Ecuador - Andes to Amazon

Another good trip with Explore. There were only eight of us in the group, so some free space on the minibus. Our driver Wilson was very good and guide Dario was very positive about his country. Highlights were the hot springs, climbing (slowly) to 5,000m, Cuenca old town, waterfalls and boat rides in the Amazon, plus various local craft visits. I didn’t experience any power cuts, and every hotel had somewhere to fill a water bottle, as did the minibus.

This tour was a fabulous introduction to this beautiful country with friendly people show casing their lifestyle. The landscape is very dramatic and changes quite quickly. I had never trekked at these altitudes and found the gradual introduction very helpful. Can't quite believe I made it to over 5000m on Chimborazo. The carefully chosen indigenous communities we visited showed the variety of cultures and lifestyles but essential showed people have the same problems the world over it's all about how they choose to deal with those issues. In the main the accomodation was good but I would have preferred to stay another night in Quito rather than return to our first hotel the San Jose, which was a little isolated. I wasn't very keen on the hotel in Rio Bamba + rocky toilet not great- and feel sure more appropriate accomodation could be found closer to Chimborazo. All the Guides were excellent - all the ladies showed a wicked sense of humour. Special shout out to Jason at le Jardin Aleman - his knowledge and field craft were remarkable. Dario and his trusty driver Wilson played such a key role in make Ng this such a memorable trip. Their passion for their country shines through and this together withe their kindness, humour and patience made them the dream team. We also fell lucky with the mix of our fellow explorers as we all seemed to have a similar focus (we weren't a shopping focused group It was a fairly full itinerary but aprming coffee break would have been appreciated and if it was possible to extend by a few days to include a vodysl dot it would be perfect.

Our accommodation in Rio Bamba was terrible, I felt I could not use the shower as it was so dilapidated. We only had one towel that had already been ripped in half. We felt it would have been hygenically unsafe to use the 'restaurant' and went out for breakfast. We were unsure why we went to Rio Bamba as it was not a nice place and it felt unsafe at night. Apart from 4 nights the accommodation was quite good. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable and spoke to us for most of the time during the coach journeys. Nothing was too much trouble for him to do for us. The itinerary was very good apart from Rio Bamba (which should have been avoided) and a wasted last day in Quito. We could have caught an earlier flight to Quito, from Cuenca, the next day and not spent another day in a hotel that is a long way from Quito city which we had already explored.. Also it would have been better to have flown from Cuenca on the early morning flight to Quito then straight to Bogota and the to LHR.

Generally the itinerary was good. However, we visited Rio Bamba which was a waste of time. Historically the visit included a trip on a train. The tracks are no longer in use and Rio Bamba was certainly no place to take tourists. A complete waste of time - a long drive to a view point to show us what we were missing…the itinerary planner appeared to be taking the Micky out of us. We had difficulties finding a place to eat and were very uncomfortable in the town and did not feel safe at all. The hotel, The Monte-Carlo, where we stayed was awful. The rooms were too small, the decor was more than tired and the ensuite dirty. As we walked through the door, we both said ‘I will not be showering here’. The hotel advertised that it had a spa, but when we tried to access it, we were told that it was unavailable. Also there was no bar in the hotel and there were even street traders working at the hotel entrance. Breakfast was included in the price, but the ‘so called restaurant’ was vile and looked dirty. We (and others) preferred to pay for breakfast at another hotel. At the start of the holiday the bus was very uncomfortable indeed, a crazy choice for such a long break. After complaints it was changed thankfully On numerous occasions the guide took the place of local guides to show us around places. It made us feel that he wanted their tip, rather than having the usual more appropriate guide.

This was one of the best "Discovery" tours I have been on with Explore. It felt like a real adventure, with the excursions to the volcanoes Cotopaxi and Chimborazo and the boat trips on the Napo river, a tributary of the Amazon. Our tour leader, Fabian, and driver, William, were both excellent. The accommodation was generally very good, with the exception being the Riobamba hotel. I find the comments by a previous reviewer about the current power outages in Ecuador to be absurd. The outages were a mild inconvenience (to us - although I pity the Ecuadorian people) but there were absolutely no security or food safety issues as a result. When I travel in (e.g.) South America I don't expect everything to be just like it is in my cosy Western European home! My one criticism of this trip is that there were far too many shopping stops that were thinly disguised as "cultural visits" - I counted at least ten of these. The number should be at least halved. I mean, what on earth do painted balsa wood parrots have to do with the culture of Ecuador? Or carved nut kernels, for that matter?

Until Ecuador resolves its serious power outage issues accommodation properties must be selected that have back up power preferably solar but generator in the interim. This is a matter of safety, communication, safe food refrigeration not merely comfort. It is dangerous in be in the dark ,without communication, and risking contaminated food and drink from lack of proper refrigeration. Better arrangements for the open meals is required due to lack of safe or open restaurants given power outage. Explore is at risk of its own reputation and possible lawsuits if its participants come to harm regardless of the contract disclosures. Please give upfront more detailed and warnings about what extended power outages can mean for travelers in terms of safety not just inconvenience.