Local Tour Operator in Ecuador & Galapagos

  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!

  I came to Quito to work remotely for a month. I absolutely didn't know what to expect from Ecuador in general. I got this tour last week, just because I... read more wanted to do something different on the weekend, and it blew my mind! The tour was private for me because Latin Adventures couldn't gather more people for the day. For that, I paid just a bit extra, and worth it all. I started contacting them via Whatsapp as soon as I purchased the ticket, and they responded very quickly. During the whole week before the trip, they gave me clothing advice and arranged the pick up in the Airbnb ap that I'm renting. My guide was Diego, and I couldn't be happier. He was terrific, had all the exciting information and cool facts, sometimes personal stories that were even more interesting.
We stopped a few times on the way to the Lagoon, went to the bathroom, bought trip supplies, and visited a small store (@sinchi_toaquiza) and Maria and Julian's indigenous house. The later ones were the highlights for me. I loved to get intimate contact with real people from the place, and this was it. They spoke Quichua, that was special. I bought with them a beautiful scarf made of sheep fur. About this topic, for the ones who like shopping, bring cash cause there are many beautiful goods.
Once at the top of the Lagoon, I couldn't describe the magnitude of the beauty in words. It's majestic. Diego knew the best paths to hike down and helped me with good pictures. It was a bit crowded, and that made me a bit uncomfortable, especially during the pandemic when I was trying to avoid gatherings, but the majority of the people were wearing masks, which was good enough. At the bottom, I rented a kayak for 20min. Hiking up, I "hired" a mule to bring me back because I was concerned that my physical abilities wouldn't be good enough. The altitude played a tool. But in the end, I regretted because I could have all the breaks I wanted.
On our way back, I had lots of conversations with Diego, about our lives, the details of the parts that I liked, and even philosophized about how small we are in the big world. I'd recommend Latin adventures for everyone who asks me Ecuador. It was an unforgettable experience!

  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!

  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! …

  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

  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

  Fantastic!! We signed up at midnight and they had a shuttle car ready to go the next day on Easter morning! Very good English and educated tourist. We had Carlos... read more and he was amazing! It was our timeframe and choice of what to do.. we asked if we try some chocolate and not only did they take us, they setup a quick presentation for chocolate sampling.. keep in mind, this was a special request and they made it happen. If you do not know Ecuador or you are only here for a very short time.. this tour is the most efficient and cost saving way to see a lot!! Highly recommend!

  Thanks for a great experience! As a solo traveler, I felt much safer traveling around the city in the comfort of the van with a small friendly group. Our group... read more leader organized our stops to adapt to the weather and maximize our experience. He was quite knowledgeable, and open to questions. I highly recommend this experience :-)

  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.

  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 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.

  After our tours were cancelled by another company we ended up jumping on a last minute city tour of Quito with Latin Adventures. I am so glad our other tours... read more were canceled because we loved our experience with Latin Adventures. It was amazing. My sister and I learned so much from our guide Oscar. He was very knowledgeable about the city and history. Oscar really went above and beyond and even helped us set up two other tours during our stay which were equally amazing. We had a different guide on the last day, Jose, who spent extra time stopping to let us take in the sites. I highly recommend them.

  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.

  My favorite part of this tour was getting to see the llamas. The entire experience was great - from the views during the drive to the hike back up for... read more a great lunch. Our guide and our driver were great.

I would certainly recommend this tour and would do it again. Thanks to Adrian.

  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!

  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!

  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!

  Fabian was our driver/guide and provided an excellent day excursion to the Lagoon. He picked us up on time at our hotel and provide a great narrative of the... read more country as we drove three hours from Quito. Upon arrival to Lagoon we were able to hike to lagoon. Hike down too, 35 minutes and hike back up took 55minutes. After hiking we were treated to a wonderful Ecuadorian lunch and then returned back to Quito. Once again Fabian was very informative about his country. Highly recommend this day trip from Quito and hope that you get Fabian as your guide, you wont be disappointed. All COVID safety protocols were in place, mask were worn when appropriate, hand sanitizer was readily available.

  This tour was a lot of fun. The views of the mountains were GORGEOUS! The hummingbird garden was insane. We must have seen dozens of them. My favorite part was... read more the cable car that gave us the most breathtaking view of the cloud forest. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!

  Cotopaxi was closed due to unusual activity from the volcano, so we went to Quilotoa instead. Oscar was a great guide - knowledgeable and friendly, and stopped several times along... read more the way for us to get coffee, use the washroom, and learn about the indigenous peoples and how they live in the highlands. Our van was comfortable and had AC which was welcome! The visit to Quilotoa was great as well and ended with lunch at a local restaurant (get the locro de papa soup!). Would definitely recommend this tour! :)

  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.