Good Reasons to Visit Ecuador, Part II

As promised, here's Part II of our reasons to visit Ecuador:

Feel TALL!

View from our window - we get the best sunsets!

Every time I stand next to Ecuadorians, I feel tall. It may be hard to imagine someone feeling tall at a small 5'4" (on a good day), but it's true! Especially next to men here, I am tall. The indigenous people are shorter than average Ecuadorians, but my mom at 5'0" would be average here.

The Great Outdoors
Ecuador is a dream for the outdoors people. Greg and I can get lazy, but we get out a lot here. We have a great huge park right behind our apartment that we can explore the trails of. It's great for those days when you don't want to get out of the city to be in nature. Otherwise, there are some great daytrips that are within 2 hours of Quito: Papallacta, Pululahua, Mindo, Otavalo, etc.

Diverse Regions

Making friends with a seal in the Galapagos!

Ecuador has a great diversity in terms of climates - it's got the Andes (where we are), the Amazon (about 7 hours away by bus and boat; 1 hour by plane), the Coast (about 7-10 hours away by bus or less than an hour by plane), and the Galapagos (which is amazing). In those regions are sub-regions like cloud forests, which are amazing. It means you get to see a lot of different types of life in Ecuador.


Strong Sun
Because of the altitude and the equator, the sun is really strong here. Bring lots of sunscreen and cool sun hats while you visit because you will use them both a lot. You'll go home with a lot of vitamin D!


Intact Culture

We thought Germany had a strong culture, but it's got nothing on Ecuador. You'll still see people wearing traditional clothes, speaking Quichwa (the native language), and creating materials in the old way. It's amazing to feel like you're living in a real-life museum in that sense.