Local Tour Operator in Ecuador & Galapagos

  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 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!

  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.

  Diego is amazing, He is very knowledgable and engaging. The trip was very informative and fun. Would recommend this again

  Diego was an excellent guide. The entire day was fantastic! Diego even came to rescue me with chocolate and tea as I was struggling back up the volcanic... read more crater. Beautiful in every way and highly recommend!

  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. …

  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.

  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.

  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!

  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 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!

  Alex and Dante were fantastic tour guides!! We learned the history of the city in a fun way! Alex was so knowledgeable and the tour was personalized making it an... read more amazing experience.

  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. …

  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 had an incredible day at Cotopaxi National Park with our guide Oscar. During the drive, he explained the geography of Quito, Cotopaxi and the surrounding areas to us, and... read more also helped answer any questions we had about Ecuadorian life and the country's history. The climb to the respite itself was a little tough given the altitude and steep ascent, however totally doable. Oscar let us take our time, enjoying the view and taking pictures along the way. We also enjoyed a beautiful walk around the lagoon and a delicious lunch at a local restaurant. Would definitely recommend this tour for anyone wanting to leave the hustle and bustle of the city for some time in nature.

  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! …

  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.

  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!

  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. …

  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 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!