CHASKI TRAIL & "CHASKI ANTAWA"

KTQ100 - 3 Days / 2 Nights - Departures: Monday and Friday / from Quito

Day 1: A three-day package including a train ride, a tour of the indigenous market of Otavalo, a trekking from the lagoon of San Pablo to the waterfall of Peguche, shopping for indigenous fabrics and arts and crafts, trekking along an old trail to a traditional hacienda, and visiting the village of Iluman, famous for its shamans and ancestral rituals. Overnight in a hacienda.
Day 2: The Chaski Antawa Train (messenger train) rides on the railroad built at the beginning of the 20th century connecting the northern highlands with the tropical coast. From Ibarra, the train climbs down to the warm, dry valley of Ambuqui, going through sugar cane plantations, magical landscapes, and tunnels, and crossing bridges that span large canyons and gullies. The 26-km ride to Salinas plunges from 2,200 down to 1,500 meters above sea level (7,216 to 4,920 feet) in only about 2 hours. Other sites include the village of Mascarilla; an Afro-Ecuadorian community known for its unique clay masks, And Otavalo and its famous indigenous craft market, the largest in South America. Monument to the equator and the extinct volcanic crater of Mount Pululahua. Overnight accommodations at a hotel on the brim of the caldera.
Day 3: Trekking to the Geobotanical Reserve of Pululahua, with its orchids and bird species. Lunch at the brim of the caldera and then a tour of the monument and museum of the equatorial line. Back to Quito.