Ecuador 2025 Travel Photos
2025 Trip to Ecuador: Quito, Haciendas, Galapagos
September 2nd to 15th, 2025
Quito
Our trip began in Quito Historic Center (or "Old Town"). Staying at the Patio Andaluz, it was a short walk to the Central Plaza, which is surrounded by the Catedral Metropolitana, the Palacio de Gobierno, the Palacio Municipal, and the Palacio Arzobispal (Archbishop's Palace, but now containing shops and restaurants.)
Our first trip outside the town center was up the hill known as El Panecillo, to visit the giant statue The Virgin of Quito. There were great views from there of Quito and the surrounding countryside. The tour included a visit to a Quito market and a chocolate tasting. At night, we saw the Virgin from the Vista Hermosa restaurant.
The tour of Quito included visits to several churches, including the ornate, gold interior Church of La Compañía and ending with the neo-Gothic Basilica del Voto Nacional.
From Quito, we went up into the country, stopping for bizcohos in Cayambe. In Cotacachi, where we shopped for leather goods, we were surprised by a local street parade.
At the Ecuator exhibition, we were welcomed by (a statue of) Aya Huma, who I´d see several more times on this trip. There were exhibits of several Amazon cultures, including shrunken heads and curare blowguns among other artifacts. We participated in a number of odd activities (egg balancing, watching water drain,...) that reinforced our unique location at the Equator.
From there, we went on to stay at the elegant Hacienda Zuleta. We all visited the Condor Preserve, hiking or riding there, and learning about efforts to save and re-introduce wild condors to this area. Zuleta is also a working farm, dairy and cheese factory. Several of our group tried their hands at milking a cow.
Next we went to Cotopaxi National Park, taking a hike around Laguna Limpiopungo, with views of Cotopaxi Volcano. We stayed at Hacienda San Augustin de Callo, built on Inca foundations. The staff there provided us with a number of surprises from hot water bottles to dancers and llamas in the courtyard.
Our final stay on the mainland was Hacienda Jimenta. It featured hiking trails and an underground tunnel built by the Ingas (not Incas!). We also went into town to tour a facility where roses are grown and exported.
We flew from Quito to Baltra (aka South Seymour) Island and took a short ferry ride to Santa Cruz Island. Our bus crossed the island, stopping to visit a giant tortoise sancutary and walk through the naturally formed lava tubes, and ending in Puerto Ayora, where we stayed at the Hotel Ninfa.
Our first real boat trip took us around Academy Bay, with a stop for snorkeling, and a hike to Playa de los Perros. Back in Puerto Ayora, we then went to visit the Charles Darwin Research Station to learn about their preservation work.
The park service determined the island to vist next: they chose North Seymour Island, just North of where we landed at Baltra. This island had the best bird watching, with lots of blue-footed boobies, raising their young.
Our last boat trip took us to other parts of Santa Cruz island. There were opportunities to swim at Las Grietas, great crevices formed by lava flows, and later at the Tortuga Bay beach.