I didn't go to Ecuador myself, my friend Krista did — on 11 days' notice, completely alone, because the travel industry had other plans. Here's what she came back saying.

I need to back up a little.

In early December, I woke up to an email from a contact in Ecuador: there was a press trip with the Ecuadorian embassy, it was happening in two weeks, and he needed an answer by end of day. While technically I was available, I was in the middle of moving, about to leave for three weeks of Cuba tours with no internet, and then returning to a quick turnaround to pack for two months of leading group trips.

There was absolutely zero chance I could go, despite my major FOMO.

So I did something that goes against every instinct I have as someone who personally scouts every destination before bringing a group there — I sent someone else.

That someone was Krista Parks, a travel-obsessed energy healer and yoga teacher who's joined me on several trips and retreats.

My criteria for who to call was simple: who would drop everything for Ecuador in under two weeks without making it a whole thing? Krista.

Who would show up, figure it out, and come back with actual useful intel instead of just pretty photos? Also Krista.

What I did not expect was for her to come back a self-proclaimed birdwatcher who hand-fed hummingbirds at sunset, got a cacao facial in the cloud forest, met with an Amazonian tribe shaman, and nearly became a snake snack on a river bridge. (Don’t worry, she didn't. The snake preferred bread.)

So here's what Krista — a well-traveled, hard-to-impress person — came back saying about Ecuador.

Hand feeding hummingbirds at sunset overlooking the Andes Mountains in Ecuador — *Feeding hummingbirds at sunset in front of the Andes Mountains.*

1. Ecuador Will Make You a Birdwatcher, Even If You Think You're Not One

"I didn't know I was a birdwatcher until I got to Ecuador."

That's a direct quote, and it's the most Ecuadorian thing I've ever heard. Colombia gets a lot of attention for birding, and for good reason, but Krista said Ecuador takes the cake. She was fed hummingbirds out of her hand at a private home backed up against the Andes, at golden hour, as their last feeding of the day. It wasn't on the itinerary. Their local guide José (and our guide for our upcoming group trip) just knew someone who lived there, so they stopped.

That's the kind of thing that doesn't happen on a tour bus.

Ecuador is one of the most biodiverse countries on the planet…and that's not marketing copy, that's just facts. The birds alone will genuinely wreck you.

Grilled octopus with black squid ink pasta and roasted tomatoes served in the Amazon rainforest, Ecuador — *Octopus. In the Amazon rainforest.*

2. The Food Is Wildly Better Than Anyone Tells You

Mention Ecuador to most travelers, and they think Galápagos. Nobody's out here hyping Ecuadorian food, and that's a mistake.

Their first night, arriving at 10pm to a restaurant that was technically closed, the owner let them in anyway. Krista was expecting a plate of something basic that they threw together last minute. Instead: a massive charcuterie-style spread of marinated meats cooked on banana leaves, plantains…the works. And then in the Amazon — not exactly a destination famous for fine dining — the chef came to the table to walk them through how the octopus was prepared.

Octopus. In the Amazon rainforest.

There's also locro de papa (a potato cheese soup that Krista described as something she'd eat every day for the rest of her life), fresh sugarcane juice pulled off the side of the road, and chochos — an ancient Andean legume that's apparently an elite travel snack once you've had them.

3. You Can Go from Dirty to Bougie in the Same Day

One of the most common questions I get about my trips is some version of "is it going to be roughing it the whole time?"

Ecuador is the answer to that question. One day you're wading thigh-deep through cave water on a trail that only four people know, hacking through brush with a machete to get there. The next evening you're at a boutique hotel with some of the most beautiful scenery your eyes can handle, going out for a nice dinner in Baños.

Krista described it as exactly the kind of trip I run:

"Get dirty so your eyeballs can see amazing things, then throw on a cute dress and go to a bougie restaurant."

That's the energy we love. That's also why I'm taking a group there.

Lush green river valley and mountain landscape in Baños, Ecuador — *This is what two hours of driving gets you in Ecuador. The landscapes just keep changing.*

4. The Landscapes Change Every Two Hours

Ecuador is small. That's actually the point.

In the span of one week, Krista went from the Andean highlands to the cloud forests of Mindo to the Amazon rainforest. The drives between regions are short enough that you're not losing half your trip on a bus, and the scenery along the way is constantly shifting in ways that make no sense until you're living it.

At every turn and lookout point, she said her eyeballs were in shock by the end of the week.

5. New Year's Eve in Ecuador is Unhinged

When I asked José (our guide and the man who makes everything happen in Ecuador) about spending New Year's there, a "devious grin" came across his face. That's when I knew.

Las Viudas (The Widows) is an Ecuadorian New Year's Eve tradition where men dress in full drag — wigs, makeup, dresses — and dance through the streets while the community throws money and snacks at them. It's not a niche event. It's what everyone does. All day. Everywhere you look.

Add effigy burning at midnight (same vibe as what we do in Cuba — burning the past year to make way for the new one), and being in Baños for it, where the nightlife on a random Tuesday is already a lot, and you have one of the most unique New Year's experiences I've ever heard of.

This is why we're doing Ecuador over New Year's Eve 2026–2027. Cuba set a high bar. Pretty sure Ecuador cleared it.

Two people smiling in a selfie overlooking the city of Baños nestled in a valley surrounded by Andean mountains in Ecuador — *Krista + José take in Baños from above.*

6. You'll Meet People the Tour Buses Will Never Find

One of the highlights of Krista's trip was crossing a river in the Amazon to meet with an all-female indigenous tribe that had built their own community deep in the rainforest. She learned their history. She met one of their shamans. She also learned about a large anaconda that lives in the river (fed regularly by the tribe so it stays calm), and then watched it surface from a bridge while standing directly above it.

This is not a zoo. This is not a curated cultural performance. This is the kind of thing that happens when your guide has real relationships with real people, and when you're in a small group that can actually access places a group of 30 never could.

Woman with medicinal cacao face mask from a chocolate tour in Mindo, Ecuador — *Medicinal-grade cacao facial at the Mindo chocolate tour.*

7. The Cacao Facial Is Not Optional

Mindo — a cloud forest town north of Quito — is covered in cacao plants. On Krista's chocolate tour, she got a full breakdown of how cacao goes from fruit to finished product (the raw fruit is fabulous, by the way), and then they applied medicinal-grade cacao directly to her face.

"Take that, Thailand." Her words.

She said her skin felt incredible. Coffee tours are equally excellent, and both are everywhere in Ecuador.

8. It Dispels Every "Is It Safe?" Assumption You Have

Krista went in bracing for the version of Ecuador that people describe when they're trying to talk you out of going somewhere in Latin America. What she found was a country she described as "bougie" — high-end places to stay, warm and welcoming people, and none of the chaos she'd been warned to expect.

That's not to say you should throw common sense out the window anywhere you travel. But the blanket "it's dangerous" narrative about Ecuador—and Latin America in general—doesn't hold up against reality. This is something I run into with almost every destination I operate in — Morocco, India, Kenya, Cuba — and Ecuador is no different.

9. It's Soft Adventure — But You Have to Actually Want to Be There

This is not a trip for someone who wants to sit by a pool. But it's also not trekking Patagonia.

Krista described the activity level as medium-moderate. You'll hike to waterfalls (all five if you want, or just hang at the first two if that's your day). You'll go into caves. You'll zipline through cloud forests and take motorized canoes down the Amazon. You'll walk through a lot of beautiful places at a real pace.

But you don't need to be training for anything. If an activity isn't your thing, there's almost always a modification of it that is. The vibe is show up ready to move, be okay getting a little dirty, and you'll be fine.

10. The Altitude Is Real — And Totally Manageable If You Know About It

This is the kind of thing I include in trip prep so nobody is blindsided. Ecuador's highlands sit at serious elevation, and altitude sickness is a known thing there. Krista felt it in certain areas.

We'll cover exactly what to expect, how to prepare, what to pack (rain boots matter more than you'd think, especially for cave hikes where "thigh-deep in cave water" is a real possibility), and how to avoid spending your first day in Quito horizontal.

This is one of the main reasons I scout before I bring groups anywhere.

11. It's Warm on New Year's Eve

Look, I know this sounds obvious. But after spending years watching people ring in the New Year in sub-zero temperatures or inside because it's January, the fact that you can be in Ecuador in late December/early January in warm weather, outdoors, dancing in the streets with drag queens, watching something on fire at midnight — it matters.

Ecuador sits right on the equator. The climate is warm year-round. Pack light layers for the cloud forest and Amazon, and leave the parka at home.

Woman looking out over a dramatic jungle canyon with a small lodge nestled at the base of the cliffs in Baños, Ecuador — *Krista overlooking cliffs in Baños, Ecuador.*

**So, about this trip…**

We're heading to Ecuador for New Year's Eve 2026–2027 — right after Christmas and through the new year, about a week total. It'll hit all four regions: the highlands, the cloud forest, the Amazon, and Baños for New Year's.

I'll be there with Krista, which means you're getting the person who already knows the lay of the land and the person who's been doing this long enough to know what you actually need to have a good time.

If Ecuador has been on your radar or you've been looking for a different kind of New Year's, this is it.

Join us in Ecuador

Want to hear the full conversation with Krista about her Ecuador scouting trip? Listen to the Type 2 Travel podcast — we broke down everything from the hummingbirds to the snake to why Baños nightlife on a Tuesday is something you need to experience.