Planning A Trip To Ecuador And A Guide For Beginners
Planning a trip to Ecuador is a crazy good idea for any highly bored traveler. Backpackers deeply love this wild beautiful country. It basically has absolutely everything completely packed into one tiny amazing place. You can easily visit the deep dark Amazon jungle. You can climb the freezing high Andes mountains. You can swim on the sunny warm Pacific coast.
You can do all of this in just one single week. It’s a very small tiny country on the big world map. This simple fact makes it super easy to see a massive amount of cool stuff. You can do it in a very short time. Most normal people completely overlook it. They hunt for much bigger famous countries. That is a truly huge mistake.
The spicy local food is completely incredible. The deep wild nature is totally untouched by huge crowds. You just strictly need to know how to handle the rough sharp edges. The busy main cities can be extremely chaotic and loud. The thin mountain air is super hard to breathe. But if you pack exactly right, it’s the absolute best trip ever. Look at these highly important facts before you buy a ticket.
Picking The Right Region For Your Vibe
This amazing small country has four extremely different main parts. The first big part is the high Sierra. These are the giant tall mountains. This is exactly where you find the busy loud capital city named Quito. It comfortably sits extremely high up in the freezing cold clouds. The second huge part is the wild Oriente. This is the wet green Amazon rainforest.
This is exactly where you go to see loud screaming monkeys. You can easily see massive thick green snakes. It’s very deeply green and incredibly muddy there. The third awesome part is the warm Costa. This is the super long sandy Pacific coast. It has massive rolling surfing beaches. It has incredibly yummy cheap fresh seafood.
The fourth super famous part is the Galapagos Islands. Charles Darwin studied the wild animals here. These huge rocky islands sit very far out in the deep blue ocean. They are super famous for their ancient giant turtles. They have weird friendly birds that do not fly away. You must firmly decide something first. Which exact parts do you actually want to see most? Most highly smart people try to actively squeeze in at least two different regions.
Surviving The Crazy Altitude Changes
The daily changing weather totally depends on exactly where you stand. Up in the tall freezing mountains, it can feel like crisp cool spring weather. This happens almost all year long. It gets pretty surprisingly warm in the bright hot sun during the day. Then it completely gets freezing freezing cold at night.
In the deep wet Amazon, it’s completely wildly different. It’s totally boiling hot. It loudly pours heavy rain almost every single day. That is exactly why the green forest plants grow so incredibly big! The sandy warm coast is absolute best from December until late May. That is exactly when the bright sun shines the most. The rocky beautiful Galapagos Islands are pretty good to visit at any time.
If you truly want to see flat calm ocean water, go between January and June. If you really like cooler fresh air and seeing way more swimming fish, go between July and December. The absolute best advice is to pack many heavy layers of soft warm clothes. You must be totally completely ready for any crazy sudden weather change. You can easily wear a heavy winter coat and a tiny swimsuit on the exact same day.
Dealing With Cash And Local Language
One truly great amazing thing for travelers from the US is the exact money situation. The whole entire country strictly uses the standard paper US Dollar! You absolutely do not have to worry about doing confusing hard math. You don’t have to constantly change your foreign cash. However, they strongly use a massive heavy amount of shiny metal coins.
Be totally entirely sure to closely carry lots of small paper bills. Keep heavy stacks of ones, fives, and crisp tens firmly in your front pocket. Many tiny rural local shops absolutely cannot give you correct change. They cannot break a large fifty-dollar bill. They will just sadly turn you right away. Spanish is clearly the main daily spoken language absolutely everywhere.
Many smart workers in the big fancy expensive hotels speak perfectly good English. But it’s incredibly highly helpful to proudly know a few basic simple Spanish words. Saying a highly simple hola or a very polite gracias goes a very long way. It will instantly make the nice local people smile brightly. It clearly strongly shows that you are actually trying. Don’t just stubbornly shout loudly in English.
Essential Gear For The Wild Weather
A heavy-duty plastic raincoat. You completely need this for the super wet dark jungle. You need it for the freezing foggy high mountains. The heavy rain falls very fast.
High-factor strong white sunscreen. The bright sun absolutely burns your skin extremely fast at the middle equator. You must put it on every single morning without fail.
A wide floppy hat. You also need dark sunglasses to totally protect your tired eyes. The bright glare from the tall white mountains is extremely blinding.
Tough comfortable leather hiking boots. Make entirely sure they are completely broken in before you fly. Blisters will totally completely ruin your fun jungle hike.
A tough reusable plastic water bottle. Try to buy one that has a built-in heavy dirt filter. This strictly keeps you totally safe from drinking very bad local water.
Small lightweight viewing binoculars. You totally need these for safely looking at small colorful birds. They help you find scary wildlife hiding high up in the tall trees.
Navigating City Streets After Dark
Quito and Cuenca are extremely stunning old ancient cities. They are completely filled with beautiful old stone buildings. They are generally very totally safe to slowly walk around during the bright sunny day. But just exactly like in any massive busy city, you should tightly hold your bag. Fast sneaky pickpockets sometimes actively look for highly distracted confused tourists.
Keep your small day backpack turned completely around. Wear it directly in front of your chest in the heavily crowded outdoor markets. When the hot sun totally goes down, things change. It’s much better to just take a registered safe taxi instead of nervously walking home. Use a handy phone app like Uber to be totally safe.
You can also clearly have your nice hotel desk call a trusted taxi driver. This is strictly by far the absolute safest way to get safely across town at night. Cuenca is actually very well known for being extremely deeply peaceful. It’s very perfectly clean. It’s super extremely easy to just walk around safely. It’s actually a huge massive favorite spot for many older happy retirees.
Eating Street Food Without Regret
The yummy local food is extremely super fresh. It totally completely fills your empty stomach up fast. You definitely absolutely must try a hot heavy bowl of Locro de Papa. It’s a very thick hot potato soup. They heavily top it with soft white cheese and thick green avocado. It’s very deeply warm. It’s totally perfect for the freezing cold dark mountain nights.
Down on the hot bright sandy coast, you totally have to eat the Ceviche. This is awesome raw fish deeply soaked in sharp sour lime juice and crunchy onions. It’s incredibly totally refreshing after a long hot sweaty day. When clearly putting together your daily plans, always constantly think about your highly sensitive stomach.
You should absolutely strictly only eat fresh raw fruit that you can physically peel yourself. Stick completely to thick yellow bananas or tough sweet oranges. Totally completely avoid eating raw green lettuce salads. The leaves might have been wildly washed in dirty local tap water. Only ever drink tightly sealed bottled water. This highly strict rule will absolutely help you strictly stay out of the local pharmacy.
Finding Cheap Beds In The Jungle
There are so incredibly many totally cool types of interesting hotels to choose from. You can highly easily stay in an old active working farm nicely called a Hacienda. These massive giant stone houses are very stunningly beautiful. They clearly have a huge massive ton of cool dark history inside their thick walls.
Deep far down in the totally wet Amazon, you can happily sleep in an eco jungle lodge. These cool places are mostly cleanly made of simple local wood. They totally let you clearly hear the crazy loud sounds of the dark forest all night long. In the completely busy loud cities, there are many tall giant modern hotels. There are also incredibly cheap cute youth hostels.
The loud busy hostels are totally completely great. They are perfect if you truly want to drink a cold beer and closely meet other young traveling backpackers. Many of them actually totally have extremely quiet private sleeping rooms too. Always carefully completely read the online internet reviews before you blindly hand over your important credit card.
Your Next Step Towards The Equator
This vast incredible land is completely deeply full of bright wild colors. It’s completely filled with super extremely friendly smiling faces. It’s a totally wild stunning place where you can directly stand on the exact middle line of the whole earth. Then you can easily climb a freezing snowy volcano in the exact same afternoon.
By doing strictly just a little tiny bit of smart easy reading, you will totally succeed. You will easily have a super incredibly safe and totally wonderful time. The crazy wild happy memories you carefully make right here will literally heavily last forever. Whether you are actively watching an old slow turtle on a bright white beach, it’s great.
Whether you are happily eating hot thick soup in the high freezing mountains, you will absolutely love it. Get your tough dirty boots completely ready. Start actively packing your heavy bags today. When planning a trip to Ecuador, always remember to pack a deeply good attitude.
FAQs
Do travelers need special shots before flying?
Checking with a real doctor is highly smart. Getting a strict yellow fever shot is highly suggested for deep jungle trips.
How do people travel to the islands?
Taking a fast plane from the main land cities is the absolute only way. Boats absolutely do not take people that far out.
Is breathing difficult up in the capital city?
The extremely high elevation totally makes the cold air very thin. Resting and drinking tons of clean water helps immensely.
Are credit cards accepted easily everywhere?
Big fancy city hotels and modern large stores fully take cards. Rural quiet towns demand small paper cash.