Exotic Family Holidays – Ecuador

Destinations like Disney World, London, Spain, California, and the Costa Brava always make for great family holiday destinations. But what if you would like to opt for something a little more exotic, just this once? What if you’d like to go off the beaten track and bring your kids on a truly memorable trip?

That’s how we ended up in Ecuador. We wanted fun, activities, adventure and after endless hours of online research, we finally settled on the idea of traveling to Ecuador.

The kids are still small, so we had to make sure to organize the trip around their capabilities and still make sure we’d enjoy it too. We found lots of useful information online, both read a couple of Ecuador travel books and stumbled upon Ecuador Tours online after which planning a trip to this beautiful part of the world got very easy.

Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands – The Stunning Splendor of Nature

I won’t forget the smells, sounds and wonders of the Amazon Rainforest, the colors of all the exotic creatures we saw in the Galapagos Islands, and the mysterious and impressive Inca site.

Ecuador is the smallest of the Andean nations and yet, when you travel there you can transition between volcanic splendor, historic might and beach glory within a short few hours. Situated just south of the equator, Ecuador is still one of the undiscovered treasures, not only of South America but of the entire earth.

We booked ourselves into one of many lush jungle lodges, the kids were mesmerized by the sheer power of nature, and from there we explore the rainforest, walked, cycled, canoed, and hiked, taking in all the wonderful wilderness and wildlife.

Quito

Undoubtedly, Quito is the most vibrant, unusual city I have ever visited, and even if you spent an entire month there, you’d still have activities to partake in or interesting sites to see.

With a population of well over 2.5 million, Quito is the most elevated city in the world, and it is also in closest proximity to the equator. Quito is situated in the Guayllabamba river basin, not far from the active Pichincha volcano in the Andes mountains. After visiting all the historic sites, we took the cable car, TeleferiQo,to the top of Pichincha volcano and spent the entire day at the visitor center, partaking in all kinds activities. The center offers go-karting, paintball games, and a plethora of fine restaurants. At an elevation of 4’100 m, the views were breathtaking, and I can’t think of any other city in the world with so much to offer.

Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands are indescribable in their natural wonder and we will never forget the “paradise-like” atmosphere there. Galapagos have unique features and attractions that could make you never tire of admiring it. In addition, this beautiful place might have a lot of activities that you can try (Find out more here). Also, if you are considering visiting this heavenly location, you can easily travel here by sea and air as well. This is the animal kingdom as it ought to be, wild free and out of this world. You can get up-close and personal with a wide variety of exotic animals and experience nature as I imagine it once was, long before the human race emerged and took charge.

An Unforgettable Trip

When we returned back home from our holiday in Ecuador, we all knew, we would never, ever find a better holiday destination. Ecuador is a truly magical, awe-inspiring place, combining nature at its best with powerful human history.

The kids still have photographs of Quito, Galapagos, and a weird and wonderful collection of animals hanging on their bedroom walls.