Quito Street Art
The final days of 2023 are swiftly slipping away, and I’m anxious to share the details of one last memorable afternoon among my many adventures up north in my adopted home of Ecuador this year. A somewhat last minute decision to sign up for a Street Art Walking Tour in the La Floresta neighborhood in Quito.
Memories of my eats in Vietnam: a pork belly bánh mi sandwich – yum!
Furthermore, given that I live in one of the most beautiful Colonial cities on the Planet (and thus was a good bit underwhelmed by the central Historic district of Quito), discovering the La Floresta neighborhood proved to be a most pleasant surprise. Just a 15 min. Uber from my hotel in the bustling Historic district, Floresta turns out to be a peaceful haven of leafy streets lined with charming boutique shops and… even better (for this hardcore foodie) chock-full of all manner of up (and low-) scale restaurants.
Indeed, it was in fevered search of one of the most coveted “must see/try” Quito eats on my list that I deliberately arranged to arrive an hour early in La Floresta before my street art tour. My quarry? A simple sandwich that I oh so fondly remember from my years of living in Vietnam (and otherwise impossible to find in Cuenca): a simple “Bánh Mì” sandwich.
Delectable sweets at ImagiNativa
After savoring once again the wondrously fresh flavors of my days in Asia, I hurried to nearby “ImagiNativa” to meet my guide for a walking tour of the street art of the Floresta neighborhood. And – just my luck – I ended up being the only participant, so it was a private tour! Furthermore, before we even started the tour, I simply HAD to grab a little something for dessert: a few of the incredible pastry treats at La ImagiNativa.
And from there… the next 3 hours passed by in a blissful blur of amazingly eclectic street art (along with fascinating facts about the artists from my most knowledgeable and charming guide, Jorge), a sublime chocolate tasting, a drop-in at a local art gallery open-house (where I bought an extraordinary “black-on-black” poster by my favorite Quito street artist, Ache Vallejo), and we even managed to stumble across a lovely THRIFT STORE chock-full of stylish clothing!
So w/o further ado – let’s get straight to the luscious street art:
My fabulous guide, Jorge at a mixed media outdoor street art display with bits of yarn, wire, and crocheted posies.
Glass eye mosaic (signed by the artist “Mosaiquito” with bitty beads) and more street art needlework by those busy (tree-hugging) “Crocheteras”
Incredible detail…
“Nada es para Siempre” – “Nothing is Forever”…
And our final stop – a private chocolate tasting at “Paccari Experience” – sampling a boatload of the exotic (international award-winning) flavors.
As if strolling for hours amid all that stunning street art wasn’t enough, I fell so in love with the La Foresta neighborhood – I returned the following day to sample more of the eats. First a bit of sushi at Sushi ZO . And later – a savory Asian dinner of another of my most sought after international eats: dim sum dumplings at (the whimsically named) DUM DUM Dumpling Shop.
BIG P.S.
BTW… this wondrous street art tour was offered as a “FREE” tour (i.e. no *required* fee but of course, a voluntary tip (commensurate with the value that you personally place on the experience) is most welcome/arguably expected. Indeed, it seems many travelers are a bit confused by the concept of such “free” tours and wonder how much is an appropriate “tip”. In my experience, many don’t tip nearly enough (e.g. $5 for a 3 hr. tour – or worse, nothing at all!), while others tip arguably far too much (which, is great for that particular guide, but comes with its own local economy disruption downside).
So in the interest of shedding some light on the matter (in hopes of helping others who wonder…) how ’bout I polish off this monologue with my personal thoughts on the (several) factors to consider when calculating an appropriate tip for such “free” tours.
My answer to a fellow traveler who asked me in the TripAdvisor Quito forum prior to my trip:
| Q: “…do you know how much are you expected to tip for this type of tour? 5-10 dollars per person, or more?)”
(my) A: It’s a personal choice of course (i.e. how much you value the tour). But I tend to consider a variety of factors in how much I tip for a “free” walking tour anywhere in the World: 1. The economy of the country I’m doing it in (i.e. clearly the COL/wages in NYC are considerably higher than in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia). 2. The length of the tour (i.e. 2 vs. 3, 4 or 5+ hours of work for the tour guide) 3. The number of participants in the group – i.e. some tours allow for 20+ (ugh!) and… at even $10 pp, the guide is earning at least $200 for a few hours work in… again, what’s the going wage in that particular country? 4. And finally, was the guide exceptional? Mediocre? Poor performance (unintelligible, little commentary, etc.)? And all of the above – relative to the going rate for a similar PAID tour offered via the likes of Viator/Get Your Guide (that btw… skim sometimes up to 40% off what the guide/tour operator actually receives). lol, don’t mean to make brain surgery of it, but I believe many travelers don’t consider all these (imho, important/relevant) factors when paying for a “free” walking tour somewhere in the World. Rule of thumb? YMMV, but I generally pay $5/hour of the tour – mitigated by the number of participants and the skill of the guide. Thus, for the aforementioned Street Art Walking tour in Quito (i.e. 2.5 – 3 hrs. max 10 participants) I plan on tipping the guide (presuming he/she’s knowledgeable/good) $12-$15 (again, if 10 in the group) Else closer to $20 if a smaller group size. This is in keeping w/ what I firmly know is well above the typical wage for similar work in Ecuador (I’ve been living in Cuenca for nearly a decade now). Plus – it’s much more economical than the $65 tour offered by Viator. IOW, in my book – a win-win for all concerned. 😉 |
In any case, trust that I paid Jorge especially well for what turned out to be a fabulous private tour. Indeed, one of the HIGHLIGHTS of my entire trip to Quito!
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Blessings of good health, contentment, and plenty of fabulous new travel adventures to all my TL readers in 2024!
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About the Author
Dyanne Off-the-beaten-path travel is my passion,and I’ve always lived life “like-a-kid-in-a-candy-store” – eager to sample as many flavors as I can. Indeed, my life motto has long been: This ain’t a dress rehearsal, folks!
Off-the-beaten-path travel is my passion, and I’ve always lived life “like a kid in a candy store” – eager to sample as many flavors as I can. Indeed, my life motto has long been:
