Trying to decide which of the two is better for a one month
visit in July. Money is definitely a factor (my friend and
I are on very limited budgets), but of course, if the more
expensive country is significantly more appealing than the
cheaper one, then I'd rather pay more and get more. What
I'm looking for in particular: friendly locals and not too
many tourists (I've backpacked in Africa, the Middle East,
and Southeast Asia, and I almost always had a better time
when I wasn't completely surrounded by others doing the same
things I was).
If you've been to both countries, I'd LOVE to hear which you
recommend. Thanks for your help!
[There are 4 posts - the latest was added on Wed 5 May, 23:10]
Use the form at the end of this page to add your own post.
Topics
| Thorn Tree
| Home
Both countries are very nice. You wouldn't go wrong in
either. However, if cash is a factor then Ecuador is cheaper.
With the recent devaluation things are cheaper still.
At least as of a couple of weeks ago, there was some fairly
widespread political unrest in Ecuador (strikes,
demonstrations, some violence, mainly due to economic
hardships). There have been news reports about this on
the Spanish language international news shows on cable
(precious little on the English networks - how's that for a
skewed vision of the world?). A friend of mine in Bolivia
recently cancelled a business trip there because of the
troubles. I don't know the situation right now, but it's
something you may want to check into.
Hi, I've been to both. They're quite different, but I'd go
back to Ecuador before CR. E is definitely cheaper and less
gringo-oriented. It is touristy but much less than CR. It
is diverse, physically beautiful and locals are very
friendly. I was there about a month ago during all the
political and economic problems. It was complete madness,
although I hear that things have calmed down, strikes are
over, and the dollar is stable. CR has amazing nature, if
you're more interested in cloud forests/monkeys/etc, go
there.
I agree with the above--i'd go to ecuador. I've been there
during protest strikes and it's no big deal. This means
that the roads out of cities are usually blocked so you just
need to stay put for a few days. The best thing about
ecuador, is its diversity. You can be on a beach, high in
the Andes, or in the rainforsest w/o too much travel. It is
not too gringo either. The buses, in addition to being very
colorful (and usually not nearly as crowded as the
guatamalan chicken buses), they run very frequently and are
easy to use.
jp