prizes so far and is a city filled with history. From way back when the colonials arrived and founded the city. Bringing their European culture and mixing it with the local natives. The first settlers were the Quitu people: they were eventually subjugated by the Caras culture. Sometime in the fifteenth century, the city and region were conquered by the mighty Inca Empire, based out of Cuzco to the south. Quito prospered under the Inca and soon became the second most important city in the Empire.

Quito has continued to slowly grow and has evolved from a tranquil provincial capital to a modern metropolis.

Perhaps because it spent so many centuries as a quiet provincial town, Quito’s old colonial center is particularly well-preserved. It was one of UNESCO’S first World Heritage sites in 1978. Colonial churches stand side-by-side with elegant Republican homes on airy squares. Quito has invested a great deal recently in restoring what locals call «el Centro Historico”, Spanish for Historical Center and the results are impressive. Elegant theaters such as the Teatro Sucre and Teatro México are open and show concerts, plays, and even the occasional opera. A special squad of tourism police is detailed to the old town and tours of old Quito are becoming very popular. Restaurants and hotels are flourishing in the historic city center. Much worth to be visited.

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Food

Your daily breakfast and dinner are included in the price. You will also be provided with snacks during the ride.

The following meals are included:

Breakfast
Dinner
Snacks

The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:

Regular (typically includes meat and fish)

If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation

Things to do (optional)

Canooping
Canyoning
River rafting
Birdwatching
Amazonas hike
Surfing

What's included

Ready to roll fully fueled unlimited Mileage Motorcycle Rental with all the toys installed
Multilingual local guide, connected with intercoms with all participants
Support Truck for groups of 5+ riders
Tolls
Rain Tops (upper and lower body)
Gasoline for your whole tour
Snacks during your ride
Touring helmets, pants, trousers, and gloves
12 nights accommodation in single occupancy base in hotels and eco-lodges
Activities specified in your tour (depending on availability)
Briefing the day before we start. (Here is where your adventure begins)
Specified Meals in the tour (breakfast and dinner)
35lt. GIVI last generation saddlebags and a 45 lt. Duffel bag
Bulletproof Medical Insurance
First aid kit, tire repair kit, portable air compressor, and tool kit
GPS Tracking System with a panic button on each bike for you to use, and with it, 24-hour assistance from our support center
Third-party liability and medical insurance mandatory in Ecuador (SPPAT)
Storage for your excess luggage during your ride

What's not included

A voucher for a security deposit using a major card
Ecuador IVA tax (if you’re Ecuadorian)
Hotel accommodations before and after your tour
Alcoholic beverages
Unspecified meals in your tour
Unspecified activities in your tour

How to get there

Recommended Airports

UIO

Mariscal Sucre International Airport

15 km

Transfer available for additional US$ 50 per person

Arrival by airplane

Please book your flight to arrive at Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO).

Airport: Mariscal Sucre International Airport Airport transfer available: Mariscal Sucre International Airport (US$ 50 per person) Additional charges may apply. You can request this in the next step.

Cancellation Policy

A reservation requires a deposit of 40% of the total price.
The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
The rest of the payment should be paid on arrival.

Explore

Hello there.
Glad to have you!

Day 1: QUITO – COTOPAXI – QUILOTOA | 203 km (125 miles)

Day 2: QUILOTOA – VELASCO IBARRA – MANTA | 308 km (193 miles)