Plan Your Perfect Ecuador Trip

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UNDERSTAND ALL THAT ECUADOR HAS TO OFFER

Ecuador is made of four key geographic regions. Three of those regions run north to south on the mainland: the Amazon, the Andes, and the Pacific Coast. Add the Galapagos Islands for number four! Each region has beautiful places to visit, neat people to meet, and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to learn.

Learn More About Each Region

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PLANNING YOUR VACATION IS PART OF THE FUN!

A green and blue hummingbird spreads its brilliant, neon blue tail feathers

Explore

Our writers have unique insights into the people and places they write about. Many have not only visited Ecuador but have made it their home.

Cayambe from Quito, Ecuador | ©Angela Drake

Connect

We can put you in touch with local guides and business owners. We help translate, both language and culture, when need be!

Dancers at Cochasqui, Ecuador | ©Angela Drake

Travel

We recommend agencies to book entire trips, help you design your own itinerary, or anywhere in between. At the end of the day, how much we help is up to you!

Festivals Are More Fun With A Local Guide

Ecuadorian Solstice Festivals Along the Equator

by Jacqueline Granda | June 19, 2020 | Culture, Ecuador, Ecuadorian Author, Festivals, The Andes, The North | 2 Comments

In Ecuador, Inti Raymi (or the Fiesta del Sol), was declared a festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage on June 29, 2016. Throughout the Ecuadorian Sierra, it is one of the most anticipated celebrations of the year. This is due to its importance in the Andean...

Holy Thursday in Quito

by Angie Drake | April 9, 2020 | Culture, Ecuador, Festivals, Quito, South America, The Andes, The North | 0 Comments

Maundy Thursday, often called Holy Thursday, is a busy day in Quito. It is a half-holiday and most Quiteños spend the afternoon visiting churches that dot the historic center. While it is a time for reflection and prayer, it is also an opportunity to meet family and...

Celebrating Palm Sunday in Quito

by Angie Drake | February 15, 2020 | Churches, Culture, Ecuador, Festivals, Quito, South America, The Andes | 1 Comment

A week before Easter Sunday, Catholics around the world celebrate Palm Sunday. In Quito, Ecuador, Domingo de Ramos is a more festive day than Easter Sunday itself. The line-up of activities changes each year but in our experience the folklore group Jacchigua always...

What to Expect at the Cacería del Zorro

by Angie Drake | January 21, 2020 | Culture, Ecuador, Festivals, South America, The Andes, The North | 0 Comments

The day of the annual Cacería del Zorro horse race is guaranteed to be action-packed from morning until night. The excitement begins with a parade down city streets, continues on to the race track at Yahuarcocha, a high altitude lake nestled into the base of the...

Everything You Need To Know About Mama Negra

by Angie Drake | October 21, 2019 | Central Ecuador, Culture, Ecuador, Festivals, South America, The Andes | 0 Comments

So you want to visit Latacunga to see the Mama Negra parade? But you can't find any information. You've come to the right place. Last year, we attended the November festivities with local friends and learned a ton about the do's and don't of the day. Read on to learn...

Intiraymi in Cotacachi: Dancing For A Good Harvest

by Angie Drake | June 4, 2019 | Culture, Ecuador, Festivals, South America, The Andes, The North | 0 Comments

A couple of years ago, I took friends to stay in the small town of Cotacachi for Inti Raymi. Our plans were simple, to enjoy the local festival as best as possible. Of course, as is pretty typical in Ecuador, I could find very little information about which days would...

Locro de Papas, Quiteño Comfort Food

by Angie Drake | June 10, 2020 | Culture, Ecuador, Food and Recipes, Quito, South America, The Andes | 6 Comments

I can't think of a dish that is more emblematic of Quito than Locro de Papas or Potato Soup In Ecuador, a locro is a thick soup, almost a stew, and it's base is potato, specifically the papa chola, a large, starchy, reddish skinned potato with a pale yellow to white...

The Most Authentic Peruvian Food in Cusco

by Angie Drake | March 18, 2020 | Food and Recipes, Peru | 0 Comments

A few years back, my family and I stayed a couple of nights in Cusco, Peru. We ate a lot of authentic meals before, during, and after our adventure on the Inca Trail. But years later, only two stand out. One was a meal we ate standing on the street outside of our...

How To Roast Guinea Pig a la Ecuador

by Angie Drake | March 1, 2020 | Culture, Ecuador, Food and Recipes, South America, The Andes | 0 Comments

Let me warn you. This post is not for the faint of heart. In the mountainous regions of Ecuador people love to eat roast cuy (rhymes with gooey). A cuy is a guinea pig raised for meat. Ecuadorians raise them in small pens, caring for them until they're large enough to...

Green Plantain Dumplings, AKA Bolón de Verde

by Angie Drake | February 17, 2020 | Culture, Ecuador, Food and Recipes, South America | 0 Comments

One of the things I love about Ecuadorian chefs is that most seem willing to share their recipes. That's how I came to make Bolón de Verde - literally translated as balls of green but more appropriately called green plantain dumplings. Our First Bolón de Verde A young...

Connor’s Favorite Coleslaw

by Angie Drake | February 17, 2020 | Culture, Food and Recipes | 5 Comments

How did we discover Connor's Favorite Coleslaw? By trying to compensate for the lack of really great mayonnaise in Ecuador. Even the olive oil we purchase doesn't always guarantee a good-tasting mayo. All I can imagine is that many of the imported bottles turn rancid...

Make Your Own Sauerkraut

by Angie Drake | February 5, 2020 | Culture, Europe, Food and Recipes | 15 Comments

Sauerkraut isn't exactly an Ecuadorian staple. That's one of the great things about living overseas; it pushes me to make the foods I love but can't easily buy. A couple of years ago, I had tried to make sauerkraut at home and the attempt resulted in a...

A Guided Tour of Cusco

by Angie Drake | March 19, 2020 | Archeology, History, Peru, South America | 0 Comments

It's not often that we end up on a scheduled group tour. Especially not one that hits all the major sites in a single afternoon. However, that's how we ended up seeing most of Cusco, in a slap-dash tour that took us to major sites inside and out of the city itself....

La Florida Archealogy Site: Dig Into Ancient Quito

by Angie Drake | January 29, 2020 | Archeology, Culture, Ecuador, History, Museums, Quito, South America, The North | 0 Comments

A couple of weekends ago, we headed out on a mission to explore La Florida Archeology Museum. This pre-Columbian burial ground sits in the middle of an average Quiteño neighborhood. On our way up the hillside to see this little treasure, we passed lines of laundry...

The Virgin of Quito

by Angie Drake | January 23, 2020 | Ecuador, History, Quito, South America, The North | 0 Comments

Shortly before moving into our new home in Quito, we made our first visit to the Virgin of Quito. We could see her statue from our hotel window. The angel-like, silver edifice stands atop a dome-shaped hill called El Panecillo. History of the Panecillo Before the...

An Extraordinary Archeology Museum in Quito

by Angie Drake | August 29, 2019 | Archeology, Culture, Ecuador, History, Museums, Quito, South America, The North | 2 Comments

La Casa del Alabado is a privately owned museum in an old Spanish-colonial residence located very near the Quito's historic San Francisco Plaza. And when I say old, I don't mean a hundred years or so. I mean truly antique. The house was built in 1671. The building...

Cuenca’s Aboriginal Cultures Museum

by Scott Drake | August 22, 2019 | Archeology, Cuenca, Culture, Ecuador, History, Museums, South America, Southern Ecuador, The Andes | 1 Comment

As you may have noticed from our blog, we really like to explore the ancient cultures and traditions of South America. We’re also suckers for a good museum. In Cuenca, we hit the jackpot! Incredibly, there are days-worth of great opportunities to see ruins and explore...

The First Cry of Freedom: A Story of Ecuadorian Independence

by Angie Drake | August 10, 2019 | Ecuador, History, Quito, South America | 0 Comments

On August 10, 1809, a group of Criollo citizens of the Audencia Real de Quito, announced the local rebellion to overthrow Spanish-colonial rule. In Ecuador, the day is known as El Primer Grito de La Independencia or the First Cry for Independence. Led by Juan Pío...

The Mysterious Puruhanta – A High Altitude Lake in Imbabura

by Guest Author | May 4, 2020 | Ecuador, Hiking, The Andes, The North | 0 Comments

For seasoned Ecuadorian travelers, the northern province of Imbabura evokes beautiful images of green mountains, steep valleys, and steel blue lakes. In fact, this province is known as the lakes region. Lakes such as Lago San Pablo, Laguna Cuicocha and Lago...

The Best Birding Around Papallacta, Ecuador

by Angie Drake | March 18, 2020 | Birds, Ecuador, Hiking, South America, The Andes, The North, Wildlife | 4 Comments

Most people make the day trip from Quito to Papallacta to enjoy the hot springs alone. Then there are those of us who go for the birds! With that in mind, here are a few locations in and around Papallacta, Ecuador that make for great birdwatching! Birdwatching The...

Hiking to the Glacier at Cotopaxi National Park

by Angie Drake | March 4, 2020 | Ecuador, Hiking, South America, The Andes | 6 Comments

If you find yourself at Cotopaxi National Park on a sunny day, you may just want to take the opportunity to hike up to the Cotopaxi glacier, especially if you've already taken the time to hike to the Refugio! The views are spectacular, both towards the icy mountain...

Hiking Cayambe Coca National Park Near Papallacta

by Angie Drake | February 24, 2020 | Ecuador, Hiking, South America, The Andes, The North, Wildlife | 4 Comments

I wanted to write about Cayambe-Coca National Park. However, the truth is that I can't do it justice. With several access points and no safe way to transverse its grand 3,700 square kilometers (1,430 square miles), it's a park that begs to be treated like multiple...

A Hop, Skip, and a Jump from Quito – Yanacocha Reserve

by Angie Drake | February 10, 2020 | Birds, Ecuador, Hiking, South America, The Andes, The North, Wildlife | 10 Comments

The Yanacocha Reserve protects a small slice of high altitude cloud forest about an hour outside of Quito. On a sunny day, it's a great place to hike for unimpeded views of Guagua Pinchincha, the volcano that last erupted in 1999. The vista towards the coast is...

Hiking Rucu Pichincha

by Angie Drake | January 21, 2020 | Ecuador, Hiking, Quito, South America, The North | 6 Comments

Hiking the Rucu Pichincha Volcano is a glorious way to explore the Andean wilderness only a short distance outside of Quito. In fact, if you've read my earlier post about riding the Teleferico, you already know that this activity is one of the most popular in the city...

The Best of Buenaventura

by Angie Drake | May 25, 2019 | Birds, Ecuador, orchids, South America, Southern Ecuador, The Coast, Wildlife | 2 Comments

The Buenaventura Reserve provides easy access to explore the flora and fauna of Southern Ecuador. However, a visit to this widespread reserve requires a little planning as many of the great things to do lie a few kilometers from the main lodge. Once you arrive, there...

The Loja Botanical Garden

by Angie Drake | May 18, 2018 | Ecuador, orchids, South America, Southern Ecuador, The Andes | 0 Comments

I never expected to find a botanical garden in Loja, Ecuador. But this university town in Southern Ecuador is full of surprises. My high school aged son and I spent a pleasant morning walking the shaded trails and enjoying the manicured gardens. Highlights included...

The Best Places to See Orchids in Ecuador

by Angie Drake | April 12, 2018 | Ecuador, orchids, South America | 0 Comments

Ecuador is home to over 4,000 species of orchids. These specatuclar blooming epiphytes grow in high altitude cloud forests of the Andean Sierra and the equatorial jungles of the Amazon Basin. There are so many orchids that the only comprehensive identification guide...

El Pahuma: A Wild Orchid Reserve Near Quito

by Angie Drake | April 6, 2018 | Ecuador, orchids, South America, The Andes, The North | 0 Comments

The 2.5 hour drive from Quito to Mindo, Ecuador follows a long and windy road with very few places to pull off and stop. However, one small pullout provides more than a bathroom break. El Pahuma is an orchid reserve near Quito. It is home to gushing cascades of water,...

The Orchids of Cabañas San Isidro

by Angie Drake | May 29, 2015 | Ecuador, orchids, The Amazon, The North | 0 Comments

rchids can be tough to see in the wild, even near wildlife lodges like the Cabañas San Isidro. Large orchids love to grow high in the tree canopy, beyond the reach of even a pair of good binoculars. And some of the orchids that grow at eye...

Global Big Day Ecuador 2020

by Jacqueline Granda | May 20, 2020 | Birds, Ecuador, Ecuadorian Author, Wildlife | 0 Comments

Global Big Day is the most important event for the identification and registration of birds in the world. Cornell University in the United States started the initiative in 2015 with the valuable objective of connecting citizen scientists with the biological diversity...

Giant Catfish in the Amazon

by Jacqueline Granda | May 8, 2020 | Culture, Ecuador, Ecuadorian Author, Interviews, The Amazon, Wildlife | 2 Comments

The catfish is an example of mother nature’s generosity. Take, for example, the story of Robert Granja. On April 11 of this year, Robert, his brother Kevin and two other friends went fishing as they would normally do. However, instead of going fishing for fun, they...

The Best Birding Around Papallacta, Ecuador

by Angie Drake | March 18, 2020 | Birds, Ecuador, Hiking, South America, The Andes, The North, Wildlife | 4 Comments

Alambi – A Hummingbird Paradise

by Angie Drake | February 29, 2020 | Birds, Ecuador, South America, The Andes, The North, Wildlife | 8 Comments

Most people drive right by the Alambi Reserve never realizing that they are missing one of the best hummingbird gardens near Quito. The small property provides an oasis from the big city. It is a spot where you can spend a few minutes or stay for an hour or more....

Hiking Cayambe Coca National Park Near Papallacta

by Angie Drake | February 24, 2020 | Ecuador, Hiking, South America, The Andes, The North, Wildlife | 4 Comments

A Beautiful Beach in Manabi, Ecuador

by Angie Drake | February 15, 2020 | Central Ecuador, Ecuador, The Coast, Wildlife | 0 Comments

Unfortunately, Chirije Lodge is closed for business. While it is not possible to stay the night at Chirije, day trips to the locations are still an option with a local guide. Therefore, we're leaving this article for future visitors. The following article was...

Cusco’s Treasure Trove of Ancient Art and Modern Craft

by Angie Drake | March 19, 2020 | art and artisans, Culture, Museums, Peru | 0 Comments

The Pre-Colombian Art Museum in Cusco is a small but visit-worthy addition to any tourist itinerary. Basicly, this museum should be on everyone's list of things to do in Cusco. A Beautifully Curated Museum The collection at Cusco's Pre-Colombian Art Museum is...

Folk Art from Tigua, Ecuador

by Angie Drake | February 25, 2020 | art and artisans, Central Ecuador, Culture, Ecuador, Interviews, South America, The Andes | 15 Comments

It started decades ago with a single folk artist living in Tigua - Julio Toaquiza. The men in his village had a long tradition of painting masks and drums. An art dealer in Quito asked Julio to paint on a flat surface and a new school was born. Today, there are...

In Search of the Perfect Guitar

by Angie Drake | June 21, 2019 | art and artisans, Cuenca, Culture, Ecuador, South America, Southern Ecuador | 0 Comments

A chance encounter with a guitar lover and fellow tourist in Cuenca led us to discover the Route of the Guitars, a little-known tourism route along the backroads of San Bartolome, Ecuador. While stringed instruments, including traditional guitars, requintos,...

Fiber Artists in Cuenca, Ecuador

by Angie Drake | December 21, 2018 | art and artisans, Central Ecuador, Cuenca, South America, The Andes | 0 Comments

We just love walking the streets of Cuenca. Mainly because we are always finding something new around the corner. That's how we found the wonderful exhibit of handwork and embroidery hosted by the Centro de Bordados Cuenca. About the Centro de Bordados Cuenca Founded...

Ecuadorian Backroads: Sigchos

by Angie Drake | February 28, 2017 | Central Ecuador, Ecuador, Favorite Routes, South America, The Andes | 0 Comments

I love driving Ecuadorian backroads. Even when it means we tend to get a little lost or turned around. That's how we discovered Sigchos. We thought we would just be driving through on our way to the Quilotoa Crater. But what we looked like the main road...

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ARMCHAIR TRAVEL IS OFTEN THE FIRST STEP TO PLANNING A TRIP

Ecuador

With many years experience traveling Ecuador, we’ve shared content from all four geographic regions: the Sierra, the Coast, the Amazon Basin, and the Galapagos. Incredibly, we keep returning for more.

Peru

As Machu Picchu attracts thousands of new visitors every year, lesser-known destinations hold opportunity for exciting adventures and less-crowded vacationing. If you have visited Peru in the last few months and would like to add to our growing list of posts, let us know!