10 Tage Ecuador Highlights

We had a wonderful 10 day trip exploring Ecuador with our guide, Alfonzo. He was knowledgeable, enthusiastic and fun. We learned about the history and culture of Ecuador and heard personal stories about Alfonzo’s family and life in Ecuador and the Galapagos. We hiked mountains, visited historic sites, hot springs and the Amazon and ate local food (including grubs!). We lucked out and our friends and us (4 people) were the only partipants on our tour so we got extra attention and could help shape our experience more. Also, Alfonzo’s knowledge of the English language is impressive. He even got our jokes and joined in. I would strongly recommend using Adventure Journeys and ask for Alfonzo for your Ecuador land tour.

Such a great trip! Alfonso was our guide -- he is fantastic. The itinerary gives you a pretty good overview of Ecuador. My favorite days were those we spent in the Amazonian forest near Tena, hiking on Chimborazo, and exploring Cuenca. We were able to stay in a couple of haciendas -- those were wonderful.

We have had the very best travel guide ever, since we started traveling more than 20 years ago. Very professional, a great seance of humor and very caring.

We have been travelling with support from Diego and Chris and Emilio. The trip was really fun and inspiring! We visited a lot of sites in Ecuador but Galapagos

We don’t understand why Ecuador isn’t crowded with tourists. What we were able to experience in 10 days was breath-taking beauty, fascinating wildlife, exotic flora, a commitment to conservation and getting the most out of the land, the friendliest people (especially tolerant of non-Spanish speakers), low prices, and consistently mild temperatures. Adventure Journeys put together a whirlwind tour that took us to the Andes, the cloud forest, the Amazon rain forest, several impressive waterfalls, the tallest of Ecuador’s numerous volcanoes, open-air markets, nature walks, paragliding, hiking, cable car riding, indigenous communities where we learned some new skills, and two lovely towns, Cuenca and Baños. The memorable overnights were at two beautiful old haciendas and two nights at rustic eco-lodge on a tributary to the Amazon. (We recommend layers for nighttime temperature drops and something to minimize effects of high altitude. And when they say “don’t drink the water,” they mean it.) We couldn’t imagine a better guide for us than Alfonso Fiere. He has seemingly endless energy and must know everything there is to know about Ecuador. We were lucky to have a small group so he was usually able to accommodate our interests and needs, sometimes before we expressed them. He’s also one of the most personable guys we know. And we’re going to miss him.

Rafael was amazing! We had the most wonderful time with Rafael across equador looking at some famous stops but also some local ones that we would not have found without his local knowledge. He was so patient, kind and very knowledgeable. He answered all of our questions and knew so much about the areas. He looked after us so well and it really set us up for our south America adventure. Rafael even helped us organize activities outside the tour and gave us advice about travel throughout south America. The accommodation and food were amazing. Thank you Rafael and team for such a wonderful time!

We had an amazing time over the course of the 10 days Rafael was a fantastic guide and showed us Ecuador from Quito down to Cuenca with some amazing stops in between I would highly recommend

An amazing country but lots of time driving required to see so much of it in only 8 days (can't include day 1 or 10). Our experience was unique in that my husband and I were "the" tour group! We benefitted from a very personalized Adventure Journeys tour with guide Alfonso Freire, about whom we can't say enough nice things: extremely knowledgeable and interesting as well as fun to spend time with! Alfonso's extensive grasp of Ecuador's history/culture/flora & fauna/geography/topography/etc. were very much appreciated! As for the tour/itinerary, I am vegan and want to complement the young chef at Liana Lodge (Tena/Amazonia) who prepared delicious meals for me. Despite prior notification through AJ, other places we stayed didn't provide enough vegan alternatives but I've learned flexibility is a must when traveling. Accommodations ranged from 5-star to 3-star, all however were clean & comfortable (upon request, we had a room with electricity in Amazonia & brought a tiny fan for relief from the heat & humidity... thank goodness!). The people of Ecuador are gracious, the scenery is beautiful and the food is delicious! It is a shame that tourism is being severely impacted by current (political/gang) events however we felt safe wherever we went, with or without Alfonso. Problems do exist but not in areas where most tourists go and people should feel encouraged to travel here!

Our driver Alejandro was safe, got our bus into tight parking spots, drove carefully and passed safely. Our guide Milton was a walking encyclopedia of the history, geology, sociology and ecology of Ecuador. He was super kind, with excellent English and always checking in that we were all okay, and a great personality..The trip itself was super busy, with many highlights every day, lunch sometimes not until 2 or 3 pm so buy snacks. Accommodations varied but were always acceptable and sometimes very high end, at the haciendas. I would highly recommend this tour.

Amazing tour of Ecuador mainland led by the fantastic guide Milton. We visited Quito, Otavalos, the Amazon Rainforest, Baños, Chimborazo, Ingapirca and Cuenca and much more. There were so many amazing excursions to meet local indigenous communities skilled in making chocolate, ceramics, fabrics and much more. The tour was at a nice pace and managed to pack in lots into the available time. Milton was the perfect host, incredibly knowledgeable, honest and engaging. He had so many little local tips and seemed to have great relationships with people everywhere we went. Our driver Alejandro was also a star. We would massively recommend this tour for anyone looking to get to know Ecuador's pre-colonial the history, stories about the Spanish conquistadores as well as present day live in the cities and rural communities. Thank you Milton, Alejandro and Adventure Journeys!