Intrepid’s small-group Ecuador Highlands tour includes activities such as horseback riding with views of the Cotopaxi volcano, and homestay visits with local families.Mario Hernández/Intrepid Travel
Lizbeth Morales is lighting candles in the unexpected darkness, while her mother, Isabel, gestures where best to place them. We’re in their dining room in northern Ecuador, a home the 24-year-old shares with her parents and siblings. Her baby sister races around the room chasing after the family dog.
The power’s gone out but the wooden table has enough light for me to help with the cooking. My Spanish is spotty but talk isn’t required to roll dough into small rings. Isabel then pops them into the frying pan and the pristiños come out golden and crisp. The skinny doughnut is dipped in syrup just before eating, and served at special occasions. Tonight’s occasion is a house party welcoming my group of travellers to Yunguilla, just north of the capital, Quito.
Guests at a house party welcoming a group of travellers to Yunguilla, just north of Ecuador's capital, Quito, make pristiños by candlelight.Mario Hernández/Intrepid Travel
I’m exploring with Intrepid Travel, and the dozen others in our small-group trip are billeted with other families to learn the ways of their community.
More than two dozen families participate in the home-stay program, and it is one of my favourite moments on this eight-day adventure. By working with Intrepid, this Ecuadorean family maintains control over their traditions, culture and land. It is a true representation of what sustainable travel means.
But I’ve begun this story at the end. What it took to get here is another story altogether.
On this active hiking trip, I experienced incredible highs and lows, both physically and mentally. But I don’t regret any of it; travel is often about pushing your boundaries (and knowing when it’s time to stop and sit by the fire).
Visiting Ecuador, where the Andes loom large and the Amazon rain forest runs deep, takes preparation. Leading up to the trip, I worked out regularly, eschewed alcohol and drank more than my daily share of water to help my body get ready.
I expected the altitude to throw me for a loop, but I felt fine. After landing in Quito, many travellers experience shortness of breath, which is not unusual in a city sitting at 2,850 metres elevation.
My Intrepid guide Etiel Solorzano tells me that some Ecuadorians believe they are closer to heaven here. They’re not far off: According to American Geographic, Ecuador – and, more specifically, the volcanic Mount Chimborazo – is the closest place on Earth to the moon.
It's common for some travellers visiting Quito, Ecuador to feel short of breath in the city, which sits at 2,850 metres elevation.Mario Hernández/Intrepid Travel
We spend our first day exploring the Old Town of Quito with Solorzano to help us acclimatize. At first glance, Quito could be Old San Juan, with its tightly knit, colourful colonial architecture. I enjoy fresh fruits at the Mercado Central and wonder at the neoclassical buildings of Plaza de la Independencia. Dinner that night is a fancy, white tablecloth affair at the Casa Gangotena boutique hotel. The feast gives a halo of security – maybe this trip won’t be as intense as I think?
The next morning, we pile into a minibus and set out on a winding four-hour drive to Tena, a small city within the Amazon rain forest. From here, we’ll take motorized canoes to reach our destination for the next two nights, Liana Lodge. Located on the banks of Arajuno River in the Amazon, it’s only accessible by boat, and not after nightfall.
As we round one bend of the road, our van brakes. A car has slid down a cliff and the tow trucks have blocked both lanes to hoist it up. The scene is chaotic with rubberneckers. The wreck is sobering and we wait more than an hour before the road is cleared.
By then, our guides are worrying about the time.
Solorzano is on the phone, speaking to his boss, trying to make arrangements if we can’t beat the sunset. (That’s what I love about guided trips: If something goes amok, someone is working on a plan B.) Our driver laughs it off, telling Solorzano he’ll get us to the lodge’s canoes on time. And he does, just as dusk threatens.
While we skim over the water up the river, I savour the moment. It’s pinch-me significant – my first time in the Amazon rain forest. Are there piranha? Will we meet tribes that rarely connect with our definition of civilization? The sun is kissing the horizon, but I resist the urge to dangle my fingertips in the water.
Boats ply the waters of the Amazon River to bring travellers to villages off the beaten path.Mario Hernández/Intrepid Travel
As we pull up to Liana, I note a candlelight glow through the trees. We’re off the grid here. We’ll spend two days in the jungle with no electricity. Strangely, there are no torches or solar powered lanterns to light the slick uphill path to our cabins. Use your phone, one person suggests. I do – at least until the battery dies.
(That night, travellers and guides will jockey for the outlets located at reception, the only place where there is power – at least some of the time.)
Inside my rustic-chic cabin at Liana, the humidity is palpable and the matches are damp. Finally, the two candles catch and I get washed and dressed for dinner (adding a layer of bug spray for good measure). Mercifully, there’s hot water.
Only slipping once on my way back to the lodge, I’m welcomed by a blazing fire pit surrounded by low benches and a long wood table set with candlelit lanterns. At once, calm sets in. We all crack open a beer by the fire before moving to dinner. The meal begins with a delicious soup made from plantain, garlic and onions and an uncomplicated entrée of white rice and fish with salad. Everything comes with fiery house-made hot sauce.
Rubber boots are essential footwear when hiking through the jungle foliage.Mario Hernández/Intrepid Travel
It’s been a long day, but not long enough to stop me from taking a guided nighttime trek into the jungle. I follow our guide, excited and nervous. At last count, there were 2.5 million species of insects in the Amazon rain forest; throw in about a 1,000 types of frogs, and you’ve got a nocturnal cacophony that only nature can orchestrate.
The jungle is alive, it vibrates in my ears, matching my heart beating against my chest – then the flashlight reveals some of its wonders: tiny amphibians, geckos and grasshoppers crawling over vibrant green plants, barely distinguishable from the leaves; stick bugs, bats and spiders, oh my! I catch my breath and instinctively check my hair for creepy crawlies.
The next day, we are asked to wear rubber boots for our uphill, two-hour trek through the jungle. Our guide leads the way, wielding his machete to clear the path through particularly thick foliage.
I missed the support of my favourite hiking boots on this challenging hike but I was glad to wear the wellies – in some places, we’re near knee-deep in a stream, in others, up to our ankles in mud, manoeuvring at times by gripping tree roots or branches. It’s tough going but I refuse to slow down (if only to admire the rainbow of blooms and massive trees).
I’ve promised myself to keep up with this group, many of whom are 20 years my junior. I’ve pushed myself before: Slept on dirt floors in Thai homestays; followed gorilla rangers and their machetes in Uganda; spent a day in Zero G at astronaut training camp at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama – this is doable, too.
The reward for sticking it out is spectacular. Purple orchids, pink hibiscus and bright orange birds of paradise bloom from the forest floor, kapok trees offer a green canopy above. I find joy in the natural beauty, and silently congratulate myself for making it here on my own two feet.
By Day 6, many in our group are exhausted, from the hikes, from the altitude, from the stomach bugs – even my mindful use of bottled water hasn’t quite saved me. And on this day, we face the Andes.
At least we’re booked into a night at the cozy Hacienda Por Elvenir, about a 90-minute drive from Quito, near Cotopaxi National Park.
Co-owner Jorge Pérez explains the hotel has been in the family for five generations. He points out art collected over the years and reminds me about the spa with steam and sauna and hot tubs.
I feel my adventurous resolve waning. While some in our group horseback ride in the shadow of the Cotopaxi volcano, and others mountain bike, I call timeout. This laid-back, comfortable lodge is just what I need. There’s a chair by the roaring fireplace and a glass of red wine with my name on it. I’ve also got views of Cotopaxi, the snow-capped giant, one of the tallest active volcanoes in the world. Today, that’s good enough for me.
If you go
Intrepid’s Ecuador Highlands tour runs throughout the year. The eight-day tour starts at US$1,093 and includes accommodations, many meals and transfers but not international flights. www.intrepidtravel.com/ca
Pack light and carry good gear. You may be expected to shlep your own luggage, over sometimes wet and slick terrain. Cotopaxi outdoor gear has the Allpa Travel Pack collection of backpacks and roller bags, made from lightweight, water-resistant, durable materials, which stood up to the conditions I experienced on this trip.
The author was a guest of Intrepid Travel and Cotopaxi. Neither company reviewed or approved the story before publication.