Overview
El Angel - Otavalo - Mindo - Santo Domingo - Quilotoa Lake - Baños de Agua Santa, Ecuador; Pasto - Popayan - Cali - Ibagué - Tatacoa Desert - San Agustin, Colombia
Highlights
- Starts and ends in Quito
- Enjoy the only primary forest of polylepis and frailejones in the world
- Go to the Colombian coffee region and explore the coffee plantations
- Discover the Tatacoa Desert
- Visit the Forest of Statues
- Highlands, cloud forest
- Mainly warm, chill on highlands
- 15 nights accommodation
Itinerary
Day 1: Quito - El Angel (200 km / 124 miles)
A relatively short route but full of fun, you will arrive early at the hotel to enjoy its attractions, especially the only primary forest of polylepis and frailejones in the world.
Day 2: El Angel - Pasto, Colombia (181 km / 112 miles)
You start with a great landscape and head towards the border with Colombia, after administrative steps you will have your first lunch in this country to move towards Pasto.
Day 3: Pasto - Popayan (245 km / 152 miles)
A road full of curves awaits you, you will enter the Colombian Andes. You begin to feel the aroma of coffee and fruits of the sector.
Day 4: Popayan - Cali (140 km / 87 miles)
After a quick visit to the Colombian Andes you descend again towards the world capital of salsa, a short ride to enjoy this beautiful city and its culture.
Day 5: Cali - Ibague (261 km / 162 miles)
Welcome to the Colombian coffee region. A day full of surprises, coffee plantations, heritage and its friendly people willing to teach you everything about coffee.
Day 6: Ibague - Tatacoa Desert (172 km / 107 miles)
The Tatacoa Desert is considered one of the main environmental and tourist attractions in the sector. Although it is known as a desert, this is a dry forest that gives rise to incredible formations that will make you feel out of this world.
Day 7: Tatacoa Desert (rest day)
You will dedicate this day 100% to get to know this place, its trails, its hiding places and more.
Day 8: Tatacoa Desert - San Agustin (280 km / 174 miles)
San Agustín is a city in the Andes mountain range, in western Colombia. It is known for its proximity to the San Agustín Archaeological Park, which houses several pre-Columbian remains scattered in different places. In the Forest of Statues, there are tombs and figures carved in volcanic stone, amidst native trees and flowers. Nearby is the Lavapatas spring, with a rock bed with ceremonial water channels and reptile shapes.
Day 9: San Agustin - Pasto (305 km / 190 miles)
The longest day of the trip so you must make an early departure. From San Agustin, you have a long ride south to Mocoa right on the edge between the Andes and the Amazon basin. Here you turn sharp west and start the famous Trampoline of Death road or Trampoline of the Devil. A dirt pass leading back over the central Andes range to Pasto. Incredible views from cliff hanger narrow tracks will require you to be on your best game all day.
Day 10: Pasto - Otavalo, Ecuador (256 km / 159 miles)
Welcome back to Ecuador! In the morning after breakfast, you visit La Lajas, a cathedral built across a canyon and then it's time to do border crossing. You usually are able to cross in a matter of a couple of hours after inspection of bikes and personal papers. Then it’s a short ride to Otavalo known for the indigenous handicraft market.
Day 11: Otavalo - Mindo (240 km / 149 miles)
A day full of off-roading through the Andean Chocó, an area between the Andes and the coast where you can see not only incredible landscapes but also small towns full of life until you reach your destination. Known for being a bird sanctuary, Mindo is a unique place for bird watching among toucans, hummingbirds, and other distinctive species of the place.
Day 12: Mindo - Santo Domingo (100 km / 62 miles)
In the morning you will learn about chocolate, its history, how it is produced, and other interesting facts, so that later on the way you will be able to see several crops of this fruit known as the blood of the gods.
Day 13: Santo Domingo - Quilotoa lake (130 km / 81 miles)
You say goodbye to the hot weather because today you will go from 600 meters to 4000 meters on an off-road path that takes you through the Ecuadorian Andes until you reach the incredible Quilotoa lagoon, a lagoon inside an extinct crater of the volcano.
Day 14: Quilotoa lake - Baños de Agua Santa (170 km / 106 miles)
After an incredible sunrise with views of the Toachi Canyon, you head towards the fun city of Baños, where waterfalls, delicious food, and extreme activities await you.
Day 15: Baños de Agua Santa (rest day)
Although it is a day of rest, you have many activities to do, rafting, canyoning, visit to the jungle among others, a day of great fun (optional activities, not included).
Day 16: Baños de Agua Santa - Quito (182 km / 113 miles)
Last day of this tour. You return to the city of Quito but this trip has not ended without surprises, you will take an old road through the foothills of the Cotopaxi volcano, which is the highest snow-capped volcano in the world. At the offices of Ecuador Bike Rental they wait for you with a cold beer and are ready to hear about this great motorcycle adventure through these 2 beautiful countries.
Ride Details
- Terrain
- 80% asphalt / 20% off-road
- Bike
- rental bike (Royal Enfield, KTM, Triumph, BMW, Honda, or Suzuki models)
- Mileage
- 2,900 km / 1,801 miles
- Daily rides
- 100 - 305 kilometers / 62 - 190 miles
- Riding gear
- included: helmets (2) - a trip can be more comfortable with your own gear in hand, especially helmets and boots. Hence, if you prefer to bring your own helmet and boots, they can be stored after your riding adventure until the end of your stay in Ecuador so it won’t be a hassle
- Meals
- breakfast and dinners
What's included
- Ready to roll fully fueled unlimited mileage motorcycle rental
- Multilingual local guide, connected with intercoms with all participants
- Support truck for groups of 5+ riders
- Rain tops (upper and lower body)
- A touring helmet, pants, jacket, and gloves
- 35 l GIVI last generation saddlebags and a 45 l duffel bag
- First aid kit, tire repair kit, portable air compressor, and tool kit
- Gasoline during your tour
- Tolls
- 15 nights accommodation
- Activities specified in your tour (depending on availability)
- Specified meals in the tour (breakfast and dinner)
- Snacks during your ride
- Tracking system to monitor the bike, and with it, 24-hour assistance from the support center
- Third party liability medical insurance mandatory in Ecuador (SPPAT)
- Bulletproof Medical Insurance
- Storage for your excess luggage during your ride
- Briefing the day before you start (here is where your adventure begins)
- Guaranteed departure on your date
- Overall, your best price option in Ecuador guaranteed
- Souvenir
Not included
- A voucher for a security deposit using a major credit card
- Ecuador 12% IVA tax (if you’re Ecuadorian)
- Hotel accommodations before and after your tour
- Alcoholic beverages
- Unspecified meals in your tour
- Unspecified activities in your tour
- Insurance to cover motorcycle damages
Accommodation
You will have a single room just for you. Only one person per room, except if you are a couple traveling together. All the hotels are the best eco-lodges in the area.
Food
What you will get:
Getting There
Ecuador and Colombia await to seduce you with unique sights. You will be able to ride beautiful mountains, rain forests, Andean highlands, the highest mountains in the Ecuador, astonishing lakes, fauna filled rain forests, and a culture rich Amazon Basin. Many climatological changes as you pass from one world to the next. [+](https://www.tripaneer.com/ecuador-bike-rental-by-sleipner-1/16-day-guide
