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- Flights from the UK to Ecuador
- 3 nights of pre-tour accommodation in Quito
- Full-day tour to Otavalo Market from Quito
- Full-day tour to Cotopaxi from Quito
- 9-day small-group tour of the Galapagos Islands
- 21-day volunteer placement at the Amazon Animal Rescue Centre
- Three meals each weekday and breakfast on weekends during your volunteer project
- 8 breakfasts during your group tour
- Booking fees
- Services of your own travel advisor
- Travel insurance (but we can help you with that)
- Vaccinations (ask us about our discount with Nomad Travel)
- Meals (unless otherwise specified)
- Optional activities
- Local bus from Quito to Baños
Suggested Itinerary: Ecuador Volunteer and Explore
Home - Quito - Santa Cruz Island - Isabela Island - San Cristobal Island - Quito - Baños - Quito - Home
This itinerary is just a suggestion and can be customised to suit your unique travel plans. Make it longer, make it shorter. Add in the things you want to do. Get in touch with our travel experts to turn this itinerary into your dream Ecuador gap year.
Quito Volcanoes and markets
Welcome to Ecuador and the start of your gap year volunteer program!
On arrival at Quito airport, make your own way to the hotel where you'll be spending the next four nights. After a leisurely first day, head out on a full-day tour to the Otavalo Market - one of the largest in South America. You'll find lots of different colourful handicrafts at this market, which is ideal for souvenir shopping.
The following day enjoy another guided tour, this time of Cotopaxi - an active stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains. It's a particularly picturesque volcano with an almost perfectly symmetrical cone.
With your fourth day in Quito, you're free to explore the city before an afternoon/evening welcome meeting where you'll find out more about the Galapagos island-hopping adventure that awaits you, with a chance to meet your fellow travellers.
Galapagos Islands Three islands in one trip
For the next week you'll visit three of the best islands in the Galapagos archipelago using speedboats to get from one island to the next and keep costs down. A short plane ride takes you from Quito to Santa Cruz island where you'll visit the Charles Darwin Research Station for an opportunity to see the famous tortoises up close.
Then it's onto Isabela Island for a hike up Sierra Negra - a large shield volcano at the southeastern end of the island. The hike takes around 5-6 hours and provides spectacular views looking out across such an enormous expanse of flat, black, cooled lava.
You'll have a full day on Isabela Island to participate in optional activities including snorkelling and surf lessons. There's an included snorkelling excursion at Concha de Perla before heading to San Cristobal Island. Here, you'll visit the Galapagos National Park Interpretation Centre to learn about the unique history of the ecosystems, flora, and fauna of the islands. In the afternoon there's a snorkelling excursion at Tijeretas to look for wildlife like sea lions, rays and marine iguanas.
Enjoy a full day at leisure on San Cristobal Island before flying back to Quito for the next chapter of your gap year adventure.
Baños Volunteer Intro Week
After a final night back in Quito, make your own way to Baños - gateway to the nearby Amazon Basin. You can take a local bus from the main station in Quito.
Arriving into Baños you'll start an introduction week designed to prepare you for your volunteer project in the Amazon. During this first week you'll learn loads about life in Ecuador and explore the highlights of Baños and its surroundings including a bike and canopy tour.
You'll also learn a bit of the local lingo with 20 hours of group Spanish lessons. Your lessons can be tailored to your wishes or follow the textbook, depending on your Spanish level.
At the end of the week, take a local bus from Baños to Puyo where you'll start your wildlife volunteer project.
The Amazon Volunteer at the animal rescue centre
For the next two weeks you'll be working in the lush, green Amazon rainforest as a volunteer at the Amazon Animal Rescue Centre. This centre works in partnership with the Ecuadorian Environmental Police (UPMA) and the Ministry of Environment in the fight against the trafficking, abuse, capture and hunting of wild animals.
As a volunteer you'll be helping abused, neglected, or abandoned animals given a new home at the centre. There are currently at least 40 different species of animals at the centre, which include Ocelot, tayra, capibara, parrots, monkeys, tortoises, and caimans, amongst others.
Daily activities include the day-to-day care of the animals, food preparation and feeding, general maintenance and cleaning, and construction work.
You'll be staying in the volunteer cabañas with dorm rooms, a shared kitchen, bathroom and social area. Three meals a day are provided during the week with breakfast on the weekends.
If you wish to volunteer for longer in Ecuador, you can spend up to six weeks at the Amazon Animal Rescue Centre - just let us know your preference and we'll organise your program accordingly.
Once your volunteer project has come to an end, make your own way back to Quito for your return flight home to the UK.
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