Finding your bearings in Ecuador

If you end up in the rural areas of Ecuador, good luck with street signs or getting directions.  Anywhere in Ecuador you might be able to get directions from the police, but a donation to the coffee fund might be required.  Best I've found thus far is OSM/OsmAnd as it tends to have more roads here and has editable maps.

Priscilla wrote:

Is talking to locals and asking them directions the best way to get around? Are they generally friendly and helpful?

The locals are friendly, but unless you understand "tome la tercera opción tras ingresar en la próxima redondel, mantenga a la izquierda por un kilómetro y su destino está en frente de la sastrería," you could be out of luck.

cccmedia

antialiased wrote:

Anywhere in Ecuador you might be able to get directions from the police, but a donation to the coffee fund might be required.

I try to steer clear of giving anything approximating a tip, bribe or kickback to officers of the law in South America.

One time late at night, two traffic cops directed me back to my hotel when I was a lost motorist .. then kept asking for a propina.  I smiled, thanked them twice and drove on without giving a tip.

If it's technically illegal to tip cops in some jurisdictions -- and who knows? -- I'm not comfortable doing it.  Say they don't like the amount or decide to enforce an ordinance, things could spiral out of control.  

cccmedia

Say you're approaching Quito from the north without GPS and want to get to Centro Histórico (El Centro).

You'll mostly see signs for places you've never been or never heard of.

You'll see a sign for, say, "García Moreno," but it won't be the same García Moreno street you wanted .. so you'll end up on an unpaved dirt road to nowhere, needing to double back.

You'll see a sign for Parque Metropolitano, an enormous city park, but you'll possibly have no idea whether that will take you anywhere near your planned destination.

You'll pass signs for unfamiliar spots...
     and eventually realize you're driving past and missing the entire city.

You'll have to double back and finesse your way to a landmark or known area based on confusing signs .. and guessing which option to take at traffic circles.

You may never see a sign that says "Quito El Centro" or "Parque La Carolina," the best-known park in center Quito.

By this point, you will probably wish you had GPS.   Or at least had studied a map, made notes and brought the information with you.

cccmedia

Priscilla wrote:

Hello,

While technology has definitely helped us navigate ourselves more easily in most countries, it's not the case everywhere.

How do you get to your destinations and navigate yourself in Ecuador? Do you use gps systems such as google/apple maps?

Are the gps navigational systems updated enough that they provide accurate information and directions?

Is it enough to simply follow road signs in Ecuador?

Is talking to locals and asking them directions the best way to get around? Are they generally friendly and helpful?

Are there any online resources or other types of resources to help you better understand the road systems, transportation, etc., in order to find your bearings?

What are the steps to take if you get lost?

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Priscilla

Google maps is the best way to get from point A to point B. It’s indispensable even within the city and the valley. Sometimes when I need to buy something from a merchant on Mercado libre, they’d send me their coordinates via whatsapp. Then it’s a matter of simply following the route.  Location sharing with a smartphone is great option and much easier than giving directions especially in areas where there are no signs or landmarks.

Using Google maps is so indispensable that I am willing to pay extra for an LCD with Apple CarPlay. There are other options as well. Some car manufactures actually have their own GPS systems and software.

Gotta love technology.

In Cuenca, if I wish to give someone my address I need to give them the GPS coordinates. Google Maps, when they updated Cuenca's maps last spring, decided to remove the name of my one block street and instead give a name to a dirt track that passes around a local grocery store. Thus, giving the name of my street literally "draws a blank". If the person I am directing does not have GPS, describing how to get here involves a very convoluted description involving one-way streets.

When I have asked for directions to a specific location, I usually get different directions from each person I ask. Locals have been very helpful and are willing to assist, but don't seem to be willing to say "No se". It is one of the charms of living here. I've learned to print a map and wing it that way.

Google Maps keeps getting better. There are a lot of inside tips and tricks that can be learned by watching YouTube videos.

For example, you can easily learn how to  use Google Maps to get to places in Ecuador without  standardized street addresses. You can drop pins, save and label pins so you can find your way there again. I used this feature a lot in Puerto López and sometimes in Guayaquil too.

Recently, Google Maps integrated Plus Codes which are short codes for locations, for places that don't have their own street address. The benefit of a plus code is it is simple and still very precise.

" ...without these simple descriptions of where you live, a person cannot access critical services like mail, deliveries, emergency services, and voter registration.

Yet half of the world’s urban people live on unnamed streets, according to the World Bank. This means they often can’t communicate where they live, disconnecting them from government services, transportation, loans, job opportunities and even disaster relief" source: plus.codes

Fair warning: If you are not in a city, Google Maps can be totally unusable as many of the roads in the countryside are one lane dirt roads that sometimes either have no name or, if they once did have a name, no one knows it.  Many of those roads don't exist on Google Maps (and you can't add roads to G.M.).  I know.  My road still doesn't exist on Google but it was added to OSM years ago before I bought my house by a neighbor in the area.  I later added the street name as I don't think he knew it, but luckily it was on a survey map.  Oh, and that brings up another problem with getting directions: Lack of street names and definitely no house numbers (unless you are in a city center).

What about Garmin Drive? Anyone tried that locally? I know they sell it here.

antialiased wrote:

If you end up in the rural areas of Ecuador, good luck with street signs or getting directions.  Anywhere in Ecuador you might be able to get directions from the police, but a donation to the coffee fund might be required.  Best I've found thus far is OSM/OsmAnd as it tends to have more roads here and has editable maps.

Cool suggestion, I'm checking out OsmAnd now! Thanks

Hi,

Currently, my husband and I take a taxi or bus for distance. We will not get a vehicle for about a year.  No, need right now.

We will find a good gps/navigaiton system before we buy a car so we like to read what others are saying - mostly in Souther Ecuador - Loja/Vilca area.

Thanks,
Robin

Naaaah CC.....thats highly unlikely......How many times have I HAD to bribe transitos just to keep movin and get home? Too many to count.......Just like Trump......it all comes down to your negotiating skills and of course your dominion of the idioma........here in Panama I still tend to get away pretty cheap....Not sure what it take s to get outta trouble in Colombia cuz ive never driven there yet.......But everythign else almost, is halfprice, so it stands to reason that the bribles/chorizos/coimas shud be half price too......I usually pay about $10..........but Im stingy......I have gringo and Canadian friends who lack Spanish skills and they generally pay quite a bit more............What do you think it shud be in Colombia....?   $10 is 30,000 COP........Sounds substantive to me..........

vsimple wrote:

What about Garmin Drive? Anyone tried that locally? I know they sell it here.

Ok, I’ll answer my own question as I experienced Garmin this week in a taxi. It’s quite good and very precise. I asked the driver if he had to pay monthly or yearly, and he said no. So for this gadget you just buy it, and simply use it.

Despite how accurate it seemed, I still prefer Google maps, at least in the city. The reason is because it tells you where the traffic is.

In Quito, traffic happens whether it’s an accident or if streets are closed due to the construction of the metro. Like Río Coca is this week and Google Maps helps big time.

RobinJoel wrote:

Hi,

Currently, my husband and I take a taxi or bus for distance. We will not get a vehicle for about a year.  No, need right now.

We will find a good gps/navigaiton system before we buy a car so we like to read what others are saying - mostly in Souther Ecuador - Loja/Vilca area.

Thanks,
Robin

I have read about you plight about needing a car but need a loan on a short term basis. Despite interest rates being high, explore your options especially if the loan will be one year. Some dealers do direct credit so with a high down payment you might get a favorable rate. A car is certain much better than having to tell taxis exactly where to go. Of late the situation is much worse because there are more newer drivers who started driving because the economy is bad. unfortunately, some don't know their way around town.

dumluk wrote:

Naaaah CC.....thats highly unlikely......How many times have I HAD to bribe transitos just to keep movin and get home? Too many to count.... it all comes down to your negotiating skills and of course your dominion of the idioma........here in Panama I still tend to get away pretty cheap....Not sure what it take s to get outta trouble in Colombia cuz ive never driven there yet.......But everything else almost, is halfprice, so it stands to reason that the bribles/chorizos/coimas shud be half price too......I usually pay about $10..........but Im stingy......I have gringo and Canadian friends who lack Spanish skills and they generally pay quite a bit more............What do you think it shud be in Colombia....?  .

Dear Dumluk,

The above citation doesn't make sense to me.

You started by telling me vaguely that it's "highly unlikely."   What's highly unlikely?

Next:  You state that you have to bribe transit officers (in Panama, apparently) just to keep moving and get home.  Really?

Then, did you really ask me on a public forum to estimate how much I think you should pay in order to bribe an officer?  You know I won't dignify such a question.

What are you really doing that you have had to bribe officers more times than you can count?  It's not evident in your post.

The only officers in South America who ever asked me for money were two cops in Medellín who showed me the way back to my hotel late at night driving in the Transversales.  They asked twice for a "propina." 

I don't pay propinas to cops.  But I thanked them and was polite about it.

cccmedia

I have a friend named John who lives in the Quito, Ecuador, suburbs.  He's a septuagenarian Expat who lives with his Ecuadorian wife and her grown kids.

One time driving alone he got into a fender-bender in the family van.  Cops arrived on the scene.  John did not have a valid license to drive in Ecuador.

He got on his cell phone and called the esposa. 

According to John, his wife got down there promplty, realized what it would take to keep him out of further trouble .. and he took that step.

----

(I have just been advised by the Home Office not to specify what John did .. as it was not technically legal.)

cccmedia

Really..........Since when did it become inadvisable to speak the truth on public forums? Didnt realize that expat.com was so anal... Paying bribes in latin america is a way of life, pure and simple.....I dont like it either, but on the other hand, its nice to be able to get outta trouble and continue on yur merry way.......With me, its always been alcohol on the breath.....If you know youve done nothing wrong then you can defend yourself if you have the language skills....But if you know they got you, then there is nothing to do but smile, be friendly and arrive at a price.......Better $10 now than $100 later............But some cops are unbribeable altho few......and you better be very diplomatic in the form that you present it...Sometimes they themselves present the offer.......They all just want money, money, money........fact of life..........

dumluk wrote:

Really..........Since when did it become inadvisable to speak the truth on public forums? Didnt realize that expat.com was so anal..... Paying bribes in latin america is a way of life, pure and simple..... I dont like it either, but on the other hand, its nice to be able to get outta trouble and continue on your merry way...... With me, its always been alcohol on the breath.....

Dear Dumluk,

I am held to a high standard as a member of the international team of experts of expat.com .. and it would not be appropriate for me to suggest or imply that bribery is a legitimate option for Expats.

Thank you for disclosing that 'alcohol on the breath' was always the issue that prompted your past actions.  You are welcome to advise us whether, in your experience, a breathalizer or blood-alcohol test is typically administered (or threatened by police) at the scene .. and if so, how it was done and how that impacted any police stops.

cccmedia

dumluk wrote:

Really..........Since when did it become inadvisable to speak the truth on public forums? Didnt realize that expat.com was so anal... Paying bribes in latin america is a way of life, pure and simple.....I dont like it either, but on the other hand, its nice to be able to get outta trouble and continue on yur merry way.......With me, its always been alcohol on the breath.....If you know youve done nothing wrong then you can defend yourself if you have the language skills....But if you know they got you, then there is nothing to do but smile, be friendly and arrive at a price.......Better $10 now than $100 later............But some cops are unbribeable altho few......and you better be very diplomatic in the form that you present it...Sometimes they themselves present the offer.......They all just want money, money, money........fact of life..........

This forum is responsible and civil. People from all over the world obtain good and factual information here.  The reality in Ecuador is that bribery is not the norm. On the news, there are articles of people being arrested for driving while drinking. And BTW Ecuador is very strict in this regard and a BAC (Blood Alcohol Level) over 0.3 percent is a crime with jail time. I know this because it is one of the possible questions for a driver’s license.

Additionally, paying a bribe can have serious consequences that expats don’t want any part of

Hahahah.........even tho Im invariably under (or right around) .03.....im sure glad I dont live and drive in Ecuador....Especially considering the price of cars there.......Is this information correct or coming from well meaning gringos who cant put 10 words of Spanish together and have no real long term living experience in Latin America? Is it possible that Ecuadorian cops are more honest and serious than Panamanian or Colombian or Costa Rican or Nicaraguan cops....? i seriously doubt it.....You just have to know how to talk to em.........But go ahead and do it your way and see how much more it costs...........

Ecuador is taking all matters related to driving very seriously. Some authorities have even scrutinized the 0.03 BAC. This scrutiny has only increased because of highly publicized accidents.  Some of these highly publicized accidents resulted in 137 dead in bus accidents this year alone.

For anyone who enjoys drinking and driving, Ecuador is not a country for you. 

Lastly, this isn’t Panama and it’s not Central/South America as you seem to enjoy generalizing. It’s Ecuador, a country that you are seemingly ignorant about.

Not completely snr simple.........but theres always new things to find out in any case. And thats why were here isnt it? Not to insult one another......Ive visited Ecuador twice and liked it both times.......But have never driven.......to drive in Ecuador is a real luxury......and so never had any problem.....did my drinkin inthe pueblo or on the beach and walked back to the hotel.....I cant even remember ever speaking to a policeman......Here in Panama its unavoidable....There all over the place.....especially on the interamericana or at the border where I invariably have to go to get to the surf or the duty free liquor, haha......The country where you can drink and drive until you drive off a cliff would be the Domincan Republic....doesnt seem to be much law concerning anything there.......plus, you can just simply (you should like that) overstay your visa as long as you like, and then pay a small fine, (maybe a big fine depending on how many years over) on the way out of the country and then turn around and come back in afew daze.......Easiest place in latin america to be a perpetual tourist.........and they never stop you and ask to see your documentos......and the guns laws pervasive throughout latin america are there to protect the oliogarchy and the govt from the people more than anything else.......an armed population could present control problems......especially when those controls turn draconian like they have so often been know to do..........give me the second amendment any day, thankyou..........

The bribery thing depends on the officer... It certainly was a lot more common here, but newly trained officers seem to be less likely to offer or expect bribes.  However, I have a friend who within the last year needed to make a donation for directions when he got lost around Guayaquil, so it depends.  Have another friend who's lived here about forty years that had his vehicle taken by the cops a little over a year ago when they found out he didn't have a current license, or registration (wouldn't accept a bribe - other than the vehicle - and he was shocked and rather upset as they always used to).  I've yet to need directions or have trouble with police, so no personal experience.