Important: minimum age is 14 to participate in this adventure.
If you do a tour with us, you need to plan for minimum 2 days in the National Park. This allows for sufficient time to increase the success of finding the bears and/or tapirs. You need a minimum of 2 days per species (so 2 days for bears or 2 days for tapirs).
The packages we offer are:
The minimum package of 2 days/2 nights includes:
- Lodging in Hostal Coturpa (Papallacta)
- Bear and tapir spotting activity: hotel-pickup, transportation in the park, guide and trackers.
- Meals: 2x breakfast, 2x packed lunch and 2x dinner (Please let us know in advance if you have any allergies or other special dietary requirements (vegetarian, vegan).
Itinerary of the 2 days/2 nights package:
- Day 1: transport Quito-Papallacta by bus, hotel check-in, introduction on the project, time for a dip in the thermal baths (depending on arrival time) – first night in hotel
- Day 2: full day bear spotting – second night in hotel
- Day 3: full day bear spotting – the tour ends in the late afternoon. The guides will then return to Quito. If you want to spend a 3rd night in the hotel, this is at your own expense.
Your activity can be organized as follows:
- Full day hiking: Pickup at 8:30 am at the hotel for a ride into the National Park. At a good location in the paramo we start walking to look for bears. This is the ideal option for fit people who enjoy hiking. Back in the hotel around 5 pm.
- Full day drive: This is the ideal option for people who prefer not to walk too much. We will be driving through the National Park most of the day, with a lot of stops and short walks to try and spot bears. Pickup at 8:30 am and back in the hotel around 5 pm. Add an extra cost of 50 USD for the taxi-driver, since they charge per kilometre.
- Tapir – afternoon and evening drive: Pickup at 3 pm at the hotel, back at around 9pm. This time schedule creates good opportunities to spot a tapir, since they are more active during this time of day. We will drive to a good location, where a short or medium walk is required to try and spot a tapir. Spotting of Andean bears will not be possible during this drive. Add an extra cost of 50 USD for the taxi-driver.
Not included:
- Private transport to and from Papallacta
- Entrance fee to the thermal baths (there are several options to pick from)
- Alcoholic drinks
- Passport (Visa, if required from your country)
- Travel and cancellation insurance (all participants must carry both)
- Medical expenses
- Personal expenses (extra drinks, snacks, telephone, internet, souvenirs, shopping, etc.)
Private transport costs:
- Private transport Quito centre – Papallacta: USD50 (one way).
- Private airport pickup and trip to Papallacta: USD40 (one way).
Meeting point: there are 3 possible meeting points, so please let us know what you prefer.
- Option 1: we can meet in Quito and travel together to Papallacta by bus / private transfer.
- Option 2: we can meet directly in the town of Papallacta.
- Option 3: we can meet in the Quito airport OR we can arrange an airport pick-up and meet in Papallacta.
