Andes, Amazon & Pacific Self-Guided Motorcycle Tour

Day 1

Quito – Mitad del Mundo – Mindo

How does water drain when you're standing directly on the Equator?Day 1 begins at Ecuador Freedom's headquarters in Quito's La Carolina neighborhood, 9,350 feet (2,850 m) above sea level. Before departure, you'll receive a comprehensive briefing from an experienced Ecuador Freedom guide who knows and has ridden the route. We'll cover Ecuadorian traffic customs, riding etiquette, road conditions, the surfaces you'll encounter, your programmed Garmin GPS, and the practical details you need before heading out.

Your programmed Garmin GPS brings you to the exact locations of the day's stops, while your daily route sheet provides the background, historical information, practical details, and recommendations that help you understand what you're seeing along the way.

Your first stop is the Intiñan Solar Museum, located directly on the Equator. "Intiñan" means Path of the Sun in Kichwa, and the museum explores how Indigenous peoples understood astronomy, seasons, and the movement of the heavens long before GPS satellites and survey equipment arrived. Interactive demonstrations on gravity, latitude, and life on the Equator make for a surprisingly entertaining first stop.

Leaving Quito, your route brings you to the rim of the Pululahua Geobotanical Reserve, one of the few inhabited volcanic calderas on Earth. Farms and small communities spread across the fertile crater floor, taking advantage of soil enriched by ancient eruptions.

The pavement soon begins flowing through long, sweeping curves as the elevation drops and the temperature rises. The high Andes gradually disappear behind you while the first signs of Ecuador's cloudforest begin closing in around the road.

Your programmed GPS brings you to one of our favorite places in Ecuador, Los Armadillos. Hidden deep in the cloudforest, it feels as though someone built a restaurant inside a giant bird sanctuary. Feeders hang throughout the gardens, attracting what seems like thousands of hummingbirds, tanagers, toucans, barbets, and dozens of other species that dart through the trees while you eat.

The kitchen is every bit as memorable as the setting. Fresh trout raised in cool mountain streams is a local favorite, and enormous pitchers of freshly pressed juices—jackfruit, passion fruit, guanábana, tree tomato, and whatever else happens to be in season—are often available. Your daily route sheet includes the details and recommendations for the stop.

From Los Armadillos, the route leaves the pavement behind for one of our favorite stretches of the day. The narrow dirt road climbing toward Bellavista Cloudforest Reserve is completely intentional. After city traffic followed by flowing mountain pavement, this smooth, hard-packed road gives you a chance to get better acquainted with your motorcycle on a loose surface without throwing anything highly technical at you on the first day.

Ride it at a comfortable pace, keep a relaxed grip, and let the motorcycle move underneath you. The surface is generally straightforward, but conditions can always change with rain and local traffic. There is no prize for rushing it.

Bellavista itself is legendary among birders. Our friend Richard Parsons, an Englishman, established the reserve back in the 1990s when this dirt road was still the main route from Ecuador's Pacific coast to Quito. Long before birdwatching became fashionable, Richard realized this mountainside was one of the richest cloudforest habitats anywhere in the Andes.

Richard is essentially a walking BBC wildlife documentary. If he's around when you visit the bird garden, you're in for a treat. Within minutes he may be pointing out the subtle differences between hummingbird species, explaining why toucans migrate up and down the mountains with the seasons, and talking about mammals, orchids, frogs, and insects that most people walk right past.

If you're an avid ornithologist, you've almost certainly heard of Bellavista. The reserve has become internationally famous for recording astonishing numbers of bird species in a single day, and visiting scientists continue discovering new species of plants and animals on its trails. Even if you can't tell a tanager from a toucan, sitting quietly while hummingbirds flash metallic greens, blues, reds, and purples just a few feet away is something you'll remember long after the ride is over.

By late afternoon, your route brings you into Mindo, a relaxed cloudforest town known for birds, waterfalls, coffee, and some of Ecuador's finest cacao.

At El Quinde Chocolate, you can follow the entire process from freshly harvested cacao beans through fermentation, drying, roasting, grinding, and tempering before getting to the best part—the tasting.

Ecuador is the home of Fine Aroma chocolate, and seeing how cacao is processed here in the cloudforest gives you a much better appreciation for what goes into the finished bar.

Tonight you stay at Séptimo Paraíso Cloudforest Reserve Lodge, tucked deep within the forest outside Mindo. We love this place for its spring-fed pools, heated swimming pool, jacuzzi, peaceful gardens, and the feeling that you've left the modern world behind for a night.

As darkness settles over the cloudforest, frogs begin calling, insects tune up for the evening, and flowing streams provide the soundtrack for your first night in Ecuador's western Andes. After starting the morning at 9,350 feet in Quito and finishing surrounded by tropical forest, you've already had a pretty good introduction to just how quickly Ecuador can change.

Day 2

Mindo – Cascadas Verdes – Pedernales – Jama – Canoa

The day begins with birdsong, fresh coffee, and cool cloudforest air. Leaving Mindo after breakfast, your programmed route climbs gently before beginning a long, graceful descent down the western slopes of the Andes. Mist drifts across the pavement, rivers flash beneath the bridges, and with every mile the air grows warmer as cloudforest slowly gives way to tropical rainforest.

The riding today is exactly what touring motorcycles were built for. Smooth pavement, flowing corners, light traffic, and constantly changing scenery make it easy to settle into a comfortable rhythm while enjoying the journey as much as the destination.

One of the highlights of the day begins when your programmed Garmin GPS brings you to the trailhead for Cascadas Verdes. Park the motorcycle and head into the rainforest on foot for a completely different kind of adventure.

The trail meanders beneath towering trees where wild jackfruit, ginger, cacao, berries, and dozens of unfamiliar tropical fruits grow naturally beside the path. Along the way, you'll cross several narrow suspension bridges that sway gently over clear mountain streams before entering immense groves of giant bamboo.

Even well-traveled riders tend to stop and stare at the bamboo. The stalks rise high overhead, creating a strange green cathedral in the middle of the rainforest and one of the most memorable sections of the walk.

Farther along, the trail passes a small waterfall before climbing gently through forest alive with birds. Toucans, tanagers, parrots, hummingbirds, and countless other species are often heard before they're seen. The route then crosses a small dairy farm and continues through a shaded coffee grove where ripe coffee cherries hang from the branches.

The reward is Cascadas Verdes. Crystal-clear water pours nearly 30 feet into a deep emerald pool surrounded by dense rainforest. You can swim beneath the waterfall, climb behind the curtain of falling water, leap from the rocks into the pool, or swing out over the water on a rope swing. Tiny fish may even nibble at your feet while you cool off.

It's difficult to overstate how beautiful this place is. Many of our guests tell us it's the most spectacular natural swimming hole they've ever experienced. Give yourself enough time to enjoy it before making the walk back through the rainforest and returning to the motorcycle.

Back on the motorcycle, your route reaches a narrow suspension bridge across the Caoní River. The bridge carries you to a small island beneath the trees and makes for one of the more unusual motorcycle crossings of the tour.

Ride it smoothly and deliberately. A steady throttle, relaxed inputs, and a straight line are more useful here than speed. Your pre-ride briefing and daily route sheet give you the practical information you need before reaching the crossing.

The island is also a good place to stop for lunch, with fresh fish, tropical fruit, cold drinks, and the sound of the river making for an easy break before the afternoon ride.

Beyond La Concordia, the mountains gradually give way to the rolling green countryside of Ecuador's coastal lowlands. The road winds through small farming villages where children wave from front yards, people pause to watch the motorcycle pass, and roadside fruit stands overflow with pineapples, coconuts, oranges, and other tropical harvests.

The riding remains wonderfully relaxed, with gentle curves carrying you through lush hills and open farmland. This is the homeland of Ecuador's Montubio people, whose ranching traditions, horsemanship, and country way of life have shaped the character of Ecuador's Pacific coast for generations.

By early afternoon, your route reaches Pedernales, the closest beach city to Quito and one of Ecuador's important shrimp-producing centers. Seafood restaurants line the streets, markets buzz with activity, and the smell of grilled shrimp, fresh fish, and ceviche starts making a pretty strong argument for lunch.

Your daily route sheet includes restaurant recommendations, but this is the coast, so fresh seafood is hard to argue with. Shrimp ceviche, grilled fish, garlic prawns, and coconut-based dishes are all part of the local food culture.

Leaving Pedernales, your route threads through Ecuador's enormous shrimp farms. Long, narrow causeways carry you between shimmering ponds that stretch toward the horizon while herons, pelicans, egrets, and frigatebirds patrol the waterways overhead.

It's one of the most distinctive stretches of riding on the day and provides a close-up look at an industry that supplies restaurants and markets thousands of miles away.

Beyond the shrimp farms, quiet coastal roads lead toward the fishing town of Jama. Your programmed route brings you near secluded stretches of coastline where broad, undeveloped beaches can sit almost empty except for a few fishermen preparing their boats.

It's worth stopping long enough to walk the sand, breathe in the salty Pacific air, and enjoy the moment when the mountains you've been riding through finally give way to the ocean.

The final stretch follows the Pacific coastline before rolling into the relaxed surfing and fishing village of Canoa. Colorful fishing boats line the beach, surfers wait for the afternoon swell, and the warm sea breeze signals the end of one of the most varied riding days of the tour.

Tonight you'll stay at Canoa Suites, one of our favorite beachfront hotels. We love it because it feels more like staying at a friend's beach house than a resort. Comfortable rooms, attentive staff, the sound of the surf outside your window, and an easy walk to beachfront restaurants make it a great place to unwind after a full day on the road.

Dinner is yours to choose from the restaurants around Canoa, with plenty of fresh seafood and coastal dishes available within walking distance. Afterwards, take a stroll along the beach, have a drink overlooking the ocean, or do absolutely nothing productive before tomorrow's rest day.

Day 3

Rest Day in Canoa

After two rewarding days of riding, today is completely yours. Sleep in, have a slow breakfast, walk the beach, grab a coffee overlooking the Pacific, or do absolutely nothing for a while. Canoa has an easy rhythm, and this is a good day to enjoy it without worrying about packing the motorcycle and moving on.

One of our favorite optional excursions is a boat trip into the mangrove forests of Isla Corazón, deep within the Chone River estuary between Bahía de Caráquez and San Vicente. This community-run ecotourism project is operated by local families and gives you a completely different look at Ecuador's Pacific coast.

Local guides navigate narrow channels beneath towering mangroves and explain the wildlife, plants, fishing traditions, and importance of the estuary. Frigatebirds, herons, kingfishers, egrets, and dozens of other bird species gather overhead while colorful crabs, fish, shrimp, and shellfish live among the tangled roots below.

The excursion is optional and can be arranged locally. Your daily route information includes the details you need if you'd like to make the trip.

Back in Canoa, the rest of the day is yours. Try a surfing lesson on one of Ecuador's most approachable beach breaks, rent a board if you already surf, take the motorcycle out for a short local ride, walk the beach, or settle into one of the beachfront cafés and seafood restaurants with nowhere else you need to be.

Your motorcycle stays with you during the rest day, but leaving it parked is a perfectly respectable decision. After two days of riding from the high Andes through cloudforest and all the way to the Pacific, your shoulders and backside may appreciate the vote of confidence.

As evening approaches, fishermen return with their catch, beach bars begin to fill, and the Pacific sunset lights up the coastline. Tomorrow the tour starts moving again, so enjoy the rare luxury of a day when your biggest decision may be whether to go surfing before or after lunch.

Day 4

Canoa – Tosagua – Quevedo

Ease into the day with a swim and a long breakfast on Canoa’s golden beach. The morning is for sand, salt air, and one last walk along the shoreline before setting off around lunchtime. Today’s ride is intentionally shorter, giving you a more relaxed transition away from the coast before tomorrow’s climb back into the Andes.

The afternoon begins on Ecuador’s famed Ruta del Sol, following the coastline before turning inland. After crossing Bahía de Caráquez, the road climbs above the mangroves of Isla Corazón, offering broad views across the Chone River estuary before winding through the quiet countryside of northern Manabí.

The ride settles into an easy rhythm through cattle country, rolling hills, and small farming villages. Farmers wave from their fields, children stop what they’re doing to watch the motorcycle pass, and roadside fruit stands overflow with coconuts, oranges, pineapples, and whatever else happened to ripen that morning.

This is classic Manabí. The dry tropical forest is home to the magnificent ceibo tree, whose enormous swollen trunk stores water through the long dry season. Their pale bark and sprawling branches give them a shape that seems more sculpted than grown, making them one of the most recognizable trees on Ecuador’s Pacific coast.

As the route enters Los Ríos Province, everything changes. Rivers flowing off the Andes spread across these fertile lowlands before continuing toward Guayaquil and the Pacific. When the tides rise, the rivers slow and back up slightly, adding even more moisture to the landscape. You notice it almost immediately when you stop the motorcycle—the air is warmer, heavier, and noticeably more humid.

With abundant water comes different agriculture. The ceibo trees disappear, replaced by endless banana plantations, Fine Aroma cacao groves, teak, balsa, rice fields, African palm, and tropical fruit farms. Irrigation canals parallel the roads while trucks loaded with green bananas head toward Ecuador’s ports. It is remarkable how completely the landscape transforms in just a couple of hours of riding.

The standard route brings you into Quevedo by late afternoon for a night at the Hotel Olímpico. You walk through the doors and check straight into the summer of 1979. Earth-tone tile, dark wood, geometric patterns, and an Olympic-sized swimming pool from an era when Olympic decathlon champions graced cereal boxes, running shorts were alarmingly short, tube socks climbed halfway to the knees, and hotels still believed personality mattered more than corporate branding.

The staff still treats guests the old-fashioned way—polite, attentive, genuinely friendly, and ready to help. The rooms are spacious, the air conditioning is excellent after a warm afternoon in Los Ríos, and the enormous swimming pool comes complete with waterslides and a towering high dive from the days before lawyers started designing swimming pools.

After checking in, there is plenty of time to cool off with a swim, relax beside the pool with a cold beer, and clean up before dinner.

Your daily route sheet points you toward Chifa Jade, the best chifa restaurant in Ecuador. Chifa is Ecuador’s unique style of Chinese cuisine, born when Cantonese immigrants began settling around Quevedo and other parts of the country in the 1920s. Over generations, their cooking blended with Ecuador’s seafood, tropical produce, herbs, and peppers to create something entirely its own.

Roast duck with crisp skin, Pacific prawns and shrimp, fragrant fried rice, hand-tossed noodles, and vegetables with some snap to them make for a serious dinner. The sauces bring in tamarind, pineapple, ginger, citrus, and ají, creating combinations that are hard to find anywhere else.

It's the kind of meal that makes Quevedo worth looking forward to instead of treating it as just another overnight stop.

Day 5

Quevedo – Quilotoa Crater Lake – Mulaló

The day begins back in Ecuador’s fertile lowlands. Banana plantations stretch toward the horizon, trucks loaded with fruit head for the ports, and the warm air still carries the humidity of Los Ríos Province.

Before turning toward the mountains, your programmed Garmin GPS brings you through one of Ecuador’s most important banana-growing regions. Your daily route sheet explains how the fruit is harvested, washed, sorted, inspected, labeled, boxed, and prepared for shipment around the world.

It is one of those industries most of us rarely think about while standing in a supermarket. Even those tiny stickers that eventually turn up on kitchen counters in Toronto, London, or Berlin begin their journey out here among the plantations of coastal Ecuador.

At the foot of the Andes, your route brings you to one of our favorite coffee stops, run by a Slovak-born sculptor who has scattered some of his enormous creations around the property. Giant figures stare back from the greenery while the coffee arrives strong enough to restart a dead tractor.

A short walk leads to the Cascada de los Milagros—the “Waterfall of Miracles.” Nobody seems entirely sure which miracle earned it the name, but finding this much water, shade, and beauty hidden in the foothills feels like a decent candidate. The falls pour into a deep green ravine surrounded by dense tropical vegetation, giving you one last humid rainforest pause before the road points sharply upward.

This stop also marks one of the most dramatic changes in elevation on the tour. Over roughly the next hour, you climb from the tropical lowlands to more than 13,000 feet / 4,000 meters. Fighter pilots have oxygen masks and G-suits for this sort of thing. You have strong Ecuadorian coffee, a good motorcycle, and hopefully a few extra layers packed somewhere sensible.

The temperature drops, the vegetation changes completely, and the air starts rationing itself as the road climbs into the high Andes.

The climb is one of the finest paved rides in Ecuador. Every few miles, the scenery changes. Tropical vegetation gives way to cloudforest, cloudforest gives way to open pasture, and before long you are riding through high Andean páramo, wondering how this can possibly be the same country where you ate breakfast only a few hours earlier.

Your route twists through Pilaló, Zumbahua, and a collection of Indigenous farming communities where sheep, llamas, dairy cattle, potatoes, beans, and barley still define everyday life. Families have worked these high slopes for centuries, building farms into terrain that looks far too steep and windswept to support much of anything.

Then comes Quilotoa.

We have sent hundreds of riders here over the years, and the reaction is usually pretty similar. They walk to the rim, stop talking, and stare.

About 800 years ago, a massive volcanic eruption emptied the chamber beneath the mountain and caused its summit to collapse. The result is an enormous caldera filled with water that shifts between deep blue, turquoise, and green as the clouds and sunlight move across it.

Indigenous families continue farming the steep volcanic slopes surrounding the crater, raising sheep, llamas, dairy cattle, chickens, and crops at elevations where most visitors are still trying to remember how breathing works.

It is one of those places photographs never quite capture.

The roads leaving Quilotoa are every bit as memorable as the lake itself. Smooth pavement snakes across ridgelines and through tiny villages where children wave and farmers pause to watch the motorcycle pass. The altitude, curves, and enormous landscape provide all the entertainment required.

Soon the unmistakable cone of Cotopaxi Volcano appears on the horizon. At 19,347 feet / 5,897 meters, it is one of the world’s highest active volcanoes. No matter how many times we travel this route, that first clear view still gets our attention.

Not far away, your programmed GPS brings you into one of Ecuador’s renowned rose-growing regions. At the Equator, the sun remains high in the sky throughout the year rather than sweeping across the horizon at extreme seasonal angles. The plants grow upward instead of continually bending toward a shifting source of light, producing unusually long, straight stems that are extremely difficult to match elsewhere.

Inside the greenhouses, thousands of roses grow in ruler-straight rows, with large blooms and intense colors developed in the cool mountain air. Depending on the arrangements for your tour, you may have the opportunity to see how flowers are selected, cut, hydrated, graded, chilled, and packed for flights to Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East.

Your daily route sheet explains why Ecuadorian roses have developed such an international reputation and what makes these high Andean growing conditions so unusual.

By late afternoon, your Garmin leads you down a quiet country lane toward one of our favorite places to stay anywhere in Ecuador.

Hacienda Hato Verde is the working dairy farm and family home of our friend César. He is a dairy farmer, adventure motorcyclist, champion enduro horse rider, and exactly the sort of person who can discuss milk production, difficult mountain passes, and competitive riding without changing seats.

The hacienda even has its own traditional bullfighting ring, a reminder that this is a real Ecuadorian country estate rather than a hotel decorated to resemble one. Cattle are milked every morning, cheeses are made from the farm’s own milk, horses remain part of daily life, and Cotopaxi often dominates the view beyond the fields.

You are staying on César’s working farm rather than checking into a conventional hotel. The rooms are comfortable, the dining room is warm, and the food draws heavily from what is produced nearby: fresh milk, farm cheeses, garden vegetables, and hearty Ecuadorian cooking.

By bedtime, you will have traveled from tropical banana country to more than 13,000 feet, stood above Quilotoa’s blue-green crater lake, crossed the high páramo, ridden beneath Cotopaxi, and ended the day on a working Andean dairy farm. Ecuador packs a ridiculous amount into one riding day.

Day 6

Mulaló – Chimborazo Wildlife Refuge – Baños

After another generous breakfast at César’s dairy farm, early risers are welcome to wander over to the milking barn and see the morning routine of a working Andean dairy farm. César is usually already at work long before breakfast, and this is a good chance to see what life here looks like before the motorcycle day begins.

Your programmed route then carries you across Ecuador’s legendary Avenue of Volcanoes, where cultivated fields spread across the high valleys and snow-covered peaks appear on nearly every horizon.

Your Garmin GPS brings you through the traditional market towns of Saquisilí and Pujilí. These are working markets serving the surrounding farming communities rather than attractions arranged for visitors.

Saquisilí is especially known for its animal market. Ranchers arrive to buy and sell cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, and other livestock, while nearby stalls carry produce, rope, tools, seed, clothing, household goods, and just about everything needed to keep life moving in the high Andes.

Pujilí has a different character, with woven goods, handicrafts, farm supplies, clothing, produce, and everyday necessities for families living throughout the surrounding mountains. Neither market needs souvenir stalls or tour groups to stay busy. If your timing lines up with market activity, they are excellent places to stop for an empanada, roasted corn, fresh juice, or another roadside snack.

The route continues across highland farmland and sections of old cobblestone road before reaching Ambato, Ecuador’s fruit-and-flower capital.

Leaving Ambato, the city ends almost as though someone flipped a switch. One moment you are riding through busy streets, and the next you are surrounded by cow pasture. There is no long strip of shopping plazas, chain restaurants, and suburban sprawl. The road simply leaves town, points toward the mountains, and gets on with the job.

The route follows the Ambato River, which begins below you as a broad, fast-moving whitewater river. As the motorcycle climbs from roughly 8,000 feet to more than 14,000 feet / 4,300 meters, the river narrows with every mile. The roaring whitewater becomes a rushing stream, then a creek, and eventually little more than a clear brook threading through the páramo. Every switchback carries you closer to where the water itself is born.

The valley tightens, the temperature drops, and the vegetation gradually disappears. Then, almost without warning, the landscape opens.

Chimborazo.

At 20,548 feet / 6,263 meters, it is Ecuador’s highest mountain and the undisputed King of the Andes. Because the Earth bulges slightly at the Equator, Chimborazo’s summit is also the point on the planet’s surface farthest from the center of the Earth—slightly farther into space than the summit of Mount Everest.

This high country lies within the ancestral territory of the Panzaleo people, whose communities occupied these Andean valleys long before either the Inca or the Spanish arrived. They cultivated potatoes, quinoa, barley, and other high-altitude crops, raised camelids, and traded along mountain routes that eventually developed into the market networks still centered around places such as Saquisilí and Pujilí.

The red ponchos, felt hats, woven shawls, and traditions of communal work remain part of daily life here. This culture adapted and continued among the same cold winds, steep fields, and enormous mountains that have shaped life here for centuries.

Kunuyacu sits high on Chimborazo’s slopes, where local ranchers and Indigenous families come to soak in the warm mineral pools, wash clothes, catch up with neighbors, and let the children burn off some energy beneath Ecuador’s highest mountain.

Indigenous women at Kunuyacu prepare exactly the sort of food that belongs at this altitude. Trout from nearby streams roasts over charcoal beside potatoes harvested from the surrounding fields. Fresh empanadas de viento—literally “wind empanadas”—arrive hot from the oil and dusted generously with sugar. They are essentially crisp fried dough wrapped around a pocket of air, which sounds like somebody forgot the filling until you eat one and realize somebody simply came up with a much better name for fried dough.

On special occasions, you may also find roasted guinea pig, served without any attempt to disguise the fact that it was once a guinea pig. Steam rises from the pools, smoke drifts from the cooking fires, and Chimborazo towers over the entire scene. This is one of those stops where fifteen minutes can turn into forty-five without much effort.

After Kunuyacu, your programmed route continues deeper into the Chimborazo Wildlife Refuge, one of Ecuador’s highest protected landscapes. This is home to growing herds of vicuña. Think of them as the sports version of a llama or alpaca—lighter, faster, sleeker, and perfectly adapted to life where oxygen has become an optional extra.

Vicuña were once hunted almost to extinction for their extraordinarily fine wool. Decades of protection have allowed their population to recover, and seeing them grazing beside the road has become one of the most reliable highlights of this part of the ride.

The riding here is unlike anywhere else in Ecuador. Open páramo stretches toward every horizon, the air is startlingly clear, and Chimborazo dominates everything around it. This is a good place to slow down, look around, and remember that you are riding a motorcycle above 14,000 feet.

The road eventually descends toward the cobbled streets of Riobamba. Your daily route sheet includes a recommendation for a well-known local establishment serving the foods people from this region actually grew up eating.

This is a good place to try yahuarlocro, a thick potato-and-offal soup traditionally served with fried blood; llapingachos, crisp potato patties filled with cheese; slow-cooked goat; rabbit stew; and other traditional Ecuadorian dishes that have fed farmers, ranchers, and mountain families for generations. It is rich, serious food and makes a lot of sense after spending the morning above 14,000 feet.

Leaving Riobamba, your route follows the Chambo River Valley eastward. The road runs through farmland and small communities while the river carries water down from the Andes toward Ecuador’s Amazon Basin.

Ahead, the nearly perfect cone of Tungurahua Volcano grows larger with every mile. At first it is a distant shape above the fields. Then it begins filling the gaps between the hills until it dominates the road ahead.

Your Garmin leads you away from the main highway onto a narrow backroad that seems to have been designed specifically for motorcycles. It twists through orchards, river bends, and steep green slopes, with Tungurahua appearing and disappearing around the corners as you approach the fertile valley of Patate.

The route reaches Patate, one of Ecuador’s few wine-producing regions. If you feel like it, pick up a bottle of local wine to enjoy later in Baños. The town is also well known for espumilla.

Espumilla is a light fruit mousse made from locally grown grapes, passion fruit, papaya, grapefruit, and other fruits from the valley. It is often served in a cup or cone and looks a little like soft-serve ice cream, but the texture is lighter and airier. The fruit comes through cleanly, making it a good excuse to stop before the final descent.

Then comes one of our favorite descents anywhere in Ecuador—and one that deserves your full attention. The road clings high above the valley before dropping toward Baños through a long series of tight switchbacks. At first, the views resemble those from a small airplane. Then the road begins spiraling down the mountainside, with the town growing larger below while Tungurahua fills more of the view behind it.

This is one descent where overheating the brakes is a genuine danger. Downshift early, use engine braking, and avoid dragging the brakes continuously. Give the brakes a chance to cool if necessary rather than asking them to do all the work for mile after mile.

This section is covered carefully during your pre-ride briefing and in your daily route information. Ride it conservatively, select a lower gear before the steep sections, and stop if you smell overheated brakes, notice fading braking performance, or simply want to give the motorcycle and yourself a few minutes.

Handled properly, it is one of the most memorable paved descents in Ecuador, spiraling from high mountain farmland into the green valley and busy streets of Baños.

Tonight you stay with our friends Karl, originally from England, and Priscilla, from Ecuador, at Posada del Arte. This cozy bed and breakfast occupies the quietest corner of an otherwise lively town. Original Ecuadorian paintings fill the walls, and the comfortable rooms provide a calm place to recover after crossing some of the highest roads on the tour.

The volcanic thermal baths are only a block away. Baños takes its name from these baths, and after a day of cobblestones, cold páramo, mountain food, hot springs, vicuña, river valleys, and switchbacks, slipping into warm mineral water is a pretty sensible way to finish.

If you picked up a bottle of wine in Patate, this would also be an excellent time to find out whether carrying wine across the Andes on a motorcycle improves the flavor.

Day 7

“Rest” Day in Baños

We use the word rest pretty loosely in Baños. You can sleep late, soak in the thermal baths, and spend the afternoon wandering cafés and markets. Or you can throw yourself off a bridge, rappel down waterfalls, raft the Pastaza River, or swing over a valley beneath an active volcano. The choice is entirely yours.

Baños has become Ecuador's adventure capital for good reason. Whitewater rafting, canyoning, zip lines, mountain biking, bridge swings, and the spectacular Ruta de las Cascadas are all within minutes of town. Your daily route information provides recommendations and practical details for making the most of the day.

If you'd rather keep both feet on the ground, head up to the famous Casa del Árbol for its iconic swing and panoramic views of Tungurahua Volcano, or simply wander the lively streets where fresh fruit juices, cafés, bakeries, and restaurants make it very easy to lose track of time.

The thermal baths are only a short walk from Posada del Arte, making an afternoon soak hard to resist. Afterwards, browse the local market, sample freshly made melcocha as it's stretched by hand on giant hooks outside the candy shops, enjoy a massage, or settle onto a patio with a coffee or cold beer and watch the town drift by.

Your motorcycle stays with you during the rest day, so you can also head out for a local ride if sitting still for an entire day starts making you twitchy. The waterfalls, mountain roads, viewpoints, and valleys surrounding Baños give you plenty of excuses to put a few more miles on the bike.

By evening, Baños comes alive with live music, busy restaurants, and travelers swapping stories from the day's adventures. It is a good place to recharge before tomorrow's ride into Ecuador's Amazon Basin.

Day 8

Baños – Pailón del Diablo – Puerto Misahuallí

Leaving Baños, your programmed route follows the Pastaza River east toward the Amazon Basin. Waterfalls spill from towering cliffs, rivers crash through narrow gorges, and every few miles another cascade appears beside the highway. It isn't Ecuador's twistiest motorcycle road, but it is certainly one of its most entertaining. There is always something new to look at around the next bend.

Along the Pastaza Gorge you'll pass several of the giant zip lines that cross the canyon. If yesterday's rest day failed to satisfy your appetite for being strapped into a harness and launched across open space, here's another opportunity. Your route information identifies the stops so you can decide for yourself whether to ride across the gorge on a cable or remain with the motorcycle and preserve whatever dignity you have left.

Bridge swings can also be found along the canyon, launching willing participants beneath the bridge in a giant pendulum arc above the river. Participation is entirely optional. Standing on the bridge watching somebody else reconsider their life choices is also entertainment.

Before long, your programmed Garmin GPS brings you to Pailón del Diablo—the Devil's Cauldron—one of Ecuador's most famous waterfalls. Park the motorcycle and continue on foot. The walk to the falls is half the experience, with suspension bridges above the river, narrow walkways hugging the cliffs, and passages through the rock bringing you closer and closer to the roar of the water.

Then the waterfall finally appears. Nearly 250 feet of water explodes through a narrow volcanic gorge before crashing into the pool below. The spray fills the air and conversation becomes fairly pointless once you get close. Photographs do a poor job of conveying the size, noise, and sheer violence of the water here.

Leaving Río Verde, the road gradually descends toward Puyo. This is your first ride into the Amazon Rainforest, and the change happens quickly. Giant leaves crowd the roadside, vines drape from towering trees, and the warm, humid air makes it very clear that the high Andes are now behind you.

Puyo makes a good lunch stop. A riverside park, suspension bridges, gardens, and open-air restaurants provide plenty of options for stretching your legs before continuing deeper into Amazonía. Your daily route sheet includes recommendations and practical information for the stop.

Turning north, your route follows the mighty Napo River, one of the Amazon's great tributaries. The Andes remain visible to the west, rising above the rainforest while the road traces the edge of the basin. A final series of sweeping switchbacks drops you completely into the Amazon lowlands, where canoes, riverside communities, tropical farms, and dense jungle replace the mountain scenery that has accompanied you for the past week.

By afternoon, your Garmin brings you to El Jardín Misahuallí Lodge, one of those places that exists because of a friendship.

Years ago, our friend Edgar operated what we considered the finest restaurant in Ecuador's Amazon Basin. His hospitality was exceptional, and after years of bringing riders here, we kept encouraging him to build a lodge. We shared what we'd learned from thousands of motorcycle travelers—comfortable cabins, secure motorcycle parking, somewhere to cool off after a ride, and spaces where people naturally gather at the end of the day.

He listened.

Today El Jardín has comfortable private cabins arranged around a beautiful koi and duck pond, and every cabin has its own plunge pool. After dropping from the high Andes into the heat and humidity of the Amazon Basin, that little pool starts looking like one of mankind's better inventions.

Our longtime friend Marco, who has guided Ecuador Freedom's rainforest excursions for many years, works with Edgar to create the Amazon experience you'll have tomorrow. This is one of the places on the self-guided tour where a knowledgeable local guide becomes part of the experience, giving you access to the forest, rivers, wildlife, and local knowledge that you simply wouldn't get riding past on your own.

Dinner showcases Amazonian ingredients prepared with imagination, accompanied by fresh tropical juices and the steadily increasing soundtrack of frogs, cicadas, insects, and everything else in the rainforest that starts making noise after sunset.

Day 9

Puerto Misahuallí – Baeza – Quito

Your final day begins with one last Amazon adventure. After breakfast you'll meet our longtime friend Marco, a native Kichwa guide who has introduced Ecuador Freedom riders to the Amazon for many years. Rubber boots on and life jackets buckled, you'll board a long motorized canoe and head upriver into the rainforest.

Marco has an uncanny ability to make the jungle understandable. What first looks like an endless wall of green quickly becomes a living community where every vine, palm, insect, and towering tree has a purpose. Plants become medicines, baskets, fishing tools, food, and shelter. Animals you would normally walk straight past suddenly become much easier to spot. By the time you return to the lodge, the Amazon feels a lot less mysterious and considerably more alive.

A few easy miles later, your programmed route crosses the one-lane steel bridge into Puerto Misahuallí, one of the westernmost navigable ports in the Amazon Basin. The resident monkeys patrol the malecón with complete confidence, helping themselves to unattended snacks whenever visitors underestimate just how organized they really are.

They're excellent for photographs, but sunglasses, wallets, food, and anything else you would prefer to keep should stay close.

The road now turns west through the lush forests of Sumaco National Park. Before leaving the Amazon behind, your Garmin brings you past a mushroom farm that makes an interesting stop along the way. Oyster mushrooms and shiitake grow in carefully controlled rooms, while the small shop sells Amazonian teas, medicinal herbs, spices, chocolates, and other products from the surrounding rainforest.

It's a good final taste of Amazonía before the road starts climbing back toward the Andes.

By the time you reach Baeza, it's worth making one last essential stop at our friend Gina's.

Gina seems to know absolutely everyone. She served as Governor of Napo Province, and spending ten minutes in her café is enough to convince you that half the people walking through the door are old friends. The other half soon will be.

There is also a practical reason to stop. Over roughly the next hour, you'll climb more than 8,000 feet / 2,450 meters back into the Andes. Strong coffee is useful. Gina's famous chocolate cake is even more useful—thick, rich, unapologetically chocolatey, and made with locally grown Amazonian cacao.

Gina's café is also a gathering place for hardcore whitewater kayakers who travel from around the world to paddle the rivers nearby. Adventure motorcyclists tend to recognize the species immediately. They wear helmets, disappear into remote places, spend unreasonable amounts of money on specialized equipment, and regularly hear that their hobby is going to get them killed.

Leaving Baeza, the road begins one final climb into the Andes. Waterfalls tumble beside the highway, the air cools with every switchback, and within about an hour you rise from the Amazon foothills to more than 13,300 feet / 4,050 meters.

The thick green forest gradually gives way to open páramo as the road crosses the Continental Divide. It is another one of those Ecuador transitions that barely gives your brain time to catch up with the motorcycle.

From the high pass, your route descends toward Quito through mountain valleys, high lakes, and sweeping bends. The temperature begins to rise again, traffic gradually returns, and the capital appears ahead as the final miles bring you back to where the journey began.

The final approach to Quito always feels a little different.

Nine days ago, the motorcycle was unfamiliar and Ecuador's roads were unknown. Since then, you've crossed the Equator enough times that sailors would probably start arguing over what sort of Shellback status you deserve.

You've ridden through cloudforest, reached the Pacific, climbed above 13,000 feet several times, explored the Amazon by canoe, followed rivers through rainforest, crossed high Andean páramo, and watched Ecuador reinvent itself around nearly every corner.

Somewhere along the way, the motorcycle became familiar, the traffic started making more sense, and places that looked like names on a route sheet became places you actually know.

Your programmed Garmin GPS brings you directly back to Ecuador Freedom's headquarters in Quito, where you can hand over the motorcycle, unload your gear, and settle into the Freedom Riders' Lounge with a cold drink while your body begins processing what just happened over the previous nine days.

This is why we build self-guided tours the way we do. The GPS handles the navigation, the daily route sheets give you the background and practical details, and our back-office team is there when you need us. But the experience belongs to you. You decide where to stop, what catches your interest, who you talk to, and which moments become the stories you tell when you get home.

We hope you'll come back. There are still plenty of roads we haven't shown you yet.

This self-guided motorcycle adventure begins at Ecuador Freedom's headquarters in Quito's La Carolina neighborhood, one of the city's safest and most convenient areas. Hotels, restaurants, banks, parks, galleries, and shopping are all within easy walking distance. We provide a list of recommended hotels and encourage arriving one or two days early so you can explore Quito, adjust to the altitude, and complete the necessary paperwork before departure.

You can learn more about our Quito headquarters, facilities, and the services available before and after your tour on the Our Shop page.

You can also view or print the complete Andes, Amazon & Pacific Self-Guided Tour itinerary before your trip.

Orientation, Motorcycle & Support

Before you set out, either in advance or on the morning of departure, you'll receive a comprehensive pre-ride briefing from an experienced Ecuador Freedom guide who knows and has ridden this route. We'll cover Ecuadorian traffic laws, local driving customs, road courtesies, weather, altitude, road conditions, optional unpaved sections, important stops, and what to expect during the nine days ahead.

You will receive the adventure motorcycle of your choice, prepared for the tour and equipped with waterproof luggage and an optional tank bag. Before departure, we'll make sure the controls, mirrors, luggage, and riding position are properly adjusted for you.

Your programmed Garmin GPS contains the route and brings you to the exact locations of hotels, attractions, restaurants, viewpoints, cultural stops, and other points of interest along the way. Your daily route sheets provide the background and practical information behind those stops, including history, culture, riding notes, restaurant recommendations, useful contacts, and other details that help you understand what you're seeing.

You will also have a local cell phone, back-office monitoring during your riding days, and 24-hour support if you need assistance. You are riding independently, but you are not being sent out with a motorcycle and a vague suggestion to head east and see what happens.

The Route & Riding Experience

This nine-day route is the result of many years spent riding, scouting, refining, and introducing travelers to Ecuador. It crosses the high Andes, western cloudforest, Pacific Coast, tropical agricultural lowlands, high páramo, volcanic country, and the Amazon Basin before climbing back across the Continental Divide to Quito.

The tour is designed primarily around paved roads and includes flowing curves, mountain switchbacks, quiet agricultural roads, river valleys, high passes, and constantly changing scenery. There are also a few optional unpaved sections for riders who enjoy getting off the pavement.

Every off-road section on this tour is optional. If you prefer to keep the entire nine-day journey on pavement, let us know and we can provide a fully paved version of the route. Riders who want a little dirt can take the unpaved alternatives, while riders who would rather stay on asphalt can enjoy the same broader journey without being pushed onto terrain they are not comfortable riding.

The roads were selected for their scenery, rhythm, cultural interest, and relatively light traffic rather than technical difficulty. Some days cover considerable ground, and several climbs take you above 13,000 feet / 4,000 meters, so the challenge comes more from sustained riding, altitude, changing temperatures, and the sheer variety of the journey than from difficult terrain.

The route also includes places and experiences connected to friendships Ecuador Freedom has developed over many years: working farms, small restaurants, rainforest lodges, Indigenous communities, markets, swimming holes, viewpoints, and locally run businesses that most travelers would have little reason to find on their own. Your GPS gets you there; your route sheet tells you why the place matters.

Optional Off-Road Sections

If you enjoy riding away from pavement, there are several opportunities to add dirt to the tour. These sections can provide an enjoyable change of pace and a chance to experience more remote roads and countryside.

They are completely optional. Riders who are uncomfortable on dirt, traveling two-up, riding a heavier motorcycle, or simply more interested in paved mountain roads can request a 100% paved route. We can prepare the appropriate Garmin routing before departure.

The optional dirt section on Day 1 is generally firm and straightforward, although rain can always change an unpaved road. If you choose to ride it, ride at a pace that feels comfortable and never feel pressured to prove anything.

The optional Jardín de los Sueños accommodation upgrade on Day 4 is different because reaching the property requires approximately 4 miles of off-road riding. That particular accommodation option should only be selected by riders who are comfortable handling their motorcycle on dirt, loose surfaces, ruts, mud, and changing traction. Riders who prefer to remain entirely on pavement should choose the standard overnight in Quevedo.

Good judgment is part of riding well. Conditions can change because of weather, roadwork, landslides, or local traffic. If something does not look right, stop and assess it. Our support team is available whenever you need advice or assistance.

Important Mountain Riding

On Day 6, the long descent from the Patate area toward Baños requires proper use of engine braking. Dragging the brakes continuously on this steep descent can overheat them. This section is covered carefully during your pre-ride briefing and in your daily route information.

Downshift early, allow the engine to do much of the work, and stop to let the brakes cool if necessary. Handled properly, it is one of the most memorable paved descents on the tour.

Rest Days & Flexibility

The tour includes rest days in Canoa and Baños, giving you two chances to decide how ambitious you feel once breakfast is over.

In Canoa, you can surf, visit Isla Corazón, explore the surrounding coast on the motorcycle, walk the beach, eat seafood, or spend most of the day doing very little. In Baños, options include rafting, canyoning, zip lines, bridge swings, thermal baths, massages, waterfalls, cafés, markets, and local motorcycle rides.

Your motorcycle remains with you on the rest days, so you are free to explore. Leaving it parked for the entire day is also completely acceptable.

Amazon Experience

Although no Ecuador Freedom guide rides with you on this self-guided tour, the Amazon portion includes an experience with our longtime local guide Marco, a native Kichwa guide who has worked with Ecuador Freedom riders for many years.

From Puerto Misahuallí, Marco takes you by motorized canoe into the rainforest and introduces you to the plants, animals, traditional uses of the forest, and Indigenous knowledge that would be easy to miss without someone who grew up understanding the environment. This local-guided experience adds a completely different dimension to the self-guided journey.

After the Ride

Your programmed Garmin GPS brings you directly back to Ecuador Freedom's headquarters in Quito at the end of Day 9. Once the motorcycle is returned and your gear is unloaded, you can relax in the Freedom Riders' Lounge, use the hot showers and jacuzzi, grab something from the honor bar, and begin the difficult process of returning to normal life.

Our staff can also help with recommendations and practical information for onward travel in Ecuador.

Weather & Temperatures

Ecuador's general weather patterns remain fairly consistent throughout the year, although the enormous changes in elevation on this tour produce very different conditions from one day—and sometimes one hour—to the next.

The route travels through warm Pacific and Amazonian lowlands, where temperatures generally range from 75–90°F / 24–32°C, and crosses high Andean passes above 13,000 feet / 4,000 meters, where temperatures may fall into the 30s–50s°F / 1–10°C. Passing rain is always possible, particularly in the cloudforest and Amazon regions.

Dressing in layers is strongly recommended. A waterproof outer layer, warm gloves, breathable riding gear, and quick-drying clothing make it much easier to deal with a day that can begin in tropical humidity and end in cold Andean air.

Please see our Weather in Ecuador guide for more detailed information about seasonal conditions, rainfall, temperatures, and riding at different elevations.

Accommodations

Throughout the tour, you'll stay in carefully selected hotels, lodges, haciendas, and inns chosen for comfort, character, location, and the people who run them. The accommodations are part of the journey and include a cloudforest lodge, beachfront hotel, working dairy hacienda, a small bed and breakfast in Baños, and private rainforest cabins in the Amazon.

Single occupancy is standard on our self-guided tours, so solo riders receive their own room without an additional single-room surcharge.

Details, photographs, and links are provided in the Accommodations section of this page. Ecuador Freedom may substitute an accommodation when availability or operational circumstances require it. Any replacement will provide a comparable standard of comfort and experience.

Luggage, Packing & Preparation

You carry your personal gear on the motorcycle using the installed luggage system, so packing light matters. There is no luggage truck following a self-guided rider across Ecuador, and every unnecessary pair of shoes eventually becomes something you have to carry up a staircase.

After booking, Ecuador Freedom provides detailed pre-trip preparation information, including our comprehensive Packing Guide covering riding gear, clothing, luggage, electronics, and practical preparation for the journey.

Tour participants also receive a 20% pre-tour discount on Klim riding gear, giving you the opportunity to sort out suitable equipment before arriving in Ecuador.

Language

No knowledge of Spanish is required. Your programmed GPS handles navigation, the daily route sheets provide the information you need at each stop, and your local phone gives you direct access to Ecuador Freedom's support team if communication becomes difficult.

Learning a few words of Spanish is always appreciated, but plenty of riders complete our self-guided tours without speaking the language. Smiling, pointing, and being willing to look slightly foolish have been getting travelers through foreign countries for a very long time.

Rider Experience

Riders should arrive comfortable with sustained paved-road riding, mountain curves, changing weather, traffic, and full days on a motorcycle.

Off-road riding experience is not required for this tour. Every dirt section can be bypassed with a paved alternative, allowing riders to complete the entire Andes, Amazon & Pacific route without leaving pavement.

If you do choose the optional unpaved sections, you should be comfortable handling the motorcycle on dirt and loose surfaces. The Jardín de los Sueños upgrade requires the most important decision because approximately four miles of off-road riding are necessary to reach the property.

What matters most is solid motorcycle control, good judgment, the ability to ride comfortably for several hours, and enough stamina to remain attentive as the elevation, temperature, road environment, and scenery change around you.

Printable Itinerary

Want to study the complete route away from the website or bring a printed copy with you? Download the printable Andes, Amazon & Pacific Self-Guided Tour itinerary.

Ride for a Purpose

Guests who would like to add another dimension to their journey can learn more about our Ride for a Purpose program and the ways riders can support communities in Ecuador.

• Unlimited-mileage motorcycle rental – your motorcycle is fully prepared for the tour before departure
• Programmed Garmin GPS with the complete route, hotels, restaurants, attractions, viewpoints, cultural stops, and other important points of interest
• Detailed daily route sheets with riding notes, cultural and historical background, restaurant recommendations, practical information, and details about the places you will visit
• Comprehensive pre-ride briefing with an experienced Ecuador Freedom guide who knows and has ridden the route, completed either in advance or on the morning of departure
• Waterproof saddlebags or hard luggage system
• Secure luggage storage and locker use before and after your tour
• Private hotel room every night – single occupancy is included at no extra charge
• Breakfast every day
• Dinner at Séptimo Paraíso Cloudforest Lodge in Mindo
• Dinner at Hacienda Hato Verde beneath Cotopaxi
• Dinner at El Jardín Misahuallí Lodge in the Amazon Basin
• Rose plantation tour in Ecuador's high Andes
• Amazon rainforest excursion with a native Kichwa guide, including the motorized canoe journey from Puerto Misahuallí
• Local cell phone for use during the tour
• Back-office monitoring during your riding days
• 24-hour support throughout the tour
• Pre-trip preparation package with detailed information to help you prepare for riding in Ecuador
• 20% pre-tour discount on KLIM riding gear
• Official Ecuador Freedom souvenir T-shirt
• Ecuador Freedom tour decal
• Access to the Freedom Riders' Lounge before and after your tour, including hot showers, jacuzzi, gym, library, honor bar, and a comfortable place to relax

• Refundable motorcycle security deposit – a credit-card hold to cover any damage to the rental motorcycle
• Hotel accommodations in Quito before or after the tour
• Travel insurance – including trip cancellation, medical, and emergency evacuation coverage; strongly recommended
• Airport transfers and other transportation before or after the tour
• Lunches and dinners not specifically listed as included
• Optional activities, excursions, entrance fees, and cultural visits not specifically listed under What’s Included
• Fuel and road tolls
• Alcoholic beverages
• Personal purchases – including snacks, souvenirs, laundry, items from the honor bar, and other incidental expenses
• Gratuities – including tips for Ecuador Freedom’s motorcycle preparation staff, hotel staff, local guides, excursion guides, restaurant staff, drivers, and other service providers along the route

Good to know: Ecuadorian tour packages for qualifying non-resident international travelers are not subject to Ecuadorian VAT, so there is no additional Ecuadorian tour tax added to the advertised package price.

Want to spend more time exploring Ecuador? You can extend the Andes, Amazon & Pacific Self-Guided Tour with any of the options below. Each extension has a fixed add-on price that includes the additional motorcycle rental days along with the accommodations, meals, activities, and other items indicated in the individual extension description.

The extension price is the same regardless of which motorcycle you choose, which can make these additions especially attractive if you are riding one of our higher-priced motorcycles.

You do not need to decide on an extension before you begin the booking process. During online booking, you can review the available extensions, select the ones you want to add, and see your updated total price before completing your reservation.

Book your self-guided Andes, Amazon & Pacific tour online in just a few steps.

You can book this tour solo or with a group of friends, and self-guided departures are available throughout the year except on dates when we already have a Guided Andes, Amazon & Pacific departure scheduled.

Our reservation system provides up-to-date availability and pricing. Simply enter your preferred dates, select your motorcycle, and choose any tour extensions or upgrades you would like to add. The system will calculate the exact price of your tour based on your selections.

You can extend your trip with any of the tour extensions listed above. Add them during the booking process and the reservation system will automatically include them in your itinerary and calculate the updated tour price.

You can also select the optional Jardín de los Sueños accommodation upgrade during the booking process. This replaces the standard overnight in Quevedo with a night at the ecological and scientific station in the forest. Reaching Jardín de los Sueños requires approximately 4 miles of off-road riding, so this upgrade should only be selected by riders who are comfortable riding on dirt, loose surfaces, ruts, mud, and changing traction.

All other off-road sections on this tour are optional. If you prefer to keep the entire tour on pavement, let us know before departure and we can prepare a fully paved Garmin route for you.

If more than one passenger will be traveling in a 4x4 support vehicle, please contact us so we can arrange the appropriate room-sharing configuration and provide accurate pricing.

We can also customize the Andes, Amazon & Pacific tour if you would like to modify the itinerary, add extra days, combine it with other destinations, or create a more personalized version of the tour. Contact us and we can discuss the possibilities with you.

Our booking system asks for an identification number as part of the reservation process. You may use your passport number, driver’s license number, national ID number, or another government-issued identification number.

If you prefer not to enter that information online, or if you have any difficulty completing the payment, just contact us. We can take your credit card information over the phone and process the payment for you.

You may also select the “Request PayPal Invoice” option at checkout. We will send you a PayPal invoice that can be paid with any major credit card. No PayPal account is required.

If you prefer to pay by bank transfer, we can provide our banking instructions upon request.

If you have any questions, need help configuring a booking for several riders or passengers, want a fully paved version of the route, or would like to discuss a customized version of the tour, please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or click the chat button below.