Ecuador

Ecuador

After 8 months of often intense travel through Mexico, Central America and Colombia, we were ready for a bit of a breather.

Soon after we crossed the border into Ecuador, the roads changed from the poorly paved, treacherous, two lane roads through the mountain ranges of Colombia to well paved, relatively safe, roads through the Avenida de los Volcanoes of Ecuador. We started to breathe more deeply and ease into what would be a more relaxing month in Ecuador.

Perhaps the hardest thing about traveling in Ecuador is deciding what to do and where to go. Despite its small size, Ecuador has a lot to offer, from birding in cloud forests to exploring jungles to hiking up huge volcanoes to scuba diving in the Galapagos Islands to surfing on the coast. The combination of these adventures with beautiful colonial towns, friendly locals and indigenous communities makes Ecuador, in our opinion, one of the best countries to visit in the world. However, we recognize that over the past few years, things have changed in Ecuador so do your research and determine which regions to avoid. For example, as of February, 2025, we heard that Guayaquil and areas along the Colombian border are good places to avoid if you can.