Local Tour Operator in Ecuador & Galapagos

  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 have been to 30 countries and this was our best tour ever. The guide was very knowledgeable and was able to answer every question we had. ... read more He taught us so much about this wonderful country. We plan to book two more tours with this company while we are here

  Excellent, excellent, excellent! I had a free day during a business trip to Quito, and Latin Adventures was able to accommodate me and a colleague on a last-minute day tour... read more of Quito and it's environs. Our guide, Diego, was extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and speaks outstanding English. Honestly, it felt more like driving around the city with a friend, rather than an impersonal tour. Diego was also great about customizing our day based on our schedule and what attractions were open. I particularly enjoyed the mix of natural sites, cultural and historical sites, and the chocolate. Oh man, the chocolate... Latin Adventures management was super-helpful and responsive via text. 100% recommend and the great tour established a quick baseline to let me see that Ecuador has so much more to offer than I was able to fit into one day, and convinced me to bring my family here on a getaway in the very near future.

  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. …

  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.

  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!

  Our tour guide, Oscar, was pleasant and knowledgeable. An excellent way to spend a day in Quito. Even with the inconveniences lingering from the pandemic, this tour was well worth... read more the cost.

  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!

  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.

  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.

  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.

  Vanessa was very accommodating; dishes were delicious, Market tour helped us value Ecuador’s wealth of tropical fruit. What a great way to get to know Ecuadorean

  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!

  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!

  Our family of six included kids aged 9-19. Alex and Dante managed to find a full day of activities to appealed to everyone. Much of Quito remains closed, but we... read more did not notice as we had plenty to do. The guides were very knowledgeable, friendly and spoke English well. Highly recommend this trip for seeing the Quito highlights. …

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

  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.

  Adrian and Carlos were the perfect guides, they knew shortcuts and stopped on the journey to show us different plants and foods and most importantly volcanoes. We saw 12 at... read more once from one view point. The lagoon was incredible and beautiful, the hike was tough back to the top, with the altitude and my asthma I didn’t know if I could do it but both guides helped me all the way down and up and I had an amazing sense of achievement at the end. An incredible trip all round and I’d recommend with these guides all day,

  I do not think you can squeeze more into a day.... Old town, a gondola ride up to almost 4k meters; the Equator and center of the world experiments. Great... read more fun and sites

  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.

  Diego was our guide and Dante our driver for today's tour. WHAT A BARGAIN!! Dante conveyed us safely from place to place, while Diego gave the play-by-play. ... read more A fantastic day; Diego was so knowledgeable, friendly, and passionate about teaching us the history, culture, and everything Quito. He is a biologist, a geologist, a meteorologist, and a cultural and historical expert of the region. It seemed like he is a one man Ambassador for both Quito and Ecuador. A thoroughly delightful day here in the Metad del Mundo.