Transfer In to hotel. We suggest you arrive in Quito on a Friday. The EAI team will meet you at the airport on arrival and give you an initial program orientation.

The first full day in Ecuador we drive north to Otavalo, the market town. During this day, you will get a good idea of the indigenous population and the products they sell at the market, many wool ponchos, tapistries, fine embroidery designs in traditional blouses. Our visit is timed for a shopping day.

The Otavaleño Indians come down from their small villages in the surrounding mountains to sell their agricultural products and handicrafts. After a morning exploring, taking pictures and shopping, we hike one hill above the town of Otavalo and San Pablo lake, the biggest lake in Ecuador. After an hour and a half, we stop for our lunch at a restaurant, enjoying a typical Otavaleño and Ecuadorian meal. We’ll take an afternoon drive back to Quito, stopping at the Equatorial Monument or Equatorial line to take pictures in the latitude 00,00. B/L/-

We take our acclimatization ascent on the Guagua Pichincha or Rucu Pichincha volcano at 4,800m (13,773ft). Quito is nestled on the slopes of this active volcano. We drive from Quito for half an hour to the Cruz Loma area at 3,900m (12,792ft). Our primary goal here is to help each team member to start testing his or her response to higher elevation, and to give our bodies a chance to get used to higher altitude.

We hike from Cruz Loma to a very beautiful, panoramic valley, we cross and hike a sand slope and get in some rock climbing during this easy climb. It will take 4 hours up to reach our summit where we’ll rest, have lunch and take photos. After lunch, we’ll take 2 hours to return to the parking lot. If the weather conditions are favorable, we may have many photographic opportunities of beautiful scenic areas along the way! Then we’ll take an afternoon drive back to Quito. B/L/-

We offer a scenic tour through Quito, a city of contrast between the Spanish colonial displays, pre-Columbian art and Inca culture. We also visit the national ethnological museum, which provides a good introduction to the history of Ecuador, several of the city’s most interesting colonial churches, and the busy, traditional central market. This day has a free afternoon.

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We’ll depart from Quito at 9:00 A.M., and arrive at the Cayambe volcano refuge by 3:00 P.M. (4,700m / 15,416ft). Lunch is included. Located northeast of Quito on the eastern ridge of the Andes, Cayambe is Ecuador’s third highest peak and stands at 5,790m (18,991ft).

The glacier of this mountain is large and among the most active of all equatorial ice flows, and the varied glacial terrain here provides an excellent training ground and a rewarding summit climb. We’ll stay overnight at the refuge. B/L/D

We’ll get up at 7:00 A.M. for breakfast. We continue acclimatization to the altitude. We go on the glacier at 8:30 A.M. and engage in the moderate glacier section – a good activity where we’ll familiarize ourselves with the various climbing techniques and equipment work for climbing.

Our guide trains you on glacier skills, all necessary techniques for climbing the high peaks like Cayambe, Cotopaxi, Chimborazo and other mountains, too. We’ll learn and practice the general procedures for high peak mountains: rope-handling, glacier travel, snow climbing, basic crevasse rescue skills and safety techniques. After 6 hours training, we go back to the refuge for a delicious lunch and resting afternoon, of course we’ll get prepared for a midnight departure to Cayambe summit day. We’ll have an early dinner and get to bed early, usually by 6:30 P.M.

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