I will be travelling to South America and will be spending about a month in Ecuador. I made a tentative itinerary and was wondering if anyone has any comments/thoughts
I will be travelling to South America and will be spending about a month in Ecuador. I made a tentative itinerary and was wondering if anyone has any comments about any of the places on it, specifically, whether there are places on it not really worth visiting, and conversely, whether there are places not listed on it that are must see.
Itinerary: I will come down from Ipiales Colombia and begin in Ibarra -> Otavalo (side trip to Laguna Cuicocha) -> Quito -> Cotopaxi National Park -> Saquisili (maybe) -> Laguna Quilotoa (does anyone know of any cool ecolodges around the lake?) -> Banos -> Riobamba (trip to Park Sangay) -> Cuenca (side trip to El Cajas National Park) -> Saraguro -> Loja -> Macara border crossing to Piura, Peru.
Reply to this Sounds cool, i almost did the same from Quito down to the south. If you do Quilotoa, you can see Saquisili on your way back. There are no cool ecolodges around the lake as far as i know, pretty basic upthere. I really liked it staying in a local hostel, almost like a homestay. I would add Vilcabamba instead of Loja. Really nice eco village. Go to the rumi wilco ecolodge, loved that place.
Reply to this Seems You are forgetting the Cloudforest, an unique ecosystem, with the richest biodiversity in the world. You could visit the area of Mindo, about 70km from Quito. You have many ecolodges over there, from cheap to a bit more expensive.
Reply to this yeah, you´re absolutely right, went to Mindo also, worth every penny.
Reply to this We did a very similar trip last December for a month, although we didn't go to Banos. Definitely get to Laguna Cuichoa and Cajas NP, fabulous! Crossing from Columbia, it is definitely worth visiting El Angel preserve for the unusual paramo vegetation, since it sounds like you're inclined that way. In Mindo, we stayed in a simple hostal on the edge of town -- quite pleasant. We wanted to visit Cotopaxi, but it was raining heavily on that day. Laguna Quilotoa wasn't quite as nice as Cuichoa (the vegetation is more disturbed), but the cultural landscape nearby is interesting. The Black Sheep Inn is a well-known ecolodge near there, but an hour or so by truck.
You'll have a great time!
If you're interested in photos from that trip, they're on my website: http://people.clemson.edu/~lwagner/Pages/Ecuador.html
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