After breakfast we bid farewell to the cloud forest and continued on to the Rio Toachi for some whitewater action. We drove down a mountain with nice views, through tropical fruit farms, and into the middle of nowhere.
The river was mostly fast moving and surrounded by forest and farms. I'd say it was a Class 3 river. Lots of fun whitewater, but nothing too crazy. We stopped during our trip to have lunch on the river and check out a waterfall. The water wasn't too cold, so we went for a swim as well.
Afterwards, we returned to Quito. En route, we drove through many small towns and were stopped by police at one point. Don't worry though... we're not the "Locked Up Abroad" types. We stopped at a giant waterfall and drove by a tribal face carved into a cliff called "El Podar Brutal". The drive up the windy road back to Quito was quite spectacular. There were countless views of the giant, cloud shrouded mountains.
After unwinding back at the Hotel Eugenia, we roamed around Quito a bit and landed at a small restaurant, where we feasted on bloody steak that was still mooing and ice cream. Afterwards had a beer at an Irish-ish pub. A busy day so called it an early night.
Adventure Life has been an extraordinary travel resource for us over the years and today was no exception. Our River Cruise booking was handled by Jess (who has been our personal trip planner for several years) the same day as our inquiry. Suggestions were given for cabin choice and pre-trip options (that were not shown on the cruise line's website) like airport transfers and prepaid gratuities. Trip insurance recommendations followed and we were assigned a travel co-ordinator till the end of the tour. All we have to do is show up! Great service from friendly folks.
APtravelwell
1 day ago
My representative Kevin was very responsive generally and in crafting our itinerary to our specific priorities.
Rocco Labella
1 day ago
Although there was a lot of paper work, I received help and guidance when I needed it.
Donna Kirby
2 days ago
Our travel was flawless! The rider pickup (airport, hotel, ship) was seamless. Jane's recommendation for Emerald Cruise Sakara was everything I wanted but the experience was soooo much more. Adventure Life took care of each and every detail and this was the easiest of all my travels.
Anne Petty
3 days ago
Follow up was effective any questions were answered in a timely manner