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Ecuador with Kids: Top 5 Insights from A Global Family Travel's Adventure

Writer: Jennifer Spatz, Global Family Travels
Jennifer Spatz, Global Family Travels
May 8, 2018
4 min read

Updated: Sep 7

I started to have second thoughts about traveling to Ecuador with our kids, ages 5 and 8, when it was time for their travel vaccinations. With the first painful scream, I wondered: What on earth are we doing?


In a month, we would be flying for more than 15 hours and bringing our kids to a country where they would have to rely on their mother’s college Spanish to get them through—and their father’s crazy, offensively defensive driving learned in the heart of Africa.


My husband and I have always been avid travelers, and I thrive when I’m overseas. The sights, sounds and smells completely engage my heart and soul. I feel alive!


The first five years of a child’s life are the most impressionable and I wanted to leave an indelible mark on my kids.I wanted our children to experience that same sense of wonder and begin discovering just how big, diverse and fascinating the world can be.


So, why not travel to Ecuador for three weeks?


Yet traveling solo, or even with your spouse, is very different from traveling with your kids. We were embarking on a three-week family adventure and had no idea how it would unfold. It could go horribly wrong—or it could be a great success.


Thankfully, with the guidance of Global Family Travels, it turned out to be an amazing success.


Here are five of the biggest insights we learned while traveling through Ecuador with our kids:

1. Kids are more resilient and adaptable than we sometimes give them credit for


As parents, we worry. We fret. We anticipate everything that could possibly go wrong.

But when we let go a little and give our kids the freedom to experience a new place on their own terms, we often discover just how capable they are. Traveling in Ecuador gave our children opportunities to adapt to unfamiliar foods, surroundings, languages and routines—and to thrive in the process.

2. Kids change the lens through which we see the world—and that’s a wonderful thing


Traveling with children naturally changed our pace.


We slowed down. We sat down. We observed. We participated.


Unlike some of our previous travels, this journey encouraged us to spend more time getting to know local people and communities rather than simply moving from one attraction to the next.


One of the highlights was spending nine days with Luis and Rosario Timpe at their family farm in Patate, near Baños. It became much more than a place to stay—it gave us the chance to experience Ecuador through the rhythms of everyday family life.


3. Homestays can connect families more deeply with a destination


During our stay with the Timpe family, we experienced a small slice of what it was like to live in Ecuador.


Our Spanish improved. We learned how to cook Ecuadorian food. We helped work in the orchard and sampled fruits we had never even heard of before.

Perhaps most importantly, we made new friends.


In the words of our daughter: “It’s fun to have new friends in Ecuador.”


Those personal connections became some of our most meaningful memories from the entire journey.

4. Our planet is changing—the time to explore, learn and inspire our kids to care about the world is now


Ecuador's extraordinary biodiversity gave our children an entirely different way to experience nature. Our planet is changing, and travel gives us an opportunity to help our kids experience its beauty firsthand—and understand why protecting it matters.


For my son, one of the biggest highlights was seeing monkeys in the jungle:

“It was quiet, there weren’t any people, there wasn’t any traffic, just the sounds of loud creatures.”


Experiences like these remind us why introducing children to the natural world matters. When kids encounter wildlife and ecosystems firsthand, concepts like conservation, biodiversity and protecting our planet become tangible rather than abstract.


At Global Family Travels, we continue to be inspired by Ecuador’s extraordinary biodiversity. Despite its relatively small size, Ecuador is considered one of the world’s megadiverse countries, with remarkably varied ecosystems stretching from the Andes and cloud forests to the Amazon Rainforest and Galápagos Islands. Discover more in our blog, 10 Megadiverse Travel Experiences in Ecuador.


These remarkable landscapes offer families opportunities to experience nature firsthand, learn about conservation and biodiversity, and develop a deeper appreciation for the natural world. For more inspiration, explore our Galápagos Islands journeys.


5. Traveling with our children in a sea of unfamiliar sights and sounds brought our family closer together


We have become a much closer family unit as a result of our trip.


We navigated new places together, tried unfamiliar foods, met new people and shared experiences that were completely outside our normal routines.


We returned home feeling like a much closer family unit as a result of the trip.


Our journey through Ecuador not only made an indelible mark on our kids—it made an indelible mark on my husband and me as well. We will always be grateful to Global Family Travels for making our trip to Ecuador possible.


Photo Credits & Original Blog by Susan Fairchild

​Ready to Explore Ecuador with Your Family?


Ecuador packs an incredible range of experiences into one destination—from the dramatic Andes and colorful markets to cloud forests, wildlife, local communities and rich cultural traditions.


Global Family Travels creates immersive journeys that help families go beyond sightseeing to learn, connect and experience a destination more meaningfully.


And for families dreaming of one of the world's most extraordinary wildlife destinations, an Ecuador journey can also be combined with time in the Galápagos.

Photo credits of collage : Lisa Merrill of Merrill Images

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