Feeling grounded half-way between my million flights (Liz Boeheim)
I left Missoula, Montana early on a Sunday morning and headed to Atlanta by way of Minneapolis, where I would meet my international flight. It's always hard to get to and from Montana by plane - getting just about anywhere requires at least two connections and a lot of patience. Wherever you might be coming from, though, you will find that almost all of the flights leaving the US for Ecuador will depart later in the day and arrive in Quito or Guayaquil between 10pm and midnight.
It wouldn't be much of a problem, unless Quito (or Guayaquil) is a jumping-off point for your next adventure. If you are heading to the Amazon or the Galapagos, your flight will depart early in the morning. I was scheduled to head to the Amazon the next day. After getting my bags going through customs, I arrived at the Wyndham Quito Airport hotel - which offers a free shuttle, includes breakfast, and is seriously a 4-minute ride from the airport terminal - at 12:30am. I was delighted to see some beautiful desserts waiting for me! But going to bed past 1am was not my preferred way to prepare for an early morning flight or to set off for my Amazon explorations.
A beautiful array of desserts awaited me at the Wyndham Quito Airport hotel (Liz Boeheim)
Thankfully, I didn't have any flight delays or complications. Something to consider as you plan: the quick turnaround doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room in case you do encounter any flight issues arriving into Ecuador. It is definitely worth spending two pre-adventure nights in Quito. Enjoy a restful night of sleep and some extra travel time since one wants to miss the boat (sometimes literally) on the trip you've been looking forward to for so long! Moreover, Quito a beautiful and exciting city that merits at least a day exploring.
If you are using Quito as a stop along your way - think about two nights here so you can begin your main adventure better-rested and ready to hit the ground running - which you will definitely be doing once you touch down in Coca or Baltra!
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
5 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
6 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
1 week ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.