In 2011 I worked three months in Quito and spent the weekends traveling. Though lots of time has passed and I have visited many other countries in the meantime, Ecuador is still in the top 3 of my favourite countries due to its warm-hearted people and the diversity of the countryside.
It is not an entirely safe country; you always have to be aware of pickpockets, credit card scams, and you should not even leave your flipflops unattended at the beach. My ones were gone though I had already fixed them with tape…
Ecuador is a rather small country compared to its bigger surrounding neighbours, and for every taste, you can find something to do in Ecuador. From culture to beaches and watersports as well as hiking in the Andes and adventures in the rain forest.
Quito – the highest capital in the world
Letˋs start with the capital, Quito. Quito is the highest capital in the world with roughly 2.800m above sea level. The first time I was in Quito, it took me two weeks to adjust. I felt no hunger and had some headaches at that time. My colleagues recommended me to take Viagra to have fewer issues with the rare air. But I survived without, only playing soccer remained a challenge for me during my stay 😉
Quitoˋs historic center is a UNESCO world heritage site. Here you find beautiful cobblestone streets, colonial architecture, and many restaurant and bars. The street “La Ronda” is the most famous one, but you should not miss out to go to Plaza Grande and to visit the different churches. Be careful pickpockets are plenty in this area.
If you make it to Quito, you should try “Canelazo”. It is a hot alcoholic drink with Cinnamon. It is available with the original recipe and a variation with a red colour. The red one tastes a little bit like German hot wine. Be careful – one might be enough to get you tipsy.
If 2.800m is not enough for you, you can take the cable car (Teleferico) to 4.100m on the Pichincha, the volcano of Quito and take a hike. You should not do this if you are not adjusted to the altitude.
Quito also has some beautiful parks, like the Carolina Park, El Ejido and the park Metropolitano Guangüiltagua. In the “artist quarter” called El Guapulo, you can find many bars and some more expensive restaurants with an astonishing view over Quito. Around Plaza Foch, there are also many restaurants and discotheques. Back in 2014, there were lots of problems with criminals putting something in your drink and then forcing you to withdraw money from an ATM. So be careful with your drinks.
A must do in Quito is the visit to the “Middle of the world” (mitad del mundo). In the museum, you can do some experiments like trying to put an egg on a nail. I was told before by a colleague, that this was easy when being directly on the equator, but not possible when you stand on the southern nor on the northern hemisphere. He told me too, that you can try to balance on the equator, but that this won`t be feasible. I was doubting this a lot and tried it myself: To my surprise, both turned out to be true. I put an egg on a nail, and it stayed there, and I looked completely drunk when trying to walk on the equator as I could not walk straight at all.
Guayaquil – the largest city in Ecuador.
Guayaquil is more dangerous than Quito. You should not take a taxi in the street; always let the hotel call one for you, and they should also provide you with the number of a taxi company, so you can call them whenever you need a ride.
Las Peñas 
Malecón 
Guayaquil
Guayaquil is located on the sea or rather a huge river close to the sea. The Malecon is very long and beautiful. It has lotˋs of tiny parks along the Malecon, statues and at one end you find the colourful district “las Peñas”. Between Malecon and Las Peñas you can also find a museum about the Spanish Invasion and the fight for independence. In the quarters surrounding the Malecon, there are many impressive buildings of colonial architecture. I was wandering through the streets on my first day being totally impressed by the beauty.
CUenca – The home of the Panama Hat
Yes, it is true; the Panama hat is originally from Ecuador, from a town called Cuenca to be precise. In Cuenca you can visit the factory and of course buy a pretty hat. Cuenca also hosts a great museum on the ecuadorian history and the beautiful church in the city center is worth visiting. By the way the architect was from Germany. From Cuenca you can also make an excursion to Inca Pirca. The biggest Inca site in Ecuador (Macchu Picchu is more impressive). We hired a driver for a day and went to Inca Pirca, then we went through the city famous for whole roast pig and finally to a town, which is full of jewellery stores. You can buy jewellery, especially silver, at low prices. Very often I do not like the design, when I go to such places, but there – oh my god – it was so good that I haven`t had my credit card with me. Unfortunately, I cannot remeber the name of this town.
Beaches – Sun, Fun and Salsa
My favourite beach in Ecuador is Canoa. From Quito you can take a night bus to Canoa and back. Canoa is a cute village, where you can find many expats running hostels and restaurants. During the day, if you want to be “alone” on the beach, you just walk 10min north, and you will have the beach all for yourself. In the evening, especially Fridays and Saturdays, you only need to follow the music and you will dance with locals to Salsa, Merengue and Reggaeton.
Esmeralda / Atamaces is more like a party beach – loud music and alcohol all day long. If you like to have a “Mallorca” or “Springbreak” -feeling you are just right here.
Puerto Lopez is not a touristic place. Most tourists stay only for a couple of hours as the tours to “Isla de la Plata” is starting from here. Isla de la Plata is the “Galapagos for poor people”. Isla de la Plata (Island of silver) is called this way as the riffs appear to be covered with silver when the sun is shining. The reality is a little bit different: It is the …. of the birds, which shimmers silver.
Depending on which tour you are making you might see sealions, blue-footed boobies and on the way, you might also see some turtles and whales. I was there during the dry season (August), so the island was not very green during this time, but seeing the whales was just amazing.
Close to Puerto Lopez, you will find another town in the hands of expats: Montañita. When I told my colleagues that I was going to Puerto Lopez and Montañita during the weekend, they all looked a little bit baffled. After being to Montañita I knew why. Montañita is famous for weed. Though weed is officially illegal in Ecuador (with high penalties), Montañita is full of it. Most people going there only go because of the weed. You walk along the street, and you notice everywhere this sweet smell. However, the discotheques are good – the beach not so much and my broken flipflops were stolen 😛
Crater Lagoon: Cuicocha ” the Guinea Pig Lake”
This crater lagoon is one of the most beautiful, I have ever seen, especially with the high mountains in the background on one side and the valley of Otavalo on the other side. You best get here with a taxi (here usually a pickup truck) from Otavalo. In Otavalo you can find the most significant market in Ecuador. You can buy hammocks, “latin american harem pants” (I do not know the correct name – hope you know what I mean) and lots of souvenirs at excellent prices. From Otavalo or Cuicocha you can also go to the city called Cotacachi– bring your purse or credit card with you – it is the capital of leather. You will find everything here, jackets, shoes, trousers, handbags. And oh my god – I love shoes.
Cuyabeno – The Rain Forest
I booked a 4-days tour with Samay Adventures in Quito (http://samayadventures.com/cuyabeno-river-lodge/). Either by bus or by plane you will go to Lago Agrio, then it is another 2hours in a car/bus until you can finally jump into a boat, which will bring you to the camp in the rain forest. During this trip, I overcame my fear of cockroaches and spiders, given that only a mosquito net was separating us at night. Pack all your belongings in plastic bags and ensure that you are not taking a new “pet” home with you! That was actually my biggest fear 😛
I always try to travel budget/low cost, so I assume there are also some more luxurious excursions available without this extra portion of adventure.
Harvesting Yuca (Mandioca) 
My hairy friend 🙂
Have you ever seen a sunset in the rainforest? No? You definitely should do this. I think the picture says more than words. In the rainforest, we have also visited a village, where we learned how to make bread out of yuga palms and – the best experience – the gringos played soccer against the natives. That was so much fun. Of course, we were playing barefoot and in the middle of the game it began to rain heavily, but we continued playing. I do not know why, maybe the natives have cleats on their feet, but when I wanted to kick the ball, I just slipped on the muddy ground and fell, while the natives played as it would not be slippery at all.
And another first time for me: a flight in a prop airliner from Lago Agrio back to Quito.
Banos de la Agua Santa
Another one of my favourite places in Ecuador – Baños de la Agua Santa or just Baños.
It is located at around 1.800m, and it is called the gate to the “Oriente”, which means the rainforest more or less. Baños is best known for the most dangerous swing in the world at Casa del Arbol. However, there is much more to do in Baños. On the first day, we rent something like a go-kart and went to see the multiple waterfalls in the area. You are of course sharing the road with all other vehicles, especially adventurous when you are surrounded by trucks.
Exhausted from the day, my (female) friend and I decided to try out one of the Spas in town. I am not sure whether they took us for a couple or whether this is a usual procedure, but we enjoyed what I would call a partner massage, together in one room. First, we got an excellent massage of the backs and shoulders and then the ladies were pampering our hands with a very relaxing manicure.
The next day we went hiking. The nature is so beautiful in Baños. You have all kinds of flowers, especially Orchids and hummingbirds, are swirling around. It just turned out to be too difficult to take a picture of them, they are too fast.
On our way back to Quito we wanted to make another stop at the crater lake “Quilotoa”. Getting there was easy. We went from Banios to Ambato, there we switched into a bus to Latacunga, and there we caught a bus directly to the crater lake. When we asked the bus driver when the bus to Latacunga leaves he told as “2pm”, but that this will be operated by another company. So far, so good. We walked around a little bit, enjoyed the view, and wanted to take the bus back at 2 pm. We waited and waited and no bus was coming. The restaurant owner told us, the last bus for today (Sunday) had been at noon. So, what shall we do? We were both supposed to be back in Quito for work the next day and we were in the middle of nowhere. Luckily, another guy came by and offered us a ride to the next village. He told us that the buses from the coast passed by this village and we just needed to wave them to stop. Good. So we took a ride with a complete stranger to this tiny village with maybe five houses. And we sat by the street and started waiting again and no bus passed by. Suddenly a car pulls over, and the driver begins screaming “Latacunga, Latacunga”, so obviously he was going to Latacunga and was searching for passengers. The locals were faster than we, so the car was already full, but in the bed of the truck was still space. So we got into the bed and enjoyed a 2h ride back to Latacunga, while it was freezing cold. There were also some bags lying around. Suddenly one bag started to move and we heard a familiar noises. There were guinea pigs inside. Probably the dinner for the family. 
To sum it up, the rule of Latin America, that “Everything is going to be fine” again turned out to be true and we arrived in back in Quito on Sunday evening.
For German speakers – I highly recommend the travel guide from “Michael Müllers Verlag”. It was always very accurate incl. bus stations and schedules and provides excellent recommendations. Please feel free to contact me, if you need any further Information, I am happy to help!
Wanderlust 