"Oh, the places you'll go!

SUGGESTED TRAVEL RESOURCES

1. http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-guides/ecuador-travel-tips/
2. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/americas-south-america/ecuador-the-galapagos-islands
3. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/ecuador/practical-information/money-costs
4. http://www.bootsnall.com/south-america-ecuador 
5. http://www.bootsnall.com/south-america-ecuador-quito

Here are some more site-specific travel resources compiled by one of this year's Small Team Directors, Sarah Gray:

QUITO
1.Visit old town, the cathedral, squares etc.
2. TeleferiQo (cable ride up to see a vista of Quito)
3. shopping at Kalllari for chocolate and coffee, Galeria Latina (on mera), Mercado Artesanal la Mariscal (washington btw mera and reina victoria).
4. Salsa dancing, cafe libro and muy muy (near bongalow) are supposed to be good.
5. Check out Mercado Santa Clara for ALL THINGS ECUADORIAN, DELICIOUS, & INTERESTING


Small towns to visit that are within an hour or two of Quito:
1. MINDO (make sure to check out the chocolate factory)
2. OTOVALO (huge market, ppl usually go on the last saturday)
3. PAPPACTA (thermal baths)


Towns that are a bit further but great for a weekend:
1. Banos (hot natural baths, relaxed town)
2. Quilatoa region (crater lake, see directions below)
3. Cotopaxi region (the secret garden is a cool hostel)
4. Canoa (relaxed surf town; chill vibe with lots of fun people and places to wander around)


ADDITIONAL INFO FOR QUILATOA REGION: The best info for how to get to Quilotoa is on the website of the 'Black Sheep Inn' We left Quito at about 7 am, went to Quitumbe bus station and took a bus to Latacunga (about an hr and a half). From there, we took a bus that seems to leave every day at about 11 am from Latacunga to Chugchilan (about 3 hours). So we arrived at our hostel at around 3pm. Would have been fine to leave downtown Quito at 7:30 or 8:00 am. We stayed at ‘Hostal Mama Hilda’ which was fantastic (25$ a night with two meals). Hostal Cloud Forest and Black Sheep Inn are both down the street and also looked good. We took a camineta in the morning to Quilotoa (about an hr away), and then did the 5 hour hike back to Chugchilan. Highly recommend this weekend for people who love hiking and adventure and don’t mind a long bus ride (with amazing views). Coming back was more tricky because of mixed info about buses, but the hostel will help with bus times, just make sure you ask many people ahead of time.


These are just some suggestions, feel free to speak with other STD's/ Tara & Anton/ & GOOGLE!! :)