Roaming South America

From Puyo to Zamora: A Rainy Reconnaissance Mission

February 7, 2026

Gualaquiza and Yantzaza, Ecuador, are both in the Amazon region on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains. They are quite wet towns, it rained every day I was in both of them. Gualaquiza is interesting in that they have a much bigger love for volleyball than futbol (soccer). There are only a couple of futbol canchas (fields, though they are more often concret than dirt/sand/grass) in town, and many volleyball courts. Across the street from my hotel room were 2 volleyball courts crowded with people watching the games, and BBQs cooking food. I stayed in Gualaquiza for 3 full days. This was my second visit. I like this town, but the rain has caused me to move it to number 5 on my top 5 list of potential new home towns. I wrote a full blog about Gualaquiza on Aug. 20, 2025.

Now about Yantzaza - it's a much smaller town than Gualaquiza, a couple of hours by bus south. But, it was wet, also, and they appear to be just as much interested in volleyball as the people in Gualaquiza. During my first visit here, I thought of putting this town on my list of potential new home towns, but now I've moved it off the list. I stayed only one night because I decided there was no need for a second night here. The town is a nice place to visit, for sure, but would I want to live here? After my visit this time, I decided no, there are better options waiting for my to revisit them. I wrote a blog on Aug. 17, 2025 that talks about Yantzaza in much more in depth.

So, with those two removed from my list have I given up on this region of Ecuador? No, not entirely. The town of Puyo is still on the list. A new blog about Puyo will be posted on Jan. 31. It's north of Gualaquiza about 6 1/2 hours by bus. I'm also going to visit Zamora (a town on my list), south of Yantzaza and Gualaquiza, and maybe 1 1/2 hours east of Loja. After my visit to Zamora, I will be going to Catamayo for a few days. Catamayo is about an hour west of Loja. Catamayo is on my list of potential new home towns. So I'll be spending at least 3 full days there. After that, I head into Perú where there are three more towns I want to revisit as potential new home towns.