Galapagos Cruises in 2025: Guide to the Best Boats by Kat Dougal on 4th December, 2024 Galapagos Cruises in 2025: Guide to the Best Boats Want to know the best Galapagos cruises for 2025? Read our guide to itineraries, wildlife and trip length and navigate to the best boat Galapagos cruise for you. How to Choose the Best Galapagos Cruise in 2025 At first, the choice of Galapagos boats …
Guide to Tipping in Ecuador and Galapagos by Kat Dougal on 24th September, 2024 How Much to Tip in Ecuador and Galapagos Andean Trails’ Ecuador and Galapagos tipping guide. Want to know how much to tip in Ecuador and Galapagos? This guide helps you understand why people tip when visiting and how much to leave. Do I Need to Tip in Ecuador and Galapagos? Tipping may seem alien …
Chiloé Island Tours and Things To Do by Kat Dougal on 20th June, 2024 Chiloé Island Tours, Activities and things to Do There is so much to do and see on Chiloé Island that the main issue may be how to fit all those tours and activities into your travel itinerary. The island of Chiloé, in Chile’s Lake District, was once a strategic point of interest for seafarers and …
Volunteering on Horseback in Ecuador – a traveller’s review by Kat Dougal on 8th June, 2023 Volunteering at a riding stable in Ecuador is a dream for me. Patti McCarthy is spending a month volunteering on a horse ranch in Ecuador, and is full of enthusiams albeit the hard work she is putting in every day. Read her blog on her volunteering holiday and maybe you’ll get inspired, too! …
Cotopaxi Lodge to Lodge Trek: a Traveller’s Review by Kat Dougal on 1st June, 2023 Trekking in the foothills of Cotopaxi Return customers Patti McCarthy and her family recently travelled with Andean Trails around Ecuador and shared their experiences of trekking the Lodge to Lodge trek in Cotopaxi National Park with us. Up close to the mighty Cotopaxi Mountain weather is notoriously unsettled and unpredictable, but the volcano Cotopaxi is …
Guide to Whale Watching in Ecuador by Kat Dougal on 14th October, 2020 Whale watching is on most people’s bucket list – unsurprisingly! Read on to find out all about the whale watching season in Ecuador, the best places to see whales in Ecuador and get our travel information an expert tips to help plan your trip. Ecuador Whale Watching Guide: Season and Best Places to go …
Top 5 Cities to Visit in Bolivia by Kat Dougal on 1st September, 2020 Find out our top tips for the best five cities to visit while on holiday in Bolivia. In this blog we’ll tell you what each city has to offer, and what day tours and trips are possible from each of the 5 top cities in Bolivia – from La Paz to Sucre, from Santa Cruz …
Bolivia’s highest points: La Paz, Lake Titicaca and Bolivia’s mountains by Kat Dougal on 8th August, 2020 How high is Lake Titicaca? How high is La Paz – and what is Bolivia highest point? One of the highest of all Andean nations, the geography of Bolivia certainly sets some impressive records for life at high altitude. Read our blog to find out just how high Bolivia’s landmarks are. La Paz …
Avoid Tourists: A Guide to Non-Touristy Things To Do in Peru by Kat Dougal on 17th July, 2020 Peru has long been one of the hot spots of tourism in South America, and quite rightly so! However, most of us love an element of off the beaten track travelling, and here’s how you can get away from the crowds with our guide to non-touristy things to do on holiday in Peru. Here’s a …
Best cloud forest lodges in Ecuador by Kat Dougal on 20th March, 2020 Ecuador’s Cloudforest is a magnet for those in search of wildlife, bird watching and the elusive Spectacled Bear. Sustainable eco-lodges in the cloud forest are a fantastic base to explore the flora and fauna and are so easily reached from Quito, being only a 2 hour car journey away. Here’s Andean Trails’ low down …
Guide to the Best Amazon Rainforest Lodges in Ecuador by Kat Dougal on 28th February, 2020 Ecuador’s best rainforest lodges are known for their great location in the country’s Amazon basin, their standard of comfort and the wildlife that surrounds them. When we say “best” at Andean Trails, we try to look beyond comfort and like to focus also on the community projects each eco-lodge supports, the wildlife we find …
Restaurants and Eating Out: Food in Galapagos Islands by Kat Dougal on 11th October, 2019 Eating out choices in the Galapagos Islands have blossomed, with many new bars, cafes and restaurants opening in recent years, as hotel-based holidays have become more popular. Top-end dining has truly yet to arrive at the Galapagos Islands due to its remote location and difficulty in importing ingredients. However, the three main islands, Santa …
2019 Machu Picchu – New visitor rules by Kat Dougal on 22nd February, 2019 Years of popularity and increasing visitor numbers have left a toll on the world famous Inca citadel of Machu Picchu. For a few years now authorities have been thinking of ways to limit the damage that millions of yearly visitors are causing to the site. After a first introduction of rules in 2017 regulating …
Bolivia – its weather, seasons and best time to visit by Kat Dougal on 28th November, 2018 Planning a trip to Bolivia? Make sure you have read our guide on when to go and what weather to expect from the Andes to the Amazon. Bolivia’s climate, as varied as its geography, is affected by latitude and, especially, by altitude. The best time to travel is the winter (dry season) between May and …
Ecuador – its weather, seasons and best time to visit by Kat Dougal on 22nd November, 2018 Ecuador is pretty much an all-round destination with little change in weather and less pronounced dry/ rainy seasons than some of its South American neighbours – thanks to its location on the equator. Weather can be defined by region, and many Andean mountain ranges in particular develop their own micro climates, making it …
Bolivia – things to know before travelling on holiday by Kat Dougal on 10th August, 2018 Land-locked Bolivia is a country of dramatic landscapes and fascinating native cultures and traditions. Being prepared for travel means you will enjoy the country at its best, so we have put together a list of essential and useful tips and facts to know about Bolivia, before you go. OVERVIEW Bolivia’s Altiplano (High …
Liana Lodge – top tips for taking the kids to the rainforest by Kat Dougal on 4th July, 2018 When travelling to Ecuador with her family, Kat knew that visiting the rainforest was top of her list of places to go. They chose Liana Lodge and Kat is sharing her top tips for taking children to the rainforest. Choose a soft adventure Don’t travel too far, especially for younger children a softer …
Tren de la Libertad – a train ride from Ibarra to Salinas, Ecuador by Kat Dougal on 22nd June, 2018 Kat and her family hopped aboard the Tren de la Libertad and experience the beautiful change in scenery from the highlands town of Ibarra to the lowlands village of Salinas, surrounded by sugar plantations. Kat writes… Ibarra – leaving the hustle and bustle behind The train – well a train car, a hybrid between …
An Ecuador family holiday review from a travel expert (and parent) by Kat Dougal on 19th June, 2018 Kat has returned from Ecuador and is still enjoying the afterglow –read on for her sum up of their family adventure as we ask her about all things Ecuador. Where have you just been? I have just returned from Ecuador where I spent 3,5 weeks with my husband and two young daughters (3 …
Community homestay – Family Holiday in Ecuador by Kat Dougal on 19th June, 2018 Kat and her family visited the San Clemente community, near Ibarra in Ecuador, for 3 nights. This is what Kat thought of their stay… “San Clemente lies at the base of Imbabura Volcano, with a striking view of Ibarra below and the mountains around. The little community is spread out, and of the …
