I have done a alot of reading on 'weather' and best travel times for Ecudaor. I find that the sites can contradict one another. I am left still alittle unsure.
My husband & I will be taking our 5 year old and 10 year old to Ecuador for 3-4 week. We will do Galapogos Islands for sure for a week or more, but I havn't planned much beyond that.
I need decide on a good time because I run a home day care and I have to let the families know asap. I was thinking April or May because it won't be crazy hot, or high season (as over priced), over cowded.
Please share your opinion on what it a good time to take a month or so and travel around with kids.
Thanks.
motheroftwo
1
lilylangtree
It doesn't surprise me that you find contradictory info on the climate, as it's not always particularly easy to explain.
This is my experience: Ecuador is on the Equator (um, obviously!), so it doesn't have regular "seasons" as such.
In Quito and the mountains, the altitude stops it from ever being extremely hot. It is VERY changeable there. You will read that Dec-Mar is the "rainy season" or something, but quite frankly I was in Quito for nine months and I didn't notice a time that was so much more rainy than any other time. Typically, you wake up to a warm sunny morning - the sun is VERY strong on the Equator and direct overhead, so you will need strong sunscreen, sunglasses and hats even though it won't be very hot. In the afternoon, quite often the clouds gather overhead alarmingly quickly and there may be a downpour. So even when there is not a cloud in the sky, you get used to carrying an umbrella or light waterproof because that can change so fast. I got wet many times before I learnt this lesson thoroughly. By the evening, it's chilly and you want a thick jumper or a standard jacket. It doesn't get near freezing though, until you get much higher in the mountains.
I was in the Galapagos in May and it was hot, which I think it pretty much always is, and didn't rain.
I think April/May is a fine time to do Ecuador, in short.
LL
2
sundown
Ditto on April/May. June to September is nicer weather in the Andes, but cooler and usually overcast on the coast.
3
jjh3d
Reply #1 nailed it exactly. I've been to Quito about 10 times in the last few years, during various months, and it's always as #1 described: Nice in the morning, cloudy and a shower in the afternoon, chilly at night. I noticed that everyone seems to be carrying a jacket for the first half of the day, wearing it at times. You'll notice that when the sun dips behind a cloud it gets immediately cool. For me, the umbrella isn't worth the trouble, I just duck in somewhere when the rain comes.
Elevation is everything, even a small change will affect the temperature. For example, Cumbaya is only minutes from Quito but noticeably warmer (lower). Another example is my friend's house, which is on the side of the city, near El Bosque Mall, just a little bit up the side of the mountain, and it's cooler. Obviously, if you leave the Andes and go west toward the coast or east toward the jungle it gets hot and humid, sort of like NYC in August.
Because the weather is GENERALLY the same all year, I would never let it dictate my month of travel. Better to work it around the cost and your business schedule.
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