Roundtrip Tour

Ecuador: From Misty Mountains to Sandy Beaches

Maria Schumacher

11 min read

This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was too good to pass up. I had the chance to join Ecuador Freedom Bike Rental’s “Cloud Forest, Coast, and Craters” guided motorcycle tour.

Not only was this tour going to pile everything Ecuador has to offer into seven action-packed days, but it also came with the guides’ priceless local knowledge. It’s a bit like having a buddy show you around all the best parts of their country.

The Ecuador Freedom team is a bunch of friendly motorcycle enthusiasts and I immediately felt at home among like-minded friends. During a briefing on Ecuadorian driving and the route ahead, we were introduced to our guide, Jhordy, and the support truck driver, Camilo. Both were locals with a passion for riding and exploring their home turf.

This rickety suspension bridge carried us to a little gem of a restaurant on a river island.

A quirky tradition (that would become the source of much banter) was “the baby”—a little doll that would be strapped to your bike if you had a shiny-side-down incident. The idea was that you’d ride more carefully with a baby on board, and I was sure I’d be carrying it for most of the tour.

I had chosen the lightest bike, a Honda XRE 300, but it was quite a bit taller than my own bike (1991 Honda NX250). I was going to have to keep up with an all-male cast on this dual sport tour and I wasn’t certain how difficult the unpaved sections were going to be.

A group of fun folks ready to embark on their big adventure from Ecuador Freedom’s office in Quito.

The Start of an Adventure

A quick group photo marked the start of our adventure, and then we were off. Before we knew it, we had left the bustle of Quito behind.

After a stop at the Intiñan Equator Museum to watch the Coriolis effect on water going down a drain, we were weaving along the sweeping bends of the mountains. We took a relatively easy dirt road with little waterfalls and a surprise muddy section, where we got a chance to get properly used to our bikes.

This was a shortcut toward the quaint town of Mindo, where Quinde Chocolate Tour let us try our hands at making chocolate. Best of all, we got to taste the chocolate at different stages, from fruity cacao bean juice and crunchy cocoa nibs to salted dark chocolate pieces and creamy fondue.

Cocoa beans are air dried before they’re roasted and processed further to make chocolate.

Returning to our bikes after a restful night at the alpine-style El Septimo Paraiso forest lodge, we discovered who had earned the baby with a little slow-speed tip-over on yesterday’s off-road section. To my surprise, it wasn’t me! In fact, I’d gotten over the height of the bike and was beginning to love it for its agility.

Ecuador’s beaches often see little use, making them perfect for playing in the sand.

A refreshing swim in a hidden waterfall pool, complete with a rope swing, washed away any last wobble worries before we rolled through the hills past cocoa, banana, and dragon fruit plantations to the coast. The tide was out, so we could play in the sands of a quiet beach, braaping along the waves and blasting sand fountains high into the air. Nothing brings a team together like helping push each other out when the rear wheel digs in.

We were still bubbling over with excitement as we rolled through the beach town of Canoa, arriving at our hotel just in time for a glorious sunset swim.