Absolutely Wonderful! 🤗
Ecuador
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Apr 21 - May 15, 2024
We had a wonderful time in Ecuador and the plan Alvaro put together for either side of our visit to the Galápagos Islands was just perfect!
All of our accommodation was excellent and we had great variety every day. We felt we had a very nice balance of culture and nature and although we had a busy itinerary, we never felt at all rushed.
The “icing on the cake” for us was our guide Marco Herrera. He was so kind and considerate of our needs. He was knowledgeable but never made us feel overwhelmed with facts and figures. He didn’t rush us at all, and made sure we had as much time as we needed for taking photos and “mooching about” at our leisure.
Jeferson from the Tour Company called to meet us at our hotel in Quito and he was regularly in touch throughout our stay in Ecuador, making sure we were enjoying ourselves.
We would highly recommend Ecuador to everyone and feel it’s a shame that so many tourists only visit to see the Galápagos Islands. This is most definitely the highlight of the country, but there is SO much more to experience and we are really pleased we decided to spend over 3 weeks here in total.
Hotel Reviews
What a gem this family run hotel is! Lucia is an absolute lady and all the staff did their utmost to make our stay perfect. The rooms were great and we slept very well thanks to the lovely mattresses, soft cotton sheets and comfortable pillows. Breakfast was a treat with fresh varied juices and fruits and eggs cooked to order. The location couldn’t be better. Just a few minutes walk from one of the delightful town squares. We will most definitely recommend this hotel to our friends.
Gorgeous old hotel with great character. Our room was stunning! It’s perfectly located close to the old centre of Cuenca and breakfast was very good. I would suggest asking for a room that doesn’t overlook the main street as we found it noisy at night.
Wonderful old style hotel outside the centre of Guayaquil. We had a huge suite and we felt like a Honeymoon Couple! Food was lovely and the staff were very kind. It was so peaceful up on the hill and we slept really well. We would definitely recommend this hotel over those in the busy Malecon area.
The hot spring pools were wonderful. Rooms were so comfortable and nicely decorated. Food was excellent and staff were all very friendly. Would definitely live to return here!
Very pleasant stay here for our 1 night in Mindo. It’s such a great place to “get away from it all”! Having dinner and breakfast on the balcony overlooking the treetops was wonderful. Staff were very kind and friendly.
Very comfortable room and we found the food to be outstanding! Staff were so kind and welcoming and the location was magical!
Lovely hotel. Very quiet and our room was huge! Staff were friendly and helpful and the meals were excellent.
This was such a luxurious hotel and the grounds were incredible! Our room was beautiful and we loved our food at dinner and breakfast. Definitely a 10 out of 10!
Activity Reviews
Nice hike around the lake and it was pleasant to amble around the market for a while.
CĂłndor Park was very good. We were amazed at the variety of birds!
Unfortunately the weather wasn’t in our favour the day we visited. We didn’t see any Alpacas, but the fog was so heavy we could hardly see our hand in front of our faces! The drive (until we hit the fog) was pleasant however and we had a lovely lunch in one of the small restaurants near to the lagoon.
We had glimpses of Cotapaxi summit (and when we did see it, it was beautiful! The National Park was beautiful though and there’s lots to enjoy even if you don’t see the volcano that clearly.
Again we had very poor visability the day we were to see Chimborazo peak. We asked the guide to turn back 10 minutes after we hit the dense fog (about 20 minutes before the summit) and instead we enjoyed the lower area close to Riobamba.
We loved Cuenca! Very traditional and very walkable around the old centre. This was one of our favourite places in Ecuador.
Enjoyable scenery but I was a bit underwhelmed to be honest! The photo stop at the top was good but I think perhaps I expected more from the National Park area.
We enjoyed our time exploring Guayaquil. The Santa Ana area was lovely and we enjoyed the walk along the Malacon.
Really enjoyed seeing the Iguanas in the park! Especially nice to see the babies who were only a couple of months old!
Wonderful time exploring the historic centre of Quito. We loved all the Churches and the big squares with the fabulous architecture.
Very enjoyable day. We loved the cultural aspect of it and the food at lunch was super!
Highlight of our trip on Mainland Ecuador. The birds were just amazing. We saw several species of Toucans and the experience with the humming birds was phenomenal!
