Quito, Ecuador, from Manta in SA

[blue whale]

Has anyone docked in Manta and then taken the overland, day trip to Quito via air? We would love to do this when our ship docks in Manta, but the airlines of Ecuador are on a list of ones not recommended for travel as a result of safety concerns. Has anyone flown local airlines in this area? Is Quito worth the risk? Thank you. Manta is a port on a cruise we are taking.

[blue whale]

Again, has anyone taken a ship's tour from the coast of Ecuador into Quito? If so, what was your reaction to the flights and the tour itself?

[wander]

In the late 90's we did this overnight trip from the Royal Princess. As passengers we did not notice any difference between the planes we flew on and the average planes we fly on. They were certainly not Jumbo jets, however. Also, because of the altitude and the heat, planes could only take off in the morning or evening. Maybe this applies to landings as well - don't know.

 

We found Quito to be a very interesting city, but our favorite event there was a bus trip to a lovely, working Hiciendia (please excuse the spelling) where we spent an afternoon watching "cowboys" demonstrate their skills (wow), wandering around the most attractive grounds and inside the home (another wow) and eating as good a barbeque meal as we have ever had. A great day, plus we got to see the very scenic countryside of Equador.

[peaches from georgia]

Has anyone docked in Manta and then taken the overland, day trip to Quito via air? We would love to do this when our ship docks in Manta, but the airlines of Ecuador are on a list of ones not recommended for travel as a result of safety concerns. Has anyone flown local airlines in this area? Is Quito worth the risk? Thank you. Manta is a port on a cruise we are taking.

 

They were certainly not Jumbo jets, however. Also, because of the altitude and the heat, planes could only take off in the morning or evening.

 

Granted I don't like to fly, but I can't imagine anything that would be worth this risk.

[wander]

WHAT RISK?????? I felt that they showed an exempletory interest in risk management. They simply do not take off after a certain time, period. We only knew about this because the plane we were flying out on was delayed, arriving late for some reason. We were informed if it did not arrive in time for us to depart by a certain time, we would not take off until evening. The same thing applies to other airports that are located at high altitudes in hot weather places where the air conditions are similar. South America is the only place I personally am aware of this situation. Even there tourists are usually unaware of this because the schedules are built around it. Besides, most of the airports commonly used by US travelers do not meet the high heat/high altitude criteria. (by the way, by saying they were not jombo jets, I was refering to the likes of the DC-10. The planes were more the size of the Boeing 737, the plane commonly used within the US.

 

When we were also told about the possible delay, we were also told that the ship would wait for us if necessary. We took off well before the deadline. I would gladly do the trip again

[peaches from georgia]

WHAT RISK?????? I felt that they showed an exempletory interest in risk management.

 

Evidently there is a high degree of risk if the airlines of Ecuador are on a 'don't fly' list:

 

Originally Posted by blue whale

..... the airlines of Ecuador are on a list of ones not recommended for travel as a result of safety concerns. Has anyone flown local airlines in this area? Is Quito worth the risk?

[wander]

Sorry, guess I misunderstood your comment. Your response about risk followed an extraction from my message, not that of Blue Whale who mentioned the list.

[Aussie Gal]

Blue Whale,

 

Well we are flying into Quito from Lima in a few weeks time. We are flying on their National airways which is Taca and they are owned by the military and have brand new planes. So I cannot see what the risk would be using this airline.

 

Quito is definitely worth the risk - if there is any - as that is the starting point for the Galapagos Islands which are one of the world's must do's.

 

I do know that in certain parts of South America such as Cusco and La Paz and Quito that because of the altitude the planes only fly at certain times during the day which is fine with me. I know flying out of Cusco, one has to leave early in the morning.

 

I would be interested in knowing which airlines of Ecuador are on a don't fly list and where is this list published?

 

Jennie

[blue whale]

I read ITN, International Travel News. It is a newspaper-like magazine with lots of interesting info and letters from travelers. Another kind of list that ITN publishes from time to time is of countries that the state department considers dangerous for travel. Thanks to all who answered.

[Aussie Gal]

Blue Whale,

 

With regard to airlines that are dangerous and not so dangerous regarding crashes etc.

 

I found a good site on Google and went into it.

 

Taca - the aircraft we are flying into Quito has never had a crash whereas American Airlines which we have 4 flights on in the next few weeks has a terrible record.

 

I just wish that Qantas flew everywhere, they have never had a crash in all their years of service. I think they celebrated 60 years the other day!!

 

Our State Department also prints a list of dangerous countries and if we followed their advice we would not be travelling anywhere. In fact there is even a warning on it about travelling to the U.S and that is to be careful, alert and watch ourselves so you can see that what one person thinks is a safe place, another can find it to be quite challenging.

 

I do know that most South American countries can be dangerous if you are in the wrong places at the wrong time. One just has to be aware and be careful.

 

Jennie

[wander]

Blue Whale,

 

In the current issue of ITN, received yesterday, they have the column "Ask Steve". Did you notice that he lists TACA as one of the "Ultrasafest" airlines?

I found this ironic after the list in a previous issue of the same publication that you referenced. I guess one just has to flip a coin.

[shepp]

Sorry for this late response. I doubt it will do the OP any good, but just in case anyone's interested...

 

I just flew the Manta-Quito route in October, at the end of a month's overland through Ecuadsor. I flew Icaro, which, as far as I know, has a rather new fleet. It was a smallish plane, but I never felt in any danger whatsoever. (However, I may be - no offense - more of a risk-taker than many other cruisers here. E.g., while in Ecuador, I went hiking around 2 volcanoes at over 15,000 feet.)

 

To me, the main problem with doing a Manta/Quito/Manta day trip would be scheduling - there simply aren't all that many flights on that route, and that varies depennding on the day of the week. And even if you luck out on flights, just getting from the ship to the Manta airport, the time involved in check-in and flying, the trip from the Quito airport to the Old Town, etc., wouldn't leave much time for seeing anything, really. Doing it as an overnight, as another poster mentioned, is much more practical.

[blue whale]

Thanks for the information. When we did a circle SA cruise, the cruise line offered a tour via air from Manta to Quito in one day. We didn't take it because we had not seen Manta.

 

We are doing another cruise that stops in Manta; probably the cruise line will offer a similar one day excursion (which will be expensive). We must decide whether to stay in Manta with its interesting market, or take that kind of tour. Have a good day.

[Strawberry]

Hello Blue Whale - Can you tell me anything about Manta and what is there to see if we don't take the cruise ship tour? I have been reading some things that imply it is not really safe to "wander" around Manta on your own. Have you heard that? We travel a lot all over the world so we are pretty adventurous but not irresponsible.

Thanks!

Christine

[blue whale]

Dear Strawberry, When we were in Manta, the ship or the city offered a free shuttle bus with two stops. One stop was to a local market and the other to a shopping center, which makes me think the city was running the shuttle. We took the free bus to the market and really loved walking around. We bought a Panama hat (which is made in Ecuador), a carving made from nuts that looks almost like an ivory carving, and a wool hanging that is absolutely lovely and that I have hanging on our kitchen wall. We then got back on the shuttle and went on to the shopping center. The distance was considerable, so we got to see a bit of the area. Other people took tours to area towns—one to the town where the hats are made. We did not hear of any safety problems. This was the first stop in our circle SA cruise with Radisson Seven Seas, and we were concerned at that point about walking out on our own. At other stops, we decided to walk about on our own, and we did not encounter any problems. Of course, we were always alert and careful where we went.

[Strawberry]

Thank you Blue Whale - your information on Manta was very helpful!

Do you know anything about Pisco, (San Martin) Peru? The only tours the ship offers are lengthly ones that we would rather avoid.

 

Christine

[blue whale]

Strawberry: No, we don't have any info on Pisco. We took the tour to Machu Picchu offered through the cruise company—Seven Seas. When they flew us back into Lima, they gave us a tour of the city and then bused us down to Pisco, where we reboarded our ship late in the day. The scenery between Lima and Pisco was really interesting, but we did not do any touring in Pisco.

 

We did take the ship tour in Salaverry to the Temples of the Sun and the Moon. We felt it was an excellent tour and there would have been no way to go on one's own. Our bus had a police escort there and back!

 

In Coquimbo in Chili, we did strike out on our own to go to La Serena. Our guide book indicated there was a bus from Coquimbo into La Serena (the interesting town nearby that the ship tour took people to). Well, we started out to walk to the corner where the bus was suppose to stop. As we walked, a police person on a motorcycle stopped by us and motioned to my husband to move his camera from his back shoulder to the front. My picture-taking husband did that and we continued on. A nice woman on a street corner directed us to the bus stop, we climbed on the bus when it came, and my husband handed the driver two dollar bills. The driver looked at them, smiled, and put them in his pocket. We sat down. I saw a man dressed in a business suit on the bus and struck up a conversation. He spoke wonderful English and turned out to the a TV announcer on the way to work. He explained everything we were passing (a personal tour), and finally when we got to La Serena and the bus stopped, he motioned with his hand, and said, "Vamose!" We had a great walk about in the town, and found the bus stop to use to return to the port. Again we handed the bus driver two dollar bills, which he pocketed after smiling broadly. When we got to the corner where we knew we were suppose to get off the bus, the driver shook his head, smiled, motioned for us to sit down, and drove the bus right up to our ship! Great service. What a day! What wonderful people we saw and met.