Roaming South America

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.

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.

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

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

Baños, Ecuador

August 28, 2025

Baños, Ecuador. The full name is: Baños de Agua Santa.

Baños sits in a tight valley at the foot of Tungurahua volcano, an active volcano. It's a beautiful valley if you get to see it on a clear day - I didn't. It was not just cloudy but also misty and wet every day I was here. And cold! I don't like cold climates, so two nights were more than enough for me. I took lots of pics of the town and left. Outside the town there's and almost endless variety of things to see and do, and an almost endless number of tour agencies that will take you to any of them.