There are 498 blog posts for you to enjoy.
La Concordia, Ecuador
September 5, 2025
La Concordia is in the north-central part of the Coastal Zone of Ecuador. While north of the craziness of the crime-ridden central- and southern-coastal regions, the police here are still on high alert and have a big presence throughout the town. The shutdown of the town by 7pm is a bit less noticable here compared to Quevedo and Babahoyo. La Concordia has a population of around 35,000 and dates back to only 1955, so no historical architecture here. Actually, nothing of much interest here, other than the fact that the equator passes through the town.
Read More
Quevedo, Ecuador
September 4, 2025
Is Quevedo Safe for Tourists?
No, not right now. Numbers + experience both say avoid.
I visited Quevedo about 3 years ago, and I'll tell you right up front - don't bother visiting this city if you visit Ecuador. Skip it. In fact, skip the entire La Costa zone. The crime rate is astronomical. The littered streets, the dirty parks, it's just not a pleasant place. Instead, cross the mountains and visit La Selva zone, the jungle, or Amazon, region. Clean towns, much, much friendlier people, very low crime. Here in the coastal region (everything west of the Andes Mountains) is a high crime zone. And I'm not exaggerating.
Read More
Colombia: The Outlier Cousin of South America
September 2, 2025
Travel long enough through South America and patterns start to appear — the familiar Costa / Sierra / Selva rhythm of Perú and Ecuador, the European flair of Argentina and Uruguay, the coastal pull of Chilé. And then there's Colombia. Same continent, but it marches to its own beat. From the way Colombians identify themselves to the words they use for their regions, the country stands apart. On a recent trip — sparked by spotting unexpected cacao plantations in central Ecuador — I found myself reflecting on just how different Colombia really is.
Read More
Babahoyo, Ecuador
September 1, 2025
Babahoyo, Ecuador—home to just under 100,000 people—sits in the lowland plains west of the Andes. Though it’s far from the coast, it’s officially part of the 'Costa' region—one of Ecuador’s three major zones: the Coast (Costa), the Mountains (Sierra), and the Jungle (Selva). Babahoyo, AKA Santa Rita de Babahoyo. The word Babahoyo comes from the Chorrera culture and means "dark hawk," referring to the snail hawk, a bird that lives in the rice fields and feeds on snails. During the colonial era, Babahoyo was known as Bodegas de Babahoyo - Warehouses of Babahoyo - because the Customs and Royal Warehouses were located here, controlling trade between Guayaquil and the cities of the Ecuadorian Andes Mountains.
Wikipedia
Read More
Ambato, Ecuador
August 30, 2025
Ambato isn’t the kind of place that gave up when life got tough. Three big earthquakes—1698, 1797 (the Riobamba quake, which hit the same valley), and 1949—flattened the city, the last one killing over 5,000 people and transforming everything. But even after that level of destruction, Ambato just kept going. Stubborn, in the best possible way. I wrote more about the devestation caused by those earthquakes in the other Ambato blog from about two years ago. You can read it here.
Wikipedia
Read More