How should a good guide be? | ‘Follow-the-leader’
Ecuador is full of great adventures, exciting roads and marvelous off road paths you would love. Some choose to come to our country with the idea of making the most of this experience, having in mind this country has three worlds in such a tiny space if you compare it to the others in the region where it is located. For this reason tourists look for guided tours, that helps them to visit the most they can and sure… helps them with the language limitations. Paying extra for a guided tour it’s not that crazy when you have that much to visit but not so much time to do it. You start searching, chatting with agencies, and finally you make up your mind for the one that seems to be «the best option»…
You can be sure about the general details of the tour, such as accommodation, activities and so on.. but what about the guide? What if they have a Bunk type of guide, slow as molasses in January… the type of leader you just want to overtake all the time during the tour. Even worse, what if this guy is boring and with no idea of what he is talking about. Experiencing all what is supposed to be pure adrenaline but in «slow motion «… so much fun right? NOT at ALL
That is why, having someone that is not just fully bilingual, and native (preferably) but also in accordance with this type of adventure, does matter. Most of the riders don’t want to look at someone else’s tail light for days, wondering when he is going to dare to speed up a little. It has nothing to do with age, but more with personality. Agencies who really care about their customers’ experiences, do have guides that are suitable for any kind of situation, especially in this Adventure tourism market. The final product end is not what the customer is gonna visit, not just the hotels or places matters, as it can be the best city you will ever be, or the most extreme path… but with a dull leader, it can make you lose your money and your patience.
In today’s chronicles we will be talking about… good guides 😉
What makes a guide a GOOD one?
- Fearless: Your guide should not be scared of speeding up once in a while, to maintain a good level of adrenaline and fun during the ride. And much better when he knows what to do if one of you falls down… oh yes… you will be eating dirt if you cheer up for an off-road adventure! So why not have someone who knows when and how to help and some mechanics too.
- Experienced: Your guide must know the best routes whether you want to go off-roading or pavement. Nothing better than someone who has visited and ridden all those routes before.
- Friendly: Who doesn’t like someone who has good social skills, you will be traveling for so many days that it would be nice to become his friend too.
- Native: this will be a plus, as he will probably know best about the country you are visiting, good spots where you can take some dope photos or restaurants with great food. A guide who knows about culture, traditions and also some fun facts about each place will make any long distance ride super easy to take.
- Bilingual/polyglot: Easy as, communication will be much fluent and you can rely on them to translate everything to the locals who don’t know your lenguaje. In Ecuador most of the people just speak one language- Spanish-, making it really difficult for the foreigners who don’t know a word in our language.
Our customers have spoken, they love our guide Pancho.
We got the best one, we love you Panchito 😉
Safe rides,
Ana Paula
Ecuador bike Rental.