Of the 3 countries we visited during our 5 months in South America, I must say Ecuador was my favorite. Though tiny in size, it more than makes up for that with it's diversified landscapes. We were fortunate enough to experience all three major biomes of the country: the wild and beautiful jungle, the majestic peaks of the Andes and the hot lazy coast. The following are some things I noticed along the way that are truly Ecuadorian: 1. Anytime you go to a b...

Beach life is the good life. I arrived in Montañita last Friday morning after a fun overnight bus adventure from Baños where I got to change buses 3 times because our first bus broke down. Montañita is a fun little surf town on the central Ecuadorian coast that seems to only exist to cater to tourists. While most towns we've visited seem to have improved upon their tourism infrastructure or created certain touristy areas while at the same time keeping the...

Here I am on my own for the next week or so to live the life of the solo female traveler. While it's been great traveling around with a friend, I'm excited to have this opportunity to go off on my own and make my own choices and meet new people I would otherwise never have met if I was with someone else. Just the other day in Baños I was reading in my usual cafe and a woman struck up a conversation with me about my book. We got to talking and I invited her ...

We made it back to Baños! This is my favorite little Ecuadorian town, I just can't get enough of the adventure tours, food, or the beauty and quiet quaintness of this tiny little place. This time we are here meeting up with our friends we met in the jungle: Juan, Katie, Eric and Aleah. We arrived one day before them and checked into the hostel we all shared, Princessa Maria. A private room with private bathroom is only $10/night each, not too bad. One of my...

We finally made it to the Amazon jungle, one of the most biodiverse places on Earth! After a long 8 hour bus ride from Quito (we were told it would only be 6, but apparently it takes longer if you leave from the North Terminal like we did) we arrived in Lago Agrio, the jumping off point for trips into the Cuyabeno Reserve. We were told to meet at a certain hotel and we were given a small map of Lago Agrio with 6 streets on it, so we figured it was a small to...