Local Tour Operator in Ecuador & Galapagos

  We loved the trip. Diego was our guide and he provided a lot of insight on local culture and customs. There were four of us on the trip.... read more My wife and I are both 70 and our son and his wife are in their mid-30s. The four of us were the only group on the trip, which made us much more comfortable about COVID issues. We were in a 14 person van so there was plenty of room. Latin Adventures did a great job of picking hotels. In Quito we stayed at the Hotel Vista del Angel. Great hotel with views of the City. Great rooms, great food and a very accommodating staff.

Day 1 we traveled to Cotopaxi. The trip took us from 9,000 feet in Quito to 15,000 feet at Cotopaxi. I took altitude sickness medication, my wife did not. Neither of us had altitude sickness. Along the way we stopped inside the park and did short walks to see some lagoons and see how we did at altitude. Diego explained the terraced farming and how it was used by the Incas. The parking lot at Cotopaxi is at 15,500 feet. The trail up to the refuge has a vertical gain of 1,000 feet. It's a hard hike. I only made it about 1/3 of the way. Our son and his wife made it easily to the refuge. It's worth going to Cotopaxi even if all you do is hike the area around the parking area. The views are spectacular.

Day 2 we went to Quilotoa. There is a lot of time on the bus between locations. But Diego did a good job educating us about the areas we were traveling through. Quilotoa is a stunning place. The hike down to the Laguna is not difficult. If you're in your 70s take the mule back to the top. We stayed at a locally owned hotel which is also a farm. Great rooms, very nice people and good food. It was nice to experience locally owned hotels.

Day 3 we substituted a trip to the rainforest because Devil's Nose is closed. Latin Adventures arranged the day trip which was a long 11 day. But we saw a beautiful waterfall, learned a lot about the native plans and their medicinal value. The transition from the Andes to the rainforest was well worth the trip. We stayed in a nice hotel in Banos. The lodging and food were OK.

At all the locations we stayed the food was carefully prepared with purified water.
The lunches we ate at local restaurants also were very careful with the water. No one wanted diarrhea and Latin Adventures did a good job of ensuring there weren't any problems.

Day 4 we hiked to some amazing water falls, took cable cars across river canyons and did some hiking. Some of the hiking at the waterfalls was somewhat hard. But even at age 70 it was not too difficult.

If you have 4 or 5 days in Quito I'd highly recommend the trip. I've attached some of our pictures. After the trip we went back to Quito and then onto Guayaquil to go to the Galapagos. Latin Adventures arranged our PCR tests (which we needed to get on the Lindblad Expeditions boat) and they also arranged our airport transfers. Latin Adventures was good to work with.

  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 thanks to Latin Adventures who made the experience very smooth. We had to postpone the tour date and find a laboratory to test for covid on the same day... read more of the tour. They were helpful and attended us promptly in both situations.
Oscar guide was wonderful. Knowing a lot of Quito and Ecuador, gave us very interesting historical information. He took us to the Pululahua volcano, which was off the itinerary, until the Intiñan museum opened. Very cordial, hospitable, calm and helpful. He was interested in knowing what we wanted to eat and know, in order to make our experience in Quito as pleasant as possible. I strongly recommend the tour.

  The tour is great for seeing most of the must-sees in Quito. Our guide Oscar provided a lot of information on Quito. In Mitad del Mundo we had a local... read more guide in the museum which was awesome. She was really great and listening to her was so good. Very funny as well. Taking the Teleferico up the hill to see Quito was also a highlight, even if the clouds kept coming in. The mountain is cloudy most of the day, but they keep coming and going, so if you are lucky you will catch some really nice views of Quito. I can also recommend the Café on the top, have a coffee and enjoy the views.
Later the day we visited the historic part of Quito including then interiors of three churches. Stunning. If you want to get a good overview of the most important parts of the city and area, this is the tour to take.

  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.

  Fabian did an excellent job taking us on the full day tour from Quito!

He is so knowledgeable on all aspects with all things Quito, including history, the countryside,... read more local people, the Andes...in fact you name it and Fabian has the knowledge!
The tour itself was extremely informative and interesting, and my husband and I both agree that if you have the time, this tour should not be missed!

  This was an all around great tour. You get to see all of the major tourist attractions in the city in one day, and they are all worth seeing. My... read more tour guide was friendly and shared a lot of knowledge about every stop along the way.

  We had a fullday tour picked up at our Hotel at 7am driving with Leonardo and our guide Miriam to Cotopaxi. The weather was cloudy but Leonardo knew where to... read more drive to for a clear spot and so we changed our plans spontaneously and hiked up to the Cotopaxi refugium where we had the best views and photos! Afterwards we drove to the Little Lagoon where meanwhile the good wheather arrived as well. From here we drove all the way to Quilotoa with the best views and explanations from Miriam- we really learned a lot. In Quilotoa we had a delicious ecuadorian lunch with both Leonardo and Miriam and learned more about people and culture- Thank you! Afterwards we had a wonderful view over Quilotoa and again best photos arranged by Miriam. We had a really exciting day and would recommend everyone to come to Ecuador and book a Tour with this Agency! We felt very safe all the time and had a real benefit from what we saw and learned! …

  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

  Excellent tour! Our party of 10 arranged to have a private tour and our guide Miriam and driver Dante were fantastic hosts! I coordinated the trip directly with Dante, and... read more they took such great care of us. The Middle of the World Museum is an absolute must -- a highlight we all really enjoyed. We even made a side stop at a local empanadas restaurant, which was fun and delicious. I highly recommend Latin Adventures. They were extremely professional and communicative before we arrived, were punctual and very knowledgeable while we were there. We had two days in Quito and took tours with them on both days. Our first day we took their Old Town Walking Tour, which was a great way to start our trip. They made our visit to Quito very memorable! Thank you Dante and Miriam!

  A really good and nice tour. The tourguide Diego was really nice, give us such good informations and looked so good after us. Thanks a lot

  We had a wonderful day touring Quito. Our guide Oscar was great and he was so wonderful to answer all of our questions and adjust the trip to our... read more needs. We loved everything that we did and we highly recommend this as a way to see the city. We highly recommend Oscar as a guide.

  We spent an awesome day with Alex as our guide. We were the only ones on our tour (3 adults, a 20 something and 18 year old) and were blessed... read more to have wonderful weather to see Quito and the surrounding sites. Alex was knowledgeable, friendly, and was easy to communicate with. He went out of his way to add some extra touches including getting permission for us to take a few pics in a cathedral, taking us the top of a beautiful hotel for more great pics, adding a stop for frozen treats, and a chocolate tasting. He was also willing and helpful in taking pictures of us throughout the day to commemorate the stops. Our driver was also friendly and made us feel safe throughout the day with his good driving. I highly recommend this tour!

  Interesting! - Our guide Christian, was early and met us inside the hotel lobby. As we drove around the city, he shared his knowledge of Quito and answered all our questions. ... read more /> At the cable car ride up the Pichincha Volcano mountain side, he explained the geography and plant life change as we ascended. While hiking up the remaining 100 or so yards he kept checking on us to make sure we were all OK due to the high altitude.
Our next stop was the middle of the Earth venue, the Equator. It was a fun and informative visit.
Christian was very informative and personable guide.

  We didn’t do any extravagant hiking but was beautiful. The hummingbirds were beyond compare-unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

  We loved everything about this tour. This was a great way to see many highlights in the city in one day. We have been to Quito several times before and... read more been to all of the sites visited but it was a great way to learn new and interesting tidbits about the city that we didn't know. We have 5 kids from ages 18 to 6 and they all loved it too. Diego was a fantastic and friendly guide.

  We had a fantastic time with our guide Diego! His English was perfect and he was super friendly. He gave us detailed info at each stop and we... read more were never bored. Taking the cable car to the top of Teleferico was great but walking up the mountain/volcano to the swing was one of the things I just had to do! The pictures were worth the climb! We had a wonderful lunch (Diego recommended an authentic Ecuadorian restaurant in town) , went to a private chocolate tasting, and visited the Middle of the World where we participated in really fun gravity experiments. If I went back to Quito, I actually would do this tour again.

  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. …

  Diego was great! He was very knowledgeable and flexible. He gave us lots of options about how the day would flow. Great way to spend a first full day in... read more Quito! Highly recommend. 10 out of 10!

  We did the Mindo Day Tour including Chocolate Tasting, Hummingbirds, and Cloud Forest Hike tour. Everything was better than expected. Dante at the front office helped resolve an issue with... read more the reservation made thru Viator. Miriam our tour guide and the driver were excellent. The Hummingbird visit was AMAZING, and a great surprise meeting an American that leases part of the property to grow coffee beans, which he lets you sample and also sells bags. We added the Ziplines to our tour and it was a blast. I’ve done several before, but the long, tall run was the fastest one I’ve ever done. They also let my teenage kids do the butterfly & Superman poses. Miriam also suggested the Caskaffesu restaurant in Mindo. The food had a little of everything, and the dishes were a culinary delight. The prices were spot on for the quality and quantity of food we received. …

  The tour was great, many wonderful sites, and a great tour guide. Enjoyed the restaurants and the stroll in the colonial area.