Country Info
- Quito
- Capital
- US dollar (USD)
- Currency
- 13,183,978
- Population
- EC
- Country Code
Ecuador Slideshow
Travel Blogs from Ecuador
Conspiracy Theory
This is a top pick! Hi All, So big news today here in Quito. Last night the first female Minister of Defence (and the first Minister of defence with no military history) was killed in a military practice. It was a night practice with helicopters. Her 17 year old daughter ...
Kapawi - Two weeks from anywhere...
This is a top pick! Kapawi (The last Frontier) November 5th-9th, 2004 "In the tropical forests, when quietly walking along the shady pathways, and admiring each successive view, I wished to find the language to express my ideas. Epithet after epithet was found too weak ...
Bladders weren't made to be tested
This is a top pick! The next little stop was in the small town of Otavalo. It's famous for having a local market where the indigenous people get to sell their wares. Great for them but everyone knows that Nic and I aren’t normally big on shopping when we travel and ...
Fabulous crater lake
This is a top pick! Yes the title gives it away a bit. We managed to find a taxi driver that didnt want $80 to take us about 60km each way to the lake (buses only go part way - we think and very intermittently) and got it for $40 instead. Alonso drove us out of Latacunga ...
Breaking a world record (we reckon!)
This is a top pick! ... you read correctly and yes it was voluntary). Left our hotel and walked down to the main square. Were on our long journey to Ecuador. We reckoned it should take 2 days but had read of people taking 3, 4 or 5 depending on transport connections and if ...
Boobies and more Boobies
This is a top pick! Everyone loves Boobies. There are lots of Boobies here - Blue Footed, Red Footed and maybe other Boobies - I stopped paying attention when it came to Boobies. I like seals and cactuses and crabs. I don't care about turtles or ...
Volcano Views and Bones in our Soup
This is a top pick! We made it to Ecuador! Monday was long, but no problems. We left Kzoo at 8:25 in the morning and after stops in Detroit and Houston, arrived in Quito at around 10:20 that night. We managed to pack light enough not to have to check anything (but had to ...
Off to see a Penguin!!!!
This is a top pick! ... tomorrow from Quito - really cold here at 10,000 feet altitude(wearing my down jacket as I write this!) , to Guayaquil (middle of Ecuador)then on to the Galapagos Islands - obviously sea level. Yesterday we flew from Manta - sea level to ...
Alternative Transportation
This is a top pick! ... was - maybe we expected too much. But you have to give them credit for doing what they are doing in the middle of remote Ecuador... The day after we arrived at The Black Sheep Inn, we decided to let someone/something else do the work for us, and went ...
Squealing pigs to bits of rope!
This is a top pick! ... then walk up the animal market further out of town. 95% of the markets here (which are apparently the most economically important in Ecuador) are for locals and not tourists, unlike Otavalo (although we liked that a lot too but our fave is still Bac Ha ...
4 months in...
This is a top pick! Dean: Well, we are now over four months into our trip - only eight more months to go! It seems so much longer than four months when I think of all of the things we have done and places we have been/seen so far. On the other hand, it does not really ...
CORRECTION: Probably the best bus journey in the..
This is a top pick! world! (bloomin stupid restrictions on length of titles!) After a non-Chinese breakfast we walk up to the bus terminal to get a bus to Guaranda - our next stop. Read the newspaper headlines and the exit polls were right Correa and Noboa are through to ...
A world like no other!
This is a top pick! ... and these individuals are very well versed on the Galapagos. In our discussions with various folks this is the job to have in Ecuador. These guides are well paid, well tipped and live a very good life by Ecadorian standards. Our guide was Juan Carlos ...
Australians, My first mistake, and Cuicocha
This is a top pick! ... (the leather market). It was already 3pm, which is pretty late considering the sun sets around 6:15pm here. Due to Ecuador's proximity to the equator, the sunset here only fluctuates about 10-15minutes and there is no need for daylight savings time. ...
Are you Lonesome tonight? In the Galapagos
This is a top pick! The alarm went off at 06:30, I slept better than the lady with the noise of fighting and muggings outside and the rave downstairs we hadn't slept that well and we really do need a good nights sleep anyway today we are a little bit excited because we are ...
What the frig? No frisky Frigates
This is a top pick! I woke up bleary eyed vowing not to drink the sugar cane spirit again, we had to get up as we had agreed with yesterdays guide that if he fancied another trip to Kicker Rock today and had other interested we could contribute but on a significantly ...
A Big Step to the South
This is a top pick! ... going to the market and cooking our own food for a few days. We are currently in the process of working our way to the deep south of Ecuador (small town of Vilcabamba) after which we are heading to Peru. We should be there by middle of the ...
Getting high in Quito
This is a top pick! ... safe store and after discovering the 1 for 1 book exchange (at last) we swapped 4 of our huge novels for including others the Ecuador and Galapagos Lonely Planet – that was a good swap. We even managed to get one for Mexico where we fly home ...
A Near Death Experience and the Return of Esteban
This is a top pick! ... cost $16 US and came with a side of potatoes and avocadoes in a delicious cream sauce. Pretty expensive sure, but In Ecuador, guinea pig or ¨cuy¨ is considered a delicacy. And to be safe, I ate it at a classy restaurant to make sure ...
Ola
This is a top pick! ... is much cheaper here. .70 US an hour.In Panama city it was $2.50 an hour. We haven´t decided what to do here in Ecuador other than the Spanish classes and a trip to the Galapagos Islands. Anyone have any input? It sure was nice to be home over the ...
Spanish School Dropout!!!
This is a top pick! Cuenca is lovely. We arrived to learn that the next week was Carnival. Carnival, like the famous one in Rio, is celebrated in most Catholic countries and represents the few days before Lent starts. You party hard and fatten up before not ...
And so it begins...
This is a top pick! ... Garden today after they were full yesterday, a very cool little hostel in town with an incredible rooftop patio overlooking the old city. Ecuador is going to be very cheap and give the budget a nice soft start (just finished a massive two course meal with ...
around quito
This is a top pick! I spent my first full day in Quito walking around the Old Town part of the city and going to the Basilica here. We learned how to salsa (sort of) on the roof of the hostel last night. I walked around the city with Karen, who is from Atlanta and is ...
Back to the start ...
This is a top pick! ... my knees on the kerb to get away from a yappy dog. Not one of my finest moments. - inadvertently asking a waiter in Ecuador for a well-known sexual position when I meant to ask for seafood pasta. - knocking a small boy over with my rucksack then ...
Riding the roof of the train!
This is a top pick! Get up early to potentially get 8am train (fortunately not 7am at the moment!) We go up to the roof terrace here and the weather is relatively clear and we get a fantastic view of the surrounding mountains and volcanoes. We go to buy our train ...
Saying goodbye in Quito
This is a top pick! On the afternoon of Sunday 18 December, we returned again to Casa Helbling in Quito after our four-day stay in the jungle. Time to pack and prepare for goodbyes! The boys went down to the supermarket and bought some stuff for another barbeque at the ...
Amazon odessy Day 4, Boogely Woogelies
This is a top pick! Monday morning started and while the majority of the world was off to sit in an office and play on the internet we were off to play in the amazon river. We paddled off in a canoe exploring another dark recess of the jungle. Don showed us more types of ...
Steaming down the hill in a toffee bath
This is a top pick! Banos, a chill out town with good food, outdoor activity´s and hot baths, just what us road monkeys need. We spent our time productively. Watching the volcano Tungurahua, hoping glowing lava would cascade down the slopes as the air fills with smoke ...
All the time in the world,...not.
This is a top pick! ... left. Looks like we have to start being picky about our destinations soon. For example, there's still lots of places I wouldn't mind seeing in Ecuador, but I think we'll just have to skip them for now. I have been down in the Andes chain for more than six ...
Sum it up
This is a top pick! So on our last morning we actually saw a marine turtle digging her nest. We also saw two flamingos. We went on one of our days in Purto Ayora to the Charles Darwin center and saw the huge land turtles, including lonesome George. Lonesome George is the ...