Offroad Ecuador Excursion Guided Motorcycle Tour

Distance Covered: 209 km / 130 miles

You’ll begin your four-day “Offroad Ecuador Tour" from our shop in Quito, Ecuador - 2850 meters (almost 2 miles above sea level) in the Andes Mountains, on the Equator, South America.    In 1978, Quito became the first place on the planet to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for having the best-preserved historic center in all of Latin America. Quito is high on the Altiplano Plateau (the highest capital city in the world) in the Andes at 9,350 feet.  

We suggest you arrive a day or two early to experience our magnificent capital city while getting acclimated to the high altitude before beginning the tour.  We'll provide you with tickets to the double-decker "hop-on / hop-off" bus that will show you the best sights in the city.

On the morning of the tour departure, you’ll be outfitted with the offroad motorcycle of your choice and given a thoughtful presentation that will answer all your questions concerning local customs, rules of the road, riding signals, etc.  

 We will ride out of Quito, avoiding any suburban sprawl, and immediately begin riding on a dirt road that will take us first to a chilly highland pampa mountain pass and then through fertile farmlands, beginning our curvy descent into the lowlands of Santo Domingo Province.  We will pass by several spectacular waterfalls as we ride through small villages such as Chiriboga and other settlements in the cloudforest on the western slopes of Ecuador.    

Once down to about 3,000 feet in altitude, we will be in warm, humid air - quite a climate change from where we started just a little while ago in Quito.  We will have a chance to stop for a swim in natural basins formed by waterfalls.  We will get back on the bikes refreshed and regenerated by the mountain waters.  

We will begin a climb that will last until the end of the day.   We'll tackle some steep switchbacks that will take us up for tremendous vistas over the valley below.  Then passing through dense jungles and green pastures, we arrive in the small town of San Francisco de las Pampas to have a great lunch of simple but delicious local cuisine and chat with the townspeople.   

We will continue (sometimes) challenging dirt roads, climbing in elevation to over 11,400 feet, passing picturesque farmlands, cloudforest,  and high moorlands before arriving in Sigchos, a town settled in the 1500s by the colonial Spanish.

 In Sigchos, we will officially be on the famous "Quilotoa Loop" and will continue past some astonishing scenery and farmlands before arriving at Mama Hilda's in Chugchilan.  Here you find a private cozy room with a wood stove and a family-style dinner of pots and pots of  Ecuadorian food that will replenish you after a full day of riding.   You will surely fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow.

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After a hearty breakfast at Mama Hilda's, we will head out of the charming mountain town of Chugchilan. After another blissful ride on stunning dirt roads along deep canyons, we will arrive at the awe-inspiring Quilotoa Crater Lake, formed after a catastrophic volcanic eruption about 800 years ago.  The lake has a beautiful aqua-blue color to it that is unique due to the mineral content. 

Then we will ride to Zumbahua on a recently paved road that will give us great views of a fertile valley.  Zumbahua is a farming town with a central market square.  We usually stop here for a "second breakfast" of fresh handmade empanadas and local fried potatoes.  The snack will give us an energy boost that we will need as we head up and into chilly air.

After Zumbahua, we will again be on unpaved dirt roads through some of Ecuador's most picturesque regions. We will rise into highlands pampa, where wild alpacas and llamas roam free.  We'll maintain an altitude of about 13,400 feet for a while.  The people who live at this altitude have kept their traditional ways.  Many live in mud homes called "chozas" that have thatched roofs.  Inside they cook in fireplaces without a chimney to seal their homes from rain. Here they herd sheep, grow potatoes, and live a simple life in a spectacularly beautiful place.

We will pass through the quaint, charming little town of Angamarca, known for its wood carvings, and visit with the local craftsmen.  Then, continuing to the next hamlet of Shuyo, we visit a working watermill where they process grains using centuries-old techniques.  We'll have a chance to visit a guinea pig and rabbit farm and a local school as part of our "Pack for a Purpose" program.

From here, we continue to descend into the subtropical climate and into the town of El Corazon - where they brew and bottle their unique moonshine - flavored alcohol that is quite good yet inexpensive. El Corazon is a very friendly town and a good place to stop for lunch.  We'll have a tour of one of the moonshine distilleries and get a taste of the local firewater.

From El Corazon, we will again face some challenging dirt roads that wind through thick jungles and arrive in the colorful, isolated village of Facundo Vela, a place that seems like it hasn't changed much in the past 100 years.

The town is usually full of horses with not a single car to be seen.  You will feel as though you have ridden into a time warp.  Facundo Vela is known for the marmalades the local nuns make by hand to fund their schools.  We'll watch them stir this succulent concoction with big, wooden spoons in large hand-made copper pans. You'll want to bring a jar of this back home with you for a time when you'll enjoy breakfast thinking about this ride.  You will be glad you did.

Taking the dirt road out of Facundo Vela, we continue to ride and gain altitude on a series of steep switchback cobblestone trails.  The air through this section of the cloudforest is scented with wild orchids and tropical plants.  The breeze through this section of the cloudforest is scented with wild orchids and tropical plants., then the air turns cooler, and the scents change to those of pine and eucalyptus as you climb higher.

We will cross a high mountain pass at 13,400 feet before arriving in the village of Salinas de Guaranda.

This town is unique in Ecuador as it has a Swiss heritage.   Here they make chocolate and cheese in the Swiss tradition. We will enjoy a good dinner at one of the local restaurants that use the local cheese, hams, sausages, and mushrooms produced here.   We'll enjoy a good night's sleep at the Cachi Yacu hotel.

Distance Covered:  131 km / 82 miles

After yesterday's long ride, we will have a slightly more leisurely pace in the morning to visit the extraordinary town of Salinas de Guaranda.  The local farmers bring their milk in on donkeys, alpaca, motorcycles, and horses to the cheese factory every morning.  We'll see how they transform this milk into the highest quality cheeses such as Gruyere, Emmental, Tilsit, and Gouda.

Then we will visit the chocolate factory, which uses only the highest quality locally grown cacao to make truffles and chocolate bars that rival anything Godiva can make.  The chocolates are gaining popularity around the world.  We'll also visit the local craftsmen that make soccer balls by hand. And we will witness the sheering of sheep and alpaca and see their wool transformed into yarn using 100-year-old machinery from the former Massachusetts mills in the USA.

We'll head back onto the bikes, taking a dirt road that will bring us through breathtaking high altitude paramo - with crystal waterfalls.  We'll ride along a steep ravine while overlooking the western slopes with expansive views over the coastal plains.  We'll stop in the hamlet of Arrayanes, population 87.  The townspeople work together to make a cheese called "Andino," which is savory, buttery, and slightly sharp.  We'll get one of the cheese rounds and carry it for a snack in the saddlebags.  

We'll continue down through several sets of switchbacks, with each turn giving us tremendous vistas.  We'll ride past towering 300 feet waterfalls and through other friendly villages.  We'll see mandarin orange trees, sugar cane, and exotic fruits growing along roaring whitewater rivers. 

We'll ride through the towns of San Luis and continue our descent to sea level.  Here we will be treated to long rolling hills that make it seem we are on an extended motocross track through a garden.  We will smell the aroma of cacao drying in the sun and see the beautiful palm groves that are magical.

We will end the day in the city of Quevedo.  Quevedo was the first Chinese settlement community in Ecuador, and many of the Chinese restaurants date back to the 1920s and is known as Ecuador's "Chinatown."  We will enjoy a bountiful Chinese dinner before settling into the comfortable Hotel Olimpico for the night.

We will climb back into the tropical rainforest region from Quevedo, first passing grand palm, banana, and cacao plantations and then into coffee country.  

We'll stop in Pucuyacu - which has a local animal and farmer's market.  From Pucuyacu, we will do a river crossing and then begin the steepest climbs you have ever seen.  We climb over 6,000 feet in just 4 miles.  Again, you will be blown away by the views we get along this road.