Is Quito and Ecuador in general a dangerous place to visit? If so, in what sense?

Question

Is Quito and Ecuador in general a dangerous place to visit? If so, in what sense?

Answer 1

Street demonstrations, protests and strikes are commonplace in Ecuador, and they sometimes turn violent.  You should take care to avoid any area in which large crowds are gathering.

Muggings and pick pocketing are common, particularly in the cities.  You should avoid wearing expensive jewellery in the streets and on public transport.  When travelling on public transport, we recommend that rucksacks should be worn on the front of your body.  Do not store small bags under your seat or in overhead storage.

You should be aware of the increased number of so called "express kidnappings" - short-term opportunistic abductions, aimed at extracting cash from the victim - that continue to occur in Ecuador.  Victims are normally selected at random and held while criminals empty their bank accounts with stolen cash cards.  Once the ransom is paid the victim is usually quickly released.  Although tourists are not currently targeted, visitors to the Guavas area in and around Guayaquil should be particularly aware as the majority of reported cases come from this area.

There have been occasional cases of rape and armed attacks against visitors both in rural and urban areas.  Remote sites should be visited in groups.

There have been several cases of assailants using drugs to subdue their intended victims. The drug 'scopolamine', which is manufactured in Ecuador for medical purposes, leaves victims in a sedated, compliant state and causes amnesia.  Drugs can be administered through food, drinks, cigarettes, aerosols, or powder.  In one incident drugs were administered through a chemical soaked into a leaflet.  You should be wary of unsolicited approaches from strangers offering you food, drinks, leaflets, telephone cards or cigarettes, no matter how friendly or well dressed the individual appears.

There have been cases of attacks by drivers of unregistered taxis.  Only use registered taxis, which display their taxi registration sticker on the windscreen or side doors.  If possible do not hail taxis on the street but book through hotels or taxi radio services.  Larger supermarkets and airports also have reliable taxi ranks.

There have been several incidents of armed gunmen holding up buses after daylight hours.  You should therefore avoid travel by road after dark, in particular on long distance and international coaches.

The truth is that the only countries in South America that are genuinely safe are Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Answer 2

Crikey don't let the previous answer put you off going to visit Quito/ Ecuador. I'm half English/ half Ecuadorian and was born over there. I agree that you certainly do need to take heed of dangerous situations and the fact that you are doing the research now will put you in good stead. There are areas in Quito where it is very safe to walk in the evening. The central and southern areas of Quito can be very dangerous to foreigners. Basically if you have any expensive clothes/ jewellery on show you will give yourself away. A friend of mine was murdered just above the Ipiales Market for wearing a brand new pair of Nike trainers. Keep low key and don't draw attention to yourself. If you are naturally dark in complexion then you will blend in well. Keep vigilant if you look more like a 'gringo' (i.e. blonde/ blue eyed/ fair skin etc).

Guayaquil and many parts of the coast are extremely dangerous for foreigners. You are safer keeping to the 'Sierra' or mountainous areas. I always found that Otavalo is particularly safe and tourist friendly (the Otavalenian indians rely on tourism commerce anyway). You will find friends for life in within the Indian communities no matter how dire their living situations. It's the break-away rebels and gangs that you have to be wary of. Best advice is to use your common sense, be courteous, try to learn as much spanish as you can and keep vigilant. It's funny because a friend of mine nearly got mugged in Quito when he suddenly used 'street magic' (a la David Blaine) to charm his would be attackers and they let him go with a 'pat' on the back and plenty of laughs!

Answer 3

My brother in law was mugged New Year's Eve by 3 locals, they beat him up for a cell phone, his jacket, and his shoes, hit him over the head with a baseball bat breaking his spinal cord, left him to die in an alley, when found the next morning still alive was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital, was refused there due to lack of room, ambulance took him to another hospital where they took him him but did not even make an atempt to save his life, because his wallet was stolen, he had no money or identifications, so they left him in a corner to die all alone........

A dangerous country you ask?

I would not go near there even if I had body guards with me all day long........people just don't have feelings and they don't care to get involved or help anyone!

has been my experience.............

Answer 4

I'm telling you, I've been to the biggest cities around the world and Quito or Guayaquil (coastal area) are not more dangerous than any of those cities, incuding New York! Common sense is what you should apply whenever you travel anywhere. Avoid dark or dirty areas, ask in touristic information offices (Quito has some of them around the city), keep an eye on your bags and you'll be perfectly fine!

All those stories about strikes were more common in Quito, a while ago (although in general they're not so violent) when the Government was facing some problems. Needless to say that it's all over now, but in the coastal area you won't see those things, mainly because the "headquarters" or the main offices of the government are not there, or because it's too hot to be on the streets yelling and roaring against anything... we prefer to go to the beach instead......Anyways, this is a country of peace, problems? d**n we do have them, but not more than any other country in the world. And you'd be surprised on how many beautiful things you can see here without spending an important amount of money or time.

Answer 5

we visited ecuador last year...based in quito, we hired a guide for a few days and explored the gringo land area(can't remember proper name) on our own.  leave your flash kit at home and apply the common sense you would use in any big city...