Roaming South America

Puyo, Ecuador

August 26, 2025

Puyo, Ecuador. The name "Puyo" comes from the indigenous language of Quechua and it literally means "cloudy." Which it was every day I was there. Not just cloudy, but it also rained every day. But that's to be expected, any lower expectations would be unrealistic. Why? Quite simple - this is in the Amazon.

History?

That was covered in my previous blogs about Puyo, easy to find by searching for Puyo here on my site.

Sucúa, Ecuador

January 1, 1970

Sucúa, Ecuador, was first founded in 1963, and has a population of around 11,000. The town is located on the eastern outer flanks of the Andes Mountains in the Amazon basin, sitting in a valley at about 831 meters (2726 feet). The temperatures range from a nightly low of about 18° C (64° F) to a daily high of about 28° C (82° f). The climate is what you would expect for a town in the Amazon - a fair amount of rain and a lot of humidity.

Gualaquiza, Ecuador - for love of the outdoors

August 20, 2025

Gualaquiza, Ecuador, was first founded in 1816, and has a population of around 24,000. The area was populated by the Shuar people long before it became a town. The city sits in a narrow valley, the bottom of which is at 850 meters (2788 feet). The town is listed as one of the Pueblos Magicos in Ecuador. Gualaquiza is a tourist destination in Ecuador because of it's waterfalls, eco-tourism opportunities, caves, and much more.

El Pangui, Ecuador

August 18, 2025

El Pangui, Ecuador, was founded in 1991, and has a population of maybe 9,000. The name comes from the Shuar indigenous language, and the word panki which means "boa" as in the rather large snake. Supposedly, there are a lot of them in the surrounding foothills of the Andes Mountains along the Zamora River which runs nearby. El Pangui is known as "The Orchid of the Amazon" due to the many species of orchids commonly found in this valley. Being that this little town is in the Amazon region, it has a tropical climate to match. The year-round daily high average is 23° C (74° F) and the year-round average nightly low is 16° C (61° F), but the humidity averages in the mid-to-upper 80s percent. Often above 90%. The town sits at 748 meters (2454 feet) elevation.

Yantzaza, Ecuador

August 17, 2025

Yantzaza, Ecuador is a small town of maybe 14,000 people, sitting on the edge of the Amazon Rain Forest and the Andes Mountains. It was founded in 1956, so no historical architecture here. The name Yantzaza means valle de las luciérnagas which means "valley of the fireflies." I haven't seen any but there are supposed to be many in this valley. Maybe if I went out walking at night I'd see some, but here I am in the hotel writing. The town sits in a tight valley at 887 meters elevations (2910 feet). The River Zamora runs alongside the town on one side and the mountains form a wall on the other, so the town is somewhat long and narrow.