![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.wanderbusecuador.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ecuador-tours-001.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIs purchasing Ecuador group tours necessary?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I like to think of packaged tours like those round trip plane tickets that are a few hundred dollars more expensive, but also reduce travel time by 7 ENTIRE HOURS. So. tempting. But the money! But my butt! BUT THE MONEY! I\u2019ll hover over that \u201cSelect\u201d button, knowing very well that if I hit the Refresh button, the option may no longer be available. (Top tip: always search for plane tickets in incognito mode\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since I speak Spanish, have lived in Ecuador for nearly a decade, and have done quite a bit of exploring in that time, I would rarely purchase a private, organized Ecuador tour. However, if I didn\u2019t speak the language and didn\u2019t know the country as well, there are many reasons why I would invest in Ecuador group tours. Here are some of the common reasons why you SHOULD<\/em> purchase an Ecuador tour versus planning your own trip:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Investing in a private tour while traveling in Thailand was one of the best decisions I made on that trip. I honestly wish I\u2019d had a good friend there to show me around instead, but I didn\u2019t, and I sure as hell wasn\u2019t going to pick up enough Thai to get by. So I opted for a private tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you don\u2019t speak Spanish, you should seriously consider this option while traveling in Ecuador. Spanish is significantly easier to learn than Thai, and chances are you already know a few useful phrases, but going on a private tour that provides interpretation ensures you\u2019ll more fully understand what\u2019s going on, the history of a place, and what to eat\/not to eat (this one\u2019s important!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n It can really make all the difference, and until you learn Spanish for yourself, it may in fact be a more authentic experience, rather than fumbling through your Spanish-English dictionary on the Plaza de los Ponchos.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a few instances while traveling through Ecuador where you are required to have a certified naturalist tour guide or mountain guide to access an area. Unless you have a direct contact to a guide, going with an authorized tourism operator is your best bet as they already collaborate with local associations that provide professional guides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Investing in a private tour to the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands is generally suggested since most people that travel here want to make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime experience. You don\u2019t want anything to go wrong, you want to see all the best islands and dive at all the best dive spots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since most tours are all-inclusive, you don\u2019t have to worry about a thing, including food. And, many private tours operating from cruise ships or yachts offer you access to islands that you would otherwise be unable to visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That said, you can definitely explore the Galapagos Islands without a private tour<\/a>, and information is becoming more readily available online. Planning your own tour also saves you quite a bit of money since you can opt for cheap meals (local lunches only cost $2.50) and hostels, versus more expensive hotels and meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jump down to explore some of the Wanderbus Add-On tour options, or visit our Extra Tours page.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n As one of the most biologically diverse places in the world, the Yasun\u00ed should be on your Ecuador bucket list, right up there with the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands. However, to enter the Yasun\u00ed National Park, you are required to go with a certified naturalist tour guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By doing so, you are also supporting the local economy and the livelihoods of the local guides and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The easiest way to access a local guide is to buy a packaged tour to the Amazon, which usually involves day trips that are accompanied by local guides. However, you can also find local guides directly, it might just take a bit more effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I went to explore the Yasun\u00ed, I decided to go the cheap, DIY route. I jumped on a bus from Quito to Coca for 8 hours, then onto a boat for 9 hours until I reached Nueva Rocafuerte (on the border with Per\u00fa). There, I asked around for a local guide who eventually agreed to take me and a friend through the National Park for a few days. There were pros and cons to this approach. It was amazing, and definitely cheaper than an organized tour, but I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d rough it quite as much next time! Also, we almost couldn\u2019t find a guide because of local festivities occurring at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you want to visit the Amazon in Cuyabeno? Jump down to explore some of the Wanderbus Add-On tour options, or visit our Extra Tours page.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ecuador is the land of the volcanos, and many people travel here to summit peaks like Cayambe, Cotopaxi and Antisana. However, even if you\u2019re an experienced alpinist, you\u2019ll need a guide to climb most of the larger peaks, especially those above 5,000 meters. It\u2019s strongly suggested you go with a guide since trails aren\u2019t always marked and it\u2019s easy to get lost AND DIE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a few local companies that specialize in taking small groups up mountains. Prices are reasonable, they know the way, and also know who to call in case of an emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ecuador offers travelers a lot of rough and adventure-full terrain. If you\u2019re planning of getting that adrenaline pumping, make sure you take the necessary safety precautions and also make sure you have travel insurance that covers extreme sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Piggy backing off the last subject of safety, if you plan on participating in an Ayahuasca or San Pedro ceremony, both of which are available in Ecuador, make sure you also have a reliable spiritual guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the most part, these are medicinal plants and will heal, not hurt. But in order to be taken safely, you should only try them under the guidance of a reputable shaman, taita or maima. This is yet another instance where you might consider going on a private ayahuasca retreat<\/a> or tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet another valid reason to opt for a private tour, ESPECIALLY if you\u2019re traveling with your family, is to maintain some degree of mental sanity. Think about it, why do people hire a wedding planner for their own wedding?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Especially if your family is comprised of individuals with contrasting personal preferences and lifestyles (currently describing my own family), it will save you quite a headache to just select a tour, specify any dietary restrictions and leave it at that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Departure times, meals, guides\u2026everything is taken care of, and if something goes wrong, they can\u2019t blame you, they can just take their frustration out in a TripAdvisor review! Truly a win-win scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (My parents and siblings are about to visit me for a month and just writing this has convinced me to go with a private tour.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unless one of your personal contacts highly recommends a tour company (depending on your Ecuador destination), you\u2019ll quickly become overwhelmed with the Ecuador tour options available. To choose the best one, I suggest focusing on the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lot of information regarding private tours and companies can be found online through TripAdvisor or a regular Google Search. However, keep in mind that, while many companies might have a domain name, that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019ve invested in SEO or Google Ranking. You might have to dig around quite a bit!<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you\u2019re researching Ecuador groups tours and companies, make sure to explore Google Maps, its ratings and also Facebook. Private companies in Ecuador use Facebook for official business, and you\u2019re often more likely to receive a response from a Facebook message than by email or a chatbot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s face it, we all want to get more for our money, there\u2019s no shame in admitting it. The reality is that a company that offers more inclusive tour packages for a better price are probably doing a better job. The logic? They\u2019re able to reduce their rates, while still offering competitive benefits, because they\u2019re bringing in enough clientele. They\u2019re investing in marketing and they\u2019re optimizing, at least that\u2019s my logical reasoning, but I studied anthropology, not business, so I might be way off\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, all businesses have to start somewhere. Not all of them have angel investors or family trust funds to invest initial capital. Some businesses might not have hundreds of reviews, they might not have the best infrastructure or facilities, but they might offer something more important: genuine interest in their guests\u2019 experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When scouring through reviews, keep an eye out for keywords like \u201cinviting\u201d, \u201chome away from home\u201d and \u201cfamily\u201d. Ultimately, these are the connections that matter most, even when traveling. Especially when traveling. It\u2019s that personal connection that makes a difference, and you might find the most genuine types of connection at more humble beginnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking of quality care, and just it make your life a little bit easier, I\u2019m going to go ahead and promote a relatively new selection of add-on tour options through Wanderbus, which you can find on our main menu (\u201cExtra Tours\u201d) on our homepage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No beating around the bush here. These are Wanderbus tours. We benefit directly from them, as do the tour operators themselves. Everyone does it, we just do it transparently \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among our multi-day tours are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have 3 available add-on tours for the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Santa Cruz Island tour (3 night\/4 day): <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you only have a few days to spend on the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands, go to the island of Santa Cruz. Here, you\u2019ll experience Gal\u00e1pagos nature first hand, which is really what everyone is after!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Daily activities include hiking, snorkeling and sailing, thereby seeing the wealth of natural diversity both above ground and underwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Santa Cruz and Isabela Islands tour (4 night\/5 day): <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Santa Cruz and Isabela Gal\u00e1pagos tours gives you access to numerous astonighly beautiful beaches, not to mention island wilderness that you won\u2019t find elsewhere (literally). Hike, snorkel, kayak your way around the two largest islands of the Gal\u00e1pagos archipelago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n San Cristobal, Santa Cruz and Isabela (6 nights\/7 days): <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n While it may seem obvious that we try to sell you a longer tour to the Gal\u00e1pagos, it\u2019s with good reason. If you\u2019re ready to invest in a plane ticket to Ecuador and then another one to the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands, risking food poisoning and all sorts of diseases that aren\u2019t really a threat, stay for a friggin\u2019 week! Make the most of it! YOLO!<\/p>\n\n\n\n This weeklong tour gets you to the nicest spots on the Gal\u00e1pagos archipelago. You won\u2019t leave feeling like you missed out on a Gal\u00e1pagos top destination. You\u2019ll leave thoroughly satisfied knowing you got the full Gal\u00e1pagos experience before global warming caused ocean levels to rise, taking these amazing islands with them. The clock is ticking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps you don\u2019t believe in global warming or simply don\u2019t want to accept that the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands may one day disappear. I can relate (to the second). Human beings are naturally optimistic creatures, believing naively that the worst won\u2019t ever happen to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, let\u2019s forget about the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands for now and consider an Amazon Rainforest Tour, shall we? Our Cuyabeno Amazon tours take you deep into the Amazon where you\u2019ll likely see more tropical wildlife than ever before, including enormous anacondas, pink river dolphins, monkeys, reptiles, piranhas, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can choose from short, 2 night \/ 3 day tours ($262) or longer 4 night \/ 5 day trips ($406). The short tours are a popular option since they leave you with enough time to visit another region of the country (dare I say, the Gal\u00e1pagos?).<\/p>\n\n\n\n We also have a few Day Tour options available for Ba\u00f1os<\/a> and Cuenca<\/a>. Make sure to check them out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n For some reason, private, organized tours in Ecuador (and elsewhere) are sort of looked down upon by modern-day travelers. It\u2019s as if they don\u2019t offer as authentic of an experience to travelers as the DIY alternatives do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To be fair, in many cases this might be true, but I think the factors that determine an \u201cauthentic\u201d experience have more to do with the length of your journey, your approach to travel and inter-cultural exchange, and your language skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Usually, the longer your journey, the more authentic the experience. I honestly encourage people to travel for longer than 10 days (3 months is great!), but this isn\u2019t always possible because of our everyday obligations. If you don\u2019t have the time to DIY every aspect of your trip, you should really consider the private tour option. It doesn\u2019t mean it won\u2019t be a meaningful, adventureful, and eye-opening experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLanguage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.wanderbusecuador.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ecuador-tours-002.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAccess to National Parks in Ecuador<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Gal\u00e1pagos Islands<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Yasuni National Park<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Climbing volcanoes above 5,000 meters<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Medicinal plants<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Your mental health<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.wanderbusecuador.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ecuador-tours-003.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow to choose the best Ecuador group tours<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
More for your money?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.wanderbusecuador.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ecuador-tours-004.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWanderbus tours<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Gal\u00e1pagos Tours – starting at $699 for a 3 night\/4 day tour<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Amazon Rainforest Tours – Starting at just $262<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n