Ola. I need to hire a guide for a day of getting off the tourist track in Quito in August. Any recommendations would be welcome.

OK - you have posted this question twice and there have been no replies.

Sort of says something about this branch. Like the only places people want to go are BA (clearly the new flavour of the decade) and Costa Rica, and that place in Mexico? - oh, yes, Puerta Vallerta, and one mustn't forget Cancun.

The rest of the land mass south of the border is a blank space.

I wish I could help you, but I can't, never having been myself.

But why must you have a guide? This I don't understand. If you are up for visiting somewhere like Quito, aren't you up for just discovering it for yourself?

All you need is a sense of adventure and a map. A guide book helps too.

Please advise why you think you need a guide.

bump

Untamed Path arranged our guide for Quito and Otavalo 3 years ago. You could Google them and ask for help.

chimani- Or perhaps it is possible that know one knows of a guide to recommend in Quito? It's a pretty specific question.

I was in Quito last year and had a guide, but in retrospect I would have been fine without one. The Plaza de Armas (I think that's the name) and all the stuff around it was within walking distance. The only issue I could think of is that many of the hotels, restaurants, etc. (which themselves were quite close together) seemed a decent distance away (south), but I would think taxis between the two would be aplenty.

Rosenose- don't know where exactly you want to travel to, but we used a Quito based travel agency, Zenith ( www.zenithecuador.com) for our trip planning. They offer day trips to areas outside of Quito also--- perhaps if you contact them they might be able to suggest something.

Okay Rosenose since no one else is giving you the name of the guide, thenI guess Iwill.

Write to this e-mail address and ask for Carlos Avila..

Terrific guide . I had him for 4 days when I was in Quito on my way to the Galapagos.
We did Quito and all the surrounding areas.


[email protected]

Percy

I suspect that my post was not clear. I am not looking for a guide to see the tourist spots, but rather a guide to show us where and how the locals live. We will see the tourist highlights in conjunction with our Galapagos cruise, which due to scheduling issues, will be on the Xpedition. My teenage daughter and I travel overseas every year, usually to Africa or the Middle East. A "cruise" will be a first (and probably a "last&quot for us. The guide I am looking for will be able to show us a range of how people live in Quito, talk with us about economic, social and political issues. I regret very much that we have only one day to devote to this as it is (in my opinion) an important part of my daughter's education. Yes, we could wander around ourselves, but neither of us speaks other than basic tourist Spanish.