Local Tour Operator in Ecuador & Galapagos

  Diego was an amazing tour guide. Very knowledgeable and friendly. He was very flexible and showed us a good time. The tour is easy physically but very diverse and the... read more COVID restrictions were taken seriously. Recommend it whole-heartedly.

  This was an excellent day tour! I learned so much about Ecuador’s history and was fortunate enough to explore most of Quito! The museum was one of the most interesting... read more and fun tours I’ve experienced!

  For my first day in Ecuador, I booked the day tour to Otavalo and Cuicocha Lagoon. As Ecuador was the first country in South America that I visited, I was... read more a little apprehensive as to what to expect. However, my guide Daniel did an amazing job and completely put me at ease. Despite the weather not being great and tiredness on my part from traveling the day before, Daniel managed to keep my interest and remained fully engaged for the entire day. He did an awesome job giving me an introduction to Ecuador, and specifically Otavalo and Cuicocha Lagoon. I spent over two weeks in Ecuador with various guides on different tours and Daniel was by far the best. He was passionate, extremely knowledgeable, and made the day very enjoyable. He is a credit to the company and when I return to Ecuador, he will be the guide that I will request.

  Diego was a marvelous guide. Due to COVID, not many tourists are about and you'll often find you're the only ones booked on a tour on most days. ... read more In my case I was solo but wanted to visit Quilotoa, but unfortunately the tour will only run with a minimum of two people. Thankfully Diego's company worked with me and we reached a compromise where the tour would still go with just me and I wouldn't have to pay the full price for two.

Diego picked me up at my hotel early in the morning and off we went. First stop was with an indigenous family who seemed quite happy to show me around their traditional houses. Fascinating to see how they live with their animals, literally inside the same room in some cases. Very friendly encounter.

Then it was off to the main highlight of the day, a visit to the spectacular Quilotoa Lake deep inside a volcano center. It's possible to hike down to the lake itself and kayak for a bit but given the extremely high altitude and thin oxygen, it would be quite difficult physically to hike back out unless you're used to the altitude (I saw even native Ecuadorians experiencing severe nausea and dizziness, so this is not something to be taken lightly). Mules can be rented for $10 for the ride back up, which probably would be a more wise choice if you do want to hike down.

As a great alternative, instead of using up your time going down to the crater floor and back up, Diego can take you on a short hike around the crater rim to the left, which offers more spectacular views and gets you completely away from the crowds of people near the major viewing overlook point next to the parking lot. In just a few minutes you've got this incredible view all to yourself, and as an added bonus Diego is an excellent photographer and will happily shoot all the pictures you could ever dream of, with much better results than trying to do the same thing awkwardly with a selfie stick.

Lunch is at one of the restaurants near the crater, then it's time for the long drive back to Quito.

Loved this tour for the amazing mountain scenery, glimpses of indigenous life, and Diego's excellent customer service.

And just when I thought things couldn't get better, I asked Diego if it would be OK to make an impromptu stop on the way back to my hotel that wasn't on the tour. He didn't hesitate to grant my request and did quite a bit of driving down confusing narrow one way streets to make it happen.

Thank you again for a very excellent day!

  We are glad we rounded out a visit to Quito by including this day trip. The views are breathtaking. The people are friendly and gentle. The experience is a good... read more contrast to the large city of Quito. Our guide was Diego and he was extremely knowledgeable about the geography, plant and animal life, economy, agriculture, language, lifestyle, culture, religion, etc of the region and the various communities we visited. He made good recommendations for meals and purchases. Since we were on a private tour, Diego was very accommodating about our specific interests. We relaxed and let him do all the driving and arranging. Quilotoa is amazing and definitely worth seeing and walking around. It makes amazing pictures. Note of caution: don’t underestimate the effects of altitude. Even if you hike frequently you’ll be out of breath in short time. We chose not to go all the way down. On week days there may not be Mules available to help you get back out. A walk along the top of the crater is just as nice.

  We enjoyed the whole experience. Oscar was a great guide and made learning about Cotopaxi fun. The hike up was difficult, but possible if you take it slow. It felt... read more great to make it to the top. Make sure you dress warm— almost the same as if you were going skiing— gloves, hat, and layers. Rain coat is advised.

  Amazing day with our guide Diego, very knowledgeable and very pleasant, the sights we went to were brilliant, highly recommended

  Rodrigo was an amazing tour guide for our group. We were able to do everything we wanted to do and he was very trustworthy and knowledgeable. He even gave us... read more great recommendations for the nightlife to explore later. Rodrigo was able to convey the history and culture of Quito perfectly to us.

  My husband and I had a fantastic time touring Mindo with our guide Óscar and our driver Bolívar. Our main objective was to spend a day in the cloud forest... read more hiking to waterfalls and ziplining, but our trip was so much more than that. Óscar taught us about the hummingbirds, orchids and butterflies and how the flora changes through the different altitudes. After a super fun and exhausting day, we had a delicious meal at El Chef in Mindo and finished with a coffee from Mindo Forest Coffee and Tea. (note to anyone traveling with Óscar, you should totally trust his restaurant recommendations. He knows his stuff!) Óscar and Bolívar really went above and beyond to get us back to our hotel safely during a very busy night in Quito’s old town with lots of closed roads due to a show happening in front of our hotel. ¡Gracias a Óscar y Bolívar!

  Thank You, Alex, for a splendid tour of Quito! We had such an interesting day, and Alex is so knowledgeable about Quito, past and present history, and just about... read more anything else we wanted to know! We were picked up from our hotel at the right time and then whisked off to tour Quito. I won't list everything we did here, but it really was a great tour, and we would never have learnt or enjoyed it so much if we had done it by ourselves! Suffice to say, my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our day, and it was worth every penny!

  For my first day in Ecuador, I booked the day tour to Otavalo and Cuicocha Lagoon. As Ecuador was the first country in South America that I visited, I was... read more a little apprehensive as to what to expect. However, my guide Daniel did an amazing job and completely put me at ease. Despite the weather not being great and tiredness on my part from traveling the day before, Daniel managed to keep my interest and remained fully engaged for the entire day. He did an awesome job giving me an introduction to Ecuador, and specifically Otavalo and Cuicocha Lagoon. I spent over two weeks in Ecuador with various guides on different tours and Daniel was by far the best. He was passionate, extremely knowledgeable, and made the day very enjoyable. He is a credit to the company and when I return to Ecuador, he will be the guide that I will request. …

  Had a great experience going to Quilotoa crater. Our tour guide Juan Pablo was exceptional; he gave great recommendations, made sure everyone was comfortable, gave us interesting history of... read more Quito on our ride, and was very personable. Our lunch and ice cream spot he recommended was great!

  My first time in Ecuador and booked two tours with Latin Adventures—city tour and that went so well I also booked the Quilotoa crater trip. Both tour guides, Alex and... read more Fabian, were great to travel with—very informative, responsive to my interests and enjoyable to travel with. The owner Dante was very accommodating with shifting travel plans. It was a great experience and I’d highly recommend this company. …

  An excellent tour, highly recommended! We had a great time, and were blessed with a sunny and clear day on top of the Guagua Pichincha with a great view of... read more Quito and most volcanoes from afar. Our guide Oscar Salazar knows so much of the history and culture of Ecuador, and gave us lengthy explanations of all the sites we visited. We will come back, so thirsty to visit more of what Ecuador has to offer!

  We had a great day trip from Quito to Cotopaxi with our guide Daniel. He picked us up from our hotel on time at 8am and drove expertly to Cotopaxi... read more taking a scenery road which allowed us to appreciate the geography of the inter-valley region. The drive took about 1.5 hours. His approach takes you around the volcanoes from all angles. Daniel was truly passionate about Ecuador and very knowledgeable about wildlife and vegetation of the region. He stopped plenty of times for awesome picture opportunities. We hiked from the parking lot (15K ft) to the refuge (16K ft) doing the zig-zag approach and experienced no issues with altitude sickness whatsoever (he stopped by a kiosko where we could buy coca candy and leaves if needed before entering the park). The weather was awful as we ascended, with small hail and dust from the strong winds, but he was patient and set the pace perfectly for us to successfully reach the refuge. We grabbed hot chocolate up in the refuge (2.5 per cup, bring change) and warmed up before going back down. On our way back to Quito, we stopped by an authentic local restaurant around 3pm where we had a soup, a pork dish, and an ice cream. Back to the hotel by 5pm promptly. This is a great experience for a Quito escapade which you should consider if you're looking to do something based off the city. …

  Everything was so perfect and excellent donde the moment that they pick is until the moment they drop us no complaints thanks to the guy who was with us... read more in everything

  Edwardo was very accommodating to us. He wanted to make sure we did everything we wanted to do. The zip line, humming bird sanctuary, and gondola ride were wonderful. I... read more would recommend this day trip to anyone. We are in our late 60’s and helped us with everything we needed.

  Our guide Oscar was amazing! It ended up being a private tour for my husband and I, and it was everything we could've hoped for! Oscar planned our day around... read more the weather and we were able to see everything! This is a great way to see Quito especially if you have limited time there! We went to a really cool lunch spot he recommended and it was delicious! He was very friendly and chatty and told us a lot about the city we wouldn't have known otherwise! Definitely recommend this trip - you will see some really cool things and hit all the tourist sites in just 1 day!

  Great way to see Quito and the middle of the earth in one day. Oscar was a wonderful guide. So much so that we booked him for another tour... read more the next day. We were able to see everything on the itinerary plus he made a few extra stops to show more of the beauty surrounding Quito.

  I highly recommend the Mindo Forrest tour with Isra. The scenery is spectacular and Isra is an excellent guide, very knowledgeable and friendly. Booking was seamless and it was... read more easy to communicate with Isra ahead of the tour.

  I had the best experience with my guide Rodrigo! I got picked up at my hotel and safely dropped back at time. The guide was very professional and patient. 10/10... read more is my score!!