Ecuador was a transit country for me. It took me exactly 22,5 hours to cross through. In Ecuador you got the Dollar as official currency, which was a bit confusing for me, because we were in the middle of South America. Regarding to this the country was slightly „americanized“ in the way of the US. All in all I had an average hitchhiking experience, eat at KFC and enjoyed the beautiful nature.
Stats
Hitchhiked distance: 964 kilometer
Number of lifts: 21
Average waiting time: 14 minutes 31 seconds
Waiting time total: 5 hours 05 minutes
The complete log you can find here.
My Route
Through Tumbes/Peru I crossed the border in the South, hitchhiked a night bus to Guayaquil and from there I went through Quite up to the Colombian Border in the North. Short route, straight through.
People
I perceived the Ecuadorian people as a bit weird. I met the people with the best Spanish here, but maybe they also put the most effort in their communication, that I could understand them. I had the feeling they are very good in making connections with strangers, which is also connected to the „US-Feeling“ I had there. The cars, the attitude, all not very South American. Also I had some really strange rides. People sometimes were a bit scared. Because of the growing wealth? Can tell.
Roads
Road where fantastic, but, as in Chile, there was not enough keeping area. Especially in the jungly area in the South everything was kinda tight. Sometimes it was difficult to find a good position. Same like in Chile, the mixture of narrow roads and fast traffic is not very positive for our hitchhiking, cause both qualities support their synergies with each other. Beside this Guayaquil remembered me of an US-Highway, but with the difference, that it ended up in a network of narrow jungle roads.
One more comment to Quite: I had a lot of worries, before I entered this city, which turned out to be not legitimated at all. Quito is in a valley and along the mountains around it, there is a beautiful highway leading through which is perfect for hitchhiking. Positioning works well, if you walk a little and find your place. Not comparable to other big cities in South America. Very convenient for transit. And also beautiful place. I was positively surprised.
Tactics
I did not do anything special in Ecuador. Most of the time take position at the end of the city or at an roundabout traffic. Good positioning is quite important, as the keeping areas are rare. But the Ecuadorians are very friendly towards hitchhikers. In general not the best but also not the worst country to hitchhike in. Just look that you find a position with enough keeping area and slow traffic. Stick you thumb out and you should get a ride relatively fast. Enjoy!
Pictures
Unfortunatley I did not do pictures in Ecuador. 🙁
Specifics
Ecuador is much more expensive as the neighbor countries Colombia or Peru.
There are a bunch of volcanoes around Quito which might be worth to visit. I by myself was not there, but everyone recommended it to me. In general the nature around the high plateau in Quito is very beautiful and remembered me a bit about the Alps.
