Best month to go to Salinas and Cuenca

[MELANIE CLARK]

I know all year is good. But, we are planning a 3-week Ecuador visit, probably mid May into June. Our main interest is Cuenca area and Salinas (or Manta). Are these good times to go to these places? Are other times better?

[EI EXPERT – EDD STATON]

Sure. The only times you might not want to visit is during major holidays. I’ve seen photos of Salinas during Carnaval, which is going on right now. There’s barely room on the beach to lay down your towel! On the other hand, Cuenca, where I live, is virtually deserted. Guess everyone’s in Salinas. 😉

[MIKE VENAGLIA]

My wife and I are planning our first trip to Ecuador in late June. We’re thinking of using Happy Gringo for two, four day trips to Cuenca and Machalilla (coastal Ecuador). Does this plan make sense for us to begin to get a flavor of the country?

[SUZAN HASKINS]

Machalilla is not a good choice if you want to get the flavor of the coast — I’ve never been there, for instance, and don’t know any gringos who live there. I’ve heard it’s not very pretty and really is more of a shipping port and border area being so close to Peru.

And I don’t know anything about Happy Gringo, either.

[MELANIE CLARK]

I hadn’t heard of Happy Gringo until you mentioned it. I went on line to look at reviews. It seems like they mostly are utilized for the Galapagos, but also other areas in Ecuador too.
We’re doing most of our planning through PathFinders contacts and getting recommendations from expats like Suzan and Edd. We also want the coastal experience, but in my research am focusing on Salinas/Ballenita and Manta areas. My main problem now is finding a hotel in the Salinas area with Air Conditioning and “at least” a Queen-sized bed. Also reading reviews to make sure there is hot water in the rooms. I may be able to rent a condo for a week through the Pathfinder contact, Amy in the Salinas area. Renting for a week for one with A/C throughout is $400 and we only want to stay 4-5 nights, but that is still less money than a hotel that has what we want for 4 or 5 nights. I’m running into figures like $200 or more per night for hotels with A/C and queen/king beds in Salinas (places like Barcelo Colon Miramar @ $234 per night in Salinas. There one more I’m going to check (which seems to be getting mostly good reviews and seems to have King beds and A/C, called Royal Decameron Punta Centinela in Ballenita. I have to try to call them to ask, but I think they are under $200 according to Booking.com.
In Manta, the Pathfinder contact (Fernanda) is working on getting us a reservation for about $130 a night at a nice hotel called Balandra Hotel.
I haven’t heard anything about Machalilla, why did you choose that location?

[MIKE VENAGLIA]

Correct me if I’m wrong but I think Machalilla is between Salinas and Manta, closer to Manta. I think Machala is a city close to the Peruvian border. It is supposed to be near Machalilla National Park and Isla de la plata. Happy Gringo has us staying in Puerto Lopez at Hosteria Mandala. Does this trip sound any more worthwhile? Thank you.
P. S. Happy Gringo was recommended in IL Magazine.

[SUZAN HASKINS]

Ah, Mike, even we “experts”get it wrong some time. You are correct — Macahllila is the park and Machala is the port town. I LOVE Hosteria Mandala — enjoy your trip! (PS — Don’t know Happy Gringo, but that doesn’t mean much!)

[MIKE VENAGLIA]

Thank you Susan. I feel better about our trip now.

[GARY POLLICE]

My wife and I used Happy Gringo last year when we spent 18 days going through a lot of Ecuador. We told them what we wanted and they did a great job for us. The only problem was the two days we spent in Loja where our driver really spoke no English. This part of the journey was subcontracted out by Happy Gringo. It really wasn’t that bad. There were just a couple of times when my limited Spanish failed me and we had difficulty communicating. Overall, we were very satisfied with Happy Gringo.

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