Tipping of guide in Ecuador

Hi, I'm headed to Ecuador the day after Christmas for two weeks of climbing with a buddy.

Plan on a couple of warm-ups then Illinza Norte and Sur, Cotopaxi, and Chimbarazo. We will have a guide from High Summits guide service which is based in Ecuador.

Wonder if anyone has advice on tipping the guide. Really interested in determining what what amount is customary and how often the tip should be paid (after each climb?, at end of trip?, etc.).

Appreciate your thoughts and Merry Christmas!

I would say if you will have the same guide the whole time then wait until the end. If your guide does a good job then reward them with a generous tip.

I've been tipped up to half of the original fee that was paid by the client. It's really up to you and you'll be able to figure it out once you've been there an seen how far the currency goes. 20% is a good starting point, and I'm sure you'd be somewhere in the middle with that number, maybe closer to the high end?

Def. wait until the end of the time spent w/ the guide to tip him/her.

I went on a trip guided by Ecuadorian guides a few years ago and the trip organizer, who had done similar trips before, said the appropriate amount to tip was about $20/day/person. I used this as a minimum and actually tipped guides I took a liking to a lot more.

Definately wait until the end to pay.

Back from trip. Was great! Attempted 6 peaks; summited 6 peaks including Iliniza Norte/Sur, Cotopaxi and Chimborazo.

$20/day/person worked out well considering we bought meals and snacks for the guide many times.

High Summits is a good guide service if you are interested in Ecuador.

Be warned though, road travel in Ecuador is much more dangerous than the climbing...

Have a good one.

Lets see some pictures from your trip! Sounds like it was pretty killer summiting all the peaks you set out to bag...

Joe Carberry wrote:...Be warned though, road travel in Ecuador is much more dangerous than the climbing...

Anything worth mentioning?

Which roads? I did the same mtns over there about one month ago and the only road that was bad was the one to the trailhead of Iliniza Norte. And they were repairing that one quickly.

Regarding the road travel, yea the road to the Ilinza Trail Head (La Virgen) was really muddy and rutted in late December. We actually drove around a large rutted section of the road near La Virgen.

The scary part for me was the agressive driving common in that part of the world.

You know that sickening feeling you have right before a traffic accident? I had that twice on this trip, but we never actually collided with anything.

I'll post a couple of pics from the trip.

Some pics.

First peak was a easy warm-up South East of Quito

Second peak was another, higher walk-up West of Quito. Could smell sulpher, but could not see the crater due to clouds.


Third and fourth peaks were the Iliniza's. South of Quito and just West of the PanAmerican highway. The refugio is near the saddle between the two peaks. Norte was a relatively easy snow climb (usually a rock scramble). Sur was a steep glaciated climb.





Fifth peak was Cotopaxi. Lot of climbers on that peak. Arrived to summit before sunrise.



View of crevasses coming down was impressive.



Final peak was Chimborazo. Whymper summit is point farthest from the center of the earth.



Six peaks attempted and six summited. Were fortunate with relatively good weather/conditions. Also think the conservative approach to acclimitization really paid off.

Always up!