Mainland Ecuador with Teens

Senior editor Norie Quintos, who edits the annual Tours of a Lifetime package in the magazine, recently returned from a trip to the Galapagos and mainland Ecuador with her teen sons. This is the last of a four-part series. Click to read the first, second, and third posts.

A confession: Travel editors don't always plan their trips perfectly. Having focused all my attention on the Galapagos, I gave short shrift to mainland Ecuador, only allowing for three days (over the objections of my consultants--Justin Laycob of Seattle-based Southern Explorations and Alfredo Menenses of Quito-based Ecuador Adventure. Dudes! You were right, I was wrong.)

Here's our day-by-day itinerary, and what I would have added had I a chance for a do-over.

Day 1: Biking in the Andes

From Quito, we drove down the north-south Pan-American Highway along the Avenue of the Volcanoes, so called because the road is flanked on both sides by some of the world's highest volcanoes, several of which are disquietingly active. (One volcano, Tungurahua, burped a mini-cloud of smoke and ash before our very eyes.) We had a picnic lunch within sight of another--snow-capped Cotapaxi. It was a beautiful drive, the air crisp and clear, the diaphanous white clouds and pastoral green valleys belying the turbulence below ground. This was the setting for our mountain-biking adventure. For teenagers: Cycling on the sides of fire-breathing volcanoes is a singular thrill. For parents: You'll put existential worries aside for immediate ones like staying on the bike on the killer downhills.

Post originale: http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2010/11/mainland-ecuador-with-teens.html