Yesterday, I emailed our travel agent at
Betty Maclean Travel with our Ecuador/Uruguay trip requests. Our agent,
Betsy Patton, is a trusted resource for traveling abroad. While services are customarily for the luxury market, Betsy has been terrific at assisting us with trips of an economy nature as well.
Our first leg of the trip takes us to Quito. We will stay at the Swissotel, where the International Living conference we are attending is being held.
After Quito, we will head north to Cotacachi. My pick for a hotel is the expat owned Hotel Flores/Inn of the Sun.
Gary Scott also does a host of living/investing seminars. I figure its a great way to mingle with like minded people.
At the previous Panama IL event, we booked 2 tours following the conference. While there were several benefits, it was exhausting. We plan on taking a more independent and leisurely pace.
Pro-Ecuador is offering a post conference 3 day tour for those interested.
Next, we fly south to Cuenca, Ecuador's cultural city. Cuenca has a large active expat community, as evidenced by the blogroll at
South Of Zero. 
After Cuenca, it's on to Montevedeo in Uruguay. Uruguay is a rural country makes me think it resembles what Texas was like before JR Ewing, the oil bust and the Enron scandal. Here ALL the cattle are grass fed and roam vast estancias. I am looking forward to my first experience of the
parrilla. 
It is likely we are saving the best for last, Punta Del Este. Known as the St Tropez of South America, wealthy Brazilians and Argentinians as well as international celebrities flock here for the high season of Dec - Feb. Without having been there, it reminds me of what it was like living in Naples, FL.
Naples was where we met Betsy. Despite moves to Texas, Nevada and now back to Florida, we have relied on Betsy to help us arrange memorable experiences abroad. We are confident our South American trip will not be an exception.
