Local Tour Operator in Ecuador & Galapagos

  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.

  I had an incredible time on this visit! My guide Diego was incredibly helpful and accommodating. I visited during COVID and all health protocols were followed, I felt very safe.... read more I highly recommend this day trip, the drive is beautiful and the lagoon is a must see.

  Our guide Diego was very informative and helpful. Due to the pandemic, we were the only ones on our tour. We felt very safe with all the COVID... read more precautions. It was a full day; a walking tour of historic Quito, the Middle of the World, and Puluahu. We felt like we had a great introduction to the city and history of Quito.

  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!

  This was a great way to experience Quito, Ecuador. Our tour guide was Ximena. Having a tour guide who is both a local and knowledgeable was great! She allowed our... read more trip and time to be flexible to our wants and needs. We skipped the chocolate tour (because we did something like on our own) and spent longer time elsewhere. We traveled with our son (14) and when we got hungry during lunch we mentioned “empanadas” and she took us to a popular local empanadas place! Delicious. Our favorite part was both the Teleferico (gondolas) and the Intenen Museum. Amazing day!!!

  This was a really great experience, in one hand you will discover all the wonders of Quito in an unique way, in the other hand, having someone like Angel... read more guiding and enriching the experience with traditions, knowledge. You can read about the places as much as you can, but there are stories that are going to be unravel by someone like Angel, a true local, so proud of his legacy.. it makes you feel the land in a different way. Thanks a lot this was an awesome memory.

  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.

  We booked the evening before because we had just arrived and the weather was looking iffy. We weren’t sure someone would actually pick us up but Diego arrived... read more right on time despite Sunday road closures all around us. He was very knowledgeable and ready to answer all our questions. We covered all the highly recommended sights and had a short chocolate tasting too. The threatened rain held off until our last 15 mins. Perfecto!

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

  We had a fabulous day on a private tour of Quito and the surrounding area, coordinated by Alex Manzaba. Alex was terrific with adjusting the schedule to fit best... read more with the ever-changing weather in Quito. He flexed to get in as much as possible with the pending rain, and made great suggestions that were “off the beaten path.” He accommodated all of our requests (for example, we didn’t want a long lunch, we wanted to see the city) and was knowledgeable and passionate about his home town. It was an absolutely perfect day in Quito!

  Half Day Tour Of Quito - We came back to Quito from a cruise in the Galápagos and had ten hours before our flight back and booked a half day tour with a pick up and... read more drop off at the airport. Our tour guide was excellent and he took us to several historical sights as well as a chocolate factory in the city. He was very knowledgeable and made sure we were safe during our walk through the old city. I highly recommend this tour if you are in this area!

  Daniel was our tour guide going to Baños. He is an amazing tour guide. He was a conscientious driver and very knowledgeable of the areas we visited and drove... read more through. Since some of the mountains were visible during our travel to Baños, he would stop in good places so we could snap some photos. Daniel was well acquainted with the surrounding areas and knew short cuts when traffic was heavy. There was a landslide that delayed us for some time. Rather than sit while trying to get to Pailon del Diablo, he took us to a place to eat an early lunch. Then, with one lane open in the road, we went to the waterfall and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a highlight of our whole trip. The return was an even longer delay and Daniel drove us to an overlook that was very nice. Daniel gave us an amazing day. We highly recommend this day trip with him. …

  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. …

  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.

  A beautiful view of Ecuador and the Glaciers and red earth on the top is surreal. The guide is very knowledgeable, chill and friendly as well.
You really appreciate... read more the impact of the volcano

  Carolina was an excellent tour guide! We had the best time! She was able to share every question we had and more. We went all over the city with her... read more help

  Due to COVID lockdown in Quito the itinerary for the day had to be drastically changed on the spot, however Diego and Dante were able to use their years of... read more connections in the city to make the best day/experience possible for us. We truly had a great time, especially when we thought we were expecting to only see the city from the rooftop of our hotel during our short time in Quito! (Oh, and they even took us to a testing site so we could easily get our COVID test for our flight home the next day and picked up a friend stuck at another hotel to do the same!)

  We had a fantastic experience. Oscar was our guide and he was so friendly and shared lots of great information throughout the day. The drive was beautiful- it’s a bit... read more far but we really enjoyed it. We stopped for coffee on the way and attended a local market. We hiked down into the lagoon and kayaked the lake which we highly recommend. We then took a mule ride up for $10. On the way back, we visited an indigenous family and also stopped for ice cream. It was a great day!

  We took an overnight trip to Banos with visits to Quilotoa, many waterfalls, and other interesting stops. Everything was perfect! The guides were amazing, and the sites were fabulous. We... read more highly recommend using Latin Adventures!

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

  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.