Ecuador | Travel Guide | Travel information | Security

Ecuador Travel Information:
Security

The overwhelming majority of visits to Ecuador are trouble-free.  Ecuadorians arguably face greater dangers when they visit London.  But to help see that your visit is as trouble free as possible please follow the following suggestions:

• leave any unnecessary valuables at home.  You might not be robbed, but there is a much higher chance of simply losing things as you travel about.  Life will be much less complicated if you can travel without anything that you would mind losing.

• do not carry large amounts of cash, particularly in your wallet or purse.  Keep a stash tucked away in a money belt.  Use hotel safes where available.  Keep some reserve cash and a second credit card tucked away as secretly as possible in your baggage.  Lock your bags when you leave your hotel room and when travelling.

• exercise a degree of caution when out and about, particularly in cities and at night.  Be more inclined to turn away strangers who approach you.  Do not accept lifts or ride in unlicensed taxis.  In Quito you should always take a licensed taxi after dark.

• when arriving after a long flight you will naturally be discombobulated, to add to the strangeness of arriving in a new country.  Be especially careful of your possessions - make sure that your wallet and your passport are safely put away.  Politely resist the blandishments of airport taxi touts and others who approach you.  Ask the person meeting you to say your name first, so you can be more sure you have the right person.

• indigenous groups generally get a hard time and are starting to campaign for better treatment.  Local demonstrations and roadblocks are not uncommon.  These can be a nuisance for travellers, but they are not directed at you.  Your guide will handle such situations - follow his or her advice.  Patience, politeness and a calm approach will always help.  You might well agree with some of their grievances if you knew more.

• several of Ecuador's many volcanoes are active. Heed your guide's advice and be prepared to err on the side of caution.

Check the Foreign Office Advice to Travellers to Ecuador for updated information, including information on significant volcanic activity.  Compare their advice for Ecuador with the advice for a country with which you are reasonably familiar.