LOCAL_LEGEND_SOUTH_AMERICA_AND_CARIBBEAN

For 33 years I have guided, toured and helped people plan everything there is to do in Ecuador from a one day tour to a week or more. I guide not just the Quito area but the entire Andes chain including Otavalo, Mindo, Papallacta, Banos, Cotopaxi, Quilotoa, Ingapirca, Cuenca, Guayaquil and everything in between as well as the Galapagos and Amazon jungle. I guide only Ecuador but have been named the current #1 guide in all of South America and the Caribbean.
The City of Quito hired me to tour Miami based, world syndicated radio and newspaper travel writer, expert on South America, Enrique Cordoba Rocha, who wrote I am the best Quito guide and sends referrals from his listeners and readers. I have never missed a tour, never even been late for one. I am 55 years old and was the 4th nationally licensed guide in the history of Ecuador and have toured thousands of travelers even for the Ecuador government (the Minister of Nepal, 17 person entourage and police escort - PHEW!) and top travel agencies in Ecuador and abroad. I am the "go to" guide the City of Quito asks to tour VIPs such as a PGA (U. S. golf) pro during the Quito tournament, a U. S. State Department official, an Arabian sheik, "Travel and Leisure" magazine personnel, foreign diplomats, the past U. S. ambassador. I was U. S. sales director for Klein Tours and traveled the world promoting Ecuador for it and Metropolitan Touring, the two largest Ecuador travel agencies and largest Galapagos yacht owners. I also designed tours for each. I have a U. S. (Florida) phone on my Quito desk to assist clients with trip planning. I can help you plan the perfect partial or total Ecuador vacation short or long. I am an Ecuador and a U. S. citizen. The tour guide you choose will be the difference in your day or trip. I have the guide maturity and vast contacts to make my clients secure. I speak, read and write perfect English (and French) because I lived and worked for Marriott in the U. S. , lived a year in France and traveled the world promoting Ecuador. With me there will be no canned or stilted speeches, talks. I am known for my flexibility while touring and can change itineraries even "on the fly" the day of a tour due to weather and other factors, even your whims. I have degrees in tourism and hotel management, and my avocation is Ecuador history. My English, knowledge, happy disposition, energy, experience and reliability make me the perfect guide for Quito or the entire country including the Galapagos and Amazon jungle. I have toured well over 9,000 travelers. I love my work and have more than 4,500 recommendation letters without a single bad review, all five stars. I am one of four, elected, unpaid officers who run our National Tour Guide Association.

Ecuador National Tour Guide 004

Tour prices quoted here are for up to 3 in my nice, newer SUV. I am a commercially licensed driver without ever an accident. I tour groups up to 50. For 4 or more simply ask me for a quote. I, personally, do not charge more for the guiding, but must, under strict Ecuador transportation law to protect your group, hire a special driver with specially inspected, commercially licensed vehicle, and this adds to the cost.

Not all museums in Quito are closed on Mondays, most are now open. If this is your only available day please send me your inquiry, and I will create a customized itinerary.

Private version of one of travelers' favorite routes/places. Flexible, diverse, tour can be tailored for you or left the way it is; you will LOVE it. It can be several days longer.

Popular with large, impersonal, commercial (usually up to 35 travelers) bus, group tours, we go East from Quito up, up, for afternoon and night at hot springs Papallacta with snow covered Antisana volcano looming. The next day we drive down, down, the Andes east side to the Amazon on the exact route Pizzaro and Orellana tragically took to the Atlantic in 1541 - 2, 300 miles!

We end at Rio Napo, Amazon tributary, for delightful two nights at Casa del Suizo high above the river, taking jungle canoe day trips. We depart for Banos with stops at Puyo wildlife rehab and tiny Shell, named for the oil company, a flight jumping off point to deep jungle.

We tour beautiful Banos, stay the night and go to Cotopaxi volcano and afternoon meal at Hacienda Cienega, return to Quito.

World's Great Trips! - Amazon Jungle at Rio Napo with Papallacta, Banos, Cotopaxi

We will begin the day in the morning visiting the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Major Square of Quito and its Cathedral.

Then, we will go to the Jesuit Church, considered the most spectacular baroque style, gold gilded church in South America. Later on, we will go to the Plaza of San Francisco and admire the Franciscan church facade.

We will continue to La Ronda, one of the signature streets of old Quito made famous in the U. S. by Samantha Brown's "Passport to Latin America". We will drive up to the Virgin of Panecillo statue for a spectacular view of the city. I will loan Nikon binoculars to bring interesting things up close.

We can then go on to the Middle of the World or the Teleferico (cable car) whichever you like, both if we have time. We will be flexible and add or subtract sites as you express preferences.

Loren's Family's Best of Quito Private Tour + Middle of World

I took this startling picture with an iPhone; you can experience the same and more. Cotopaxi is an active volcano but nothing to be afraid of because the government closes it when dangerous. It is one of the most beautifully shaped volcanos in the world; it's the world's 2nd highest active volcano. This is a day long trip with stops for lunch and dinner if you like. Either or both can be in a beautiful almost 400 year old hacienda with beautiful chapel attached, 400 years ago a week by carriage to Quito, now an hour. You can horseback ride in Cotopaxi park if you wish. I will hike the volcano with you if you want to hike. Pictures shown here were recently taken by me as I led a U. S. State Department embassy official up the side. You can hike in tennis shoes but best bring proper boots as well as warm pants and layered upper body protection, gloves and warm hat; it gets cold and usually windy at height. Pack a small brush to clean sticky dust off your boots.

This trip can be for up to 10 people - see below

Tour guide in Quito Vivian V.

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