Your First Week in Ecuador — A Day-by-Day Survival Guide

You've been planning this move for months — maybe years. You've read every blog post, watched every YouTube video, joined every Facebook group. And now you're on a plane descending into Ecuador, and it's suddenly very real.

The first week is the hardest week. Not because anything terrible happens, but because everything is new, you're exhausted, and your brain is processing a thousand unfamiliar inputs per hour. This guide tells you exactly what to do each day so you don't have to figure it out while running on fumes.

Day 1: Arrive and Survive

Your only job today is getting from the airport to your bed. That's it.

Clear immigration. You'll get a T-3 tourist stamp in your passport — good for 90 days, no visa needed for most Western passport holders. The immigration officer may ask where you're staying. Have an address ready (your Airbnb, hotel, whatever). They almost never ask for proof of onward travel, but having a booking screenshot on your phone doesn't hurt.

Get transport. Your options depend on which city you're landing in:

• Quito (UIO): Uber works from the airport. Expect $20-35 to most neighborhoods in Quito proper. The Mariscal Sucre airport is about 45 minutes east of central Quito. Official airport taxis are $25-35 — buy the ticket at the taxi counter inside the terminal before walking out. Never accept rides from people approaching you in the arrivals hall.
• Guayaquil (GYE): Uber works here too. $8-12 to most parts of the city. The airport is right in the city, so trips are short. Official taxis are similar price.
• Cuenca (CUE): Uber works but drivers are fewer. Airport taxis are $5-8 to anywhere in the city center. The Cuenca airport is tiny and close to everything — you'll be at your accommodation in 15 minutes.

Check into your temporary housing. If you're smart, you booked an Airbnb for 2-4 weeks. Do NOT sign a lease yet. You need time to explore neighborhoods, understand the city, and figure out what kind of place actually works for you. Plenty of people sign a 12-month lease on day 2 and regret it by week 3. A month in an Airbnb costs $500-900 in Cuenca, $600-1,200 in Quito — it's cheap insurance against a bad decision.

Get cash. Find an ATM and withdraw $200-300 in small bills. Ecuador uses the US dollar, so no currency conversion headaches — but many small shops, taxis, and markets are cash-only. Banco del Pacífico and Banco de Guayaquil ATMs are the most reliable for foreign cards. Max withdrawal is usually $300-500 per transaction, and your bank may charge $3-5 per withdrawal.

Buy water and basics. Find the nearest tienda (small shop) and grab bottled water, some fruit, maybe bread and cheese. Don't worry about a big grocery run today.

Rest. This is not optional advice — it's medical advice if you're in the highlands. Quito sits at 9,350 feet. Cuenca at 8,400 feet. The combination of jet lag and altitude will flatten you. Your heart rate is elevated, you're slightly short of breath, and your body is working overtime to adjust. Drink water constantly. Skip the coffee — caffeine constricts blood vessels and makes altitude adjustment harder. Go to bed early. Read our altitude sickness guide for the full breakdown.

Day 2: Get Your Bearings

You slept terribly. That's normal — altitude disrupts sleep for the first 3-5 nights. Take it slow.

Explore your immediate neighborhood on foot. Walk a 5-10 block radius and locate:

• The nearest supermarket (Supermaxi, Gran Akí, or Coral Hipermercados are the big chains)
• A pharmacy (Fybeca and Pharmacys are the major chains — they're everywhere)
• An ATM you can use again
• A restaurant that does almuerzos (the set lunch)

Buy a SIM card. Walk into any Claro or Movistar store. Claro has better coverage nationwide; Movistar is fine in cities. A SIM card costs $2-5, and a basic data package with calls runs $5-10 for 30 days. Bring your passport — they'll register the SIM to it. Make sure your phone is unlocked before you leave home. You need data for maps, Uber, and WhatsApp, which is the primary communication tool in Ecuador. Landlords, doctors, businesses — everyone uses WhatsApp. If you don't have it, download it now.

Eat your first almuerzo. Find a small restaurant with a sign that says "Almuerzo $2.50" or "$3.00" (prices vary by city — Cuenca averages $2.50-3.50, Quito $3-4). You'll get sopa (soup), a segundo (main course with rice, protein, and salad), a glass of fresh juice, and sometimes a small dessert. This is the best food deal in the country, and many expats eat almuerzo as their main meal daily.

Download essential apps:

• Uber — works in Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca, and Ambato
• InDriver — ride-hailing where you name your price. More options than Uber in smaller cities
• PedidosYa — food delivery, like DoorDash
• WhatsApp — non-negotiable
• Google Maps — download the offline map for your city. Cell data can be spotty, and offline maps have saved many expats from getting lost
• Google Translate — download the Spanish offline language pack for camera translation of signs and menus

Take it easy. You're still adjusting. Walk, don't run. Stairs will wind you. This is temporary.

Day 3: Start Building Your Life

Start apartment hunting. If you're planning to rent (and you should be — buying comes later, if ever), today is the day to start looking. Strategies that work:

• Walk neighborhoods. Look for "Se Arrienda" signs on buildings. Many landlords don't list online.
• Facebook groups. "Cuenca Expats," "Gringo Post Cuenca," "Expats in Quito," and city-specific rental groups have daily listings from both locals and expats.
• Rental agencies. In Cuenca, agencies like Cuenca Real Estate and local inmobiliarias handle expat-friendly rentals. Expect to pay $400-700/month for a furnished 2-bedroom apartment in Cuenca, $500-1,000 in Quito.
• Ask around. Tell every expat you meet that you're looking. Word of mouth fills more apartments than websites here.

Open a bank account. This is easier than you've heard. Banco del Pacífico is the most foreigner-friendly bank and will open an account with just your passport and a utility bill or rental agreement (your Airbnb confirmation sometimes works). Banco de Guayaquil and Produbanco also work with foreigners but may want a cédula (your Ecuadorian ID, which you get after your visa is processed). A local bank account makes life dramatically easier — you can pay utilities, receive transfers, and avoid ATM fees. See our opening a bank account guide for the full walkthrough.

Visit a mercado. Go browse — don't pressure yourself to buy everything. The big municipal markets (Mercado 10 de Agosto in Cuenca, Mercado Central in Quito) are overwhelming at first. Just walk through, look at the produce, notice the prices ($1 for a bag of avocados, $0.50 for a pineapple), and eat something at one of the food stalls. You'll come back when you know what you're doing.

Days 4-5: Go Deeper

Continue apartment hunting. Visit 5-8 places minimum before making any decisions. What seems amazing on day 3 might look different after you've seen the alternatives. Pay attention to:

• Noise (Ecuador is loud — ask about neighbors, nearby construction, street noise)
• Water pressure and hot water (turn on the shower and check)
• Natural light and ventilation
• Walking distance to things you need
• Whether the landlord seems responsive and reasonable

Register with your embassy. If you're American, enroll in STEP (Smart Traveler Enrollment Program) at step.state.gov. This gets you emergency notifications, helps the embassy contact you in a crisis, and makes replacement passports easier. The US Embassy is in Quito; there's a consular agency in Guayaquil. Other countries have similar programs — do it now while you're thinking about it.

Start investigating healthcare. If you already have your visa and cédula, you can enroll in IESS (Instituto Ecuatoriano de Seguridad Social) — Ecuador's national healthcare system. Monthly cost is based on your declared income, minimum around $90/month. It covers doctor visits, prescriptions, surgery, and hospitalization. Even if you're on a tourist visa, start researching your options — private insurance, IESS, or pay-as-you-go. Read our healthcare system guide and expat health insurance guide.

Explore a second neighborhood. Don't just settle for the area around your Airbnb. Take an Uber to a different part of the city and walk around for an hour. In Cuenca, if you're near El Centro, go check out Yanuncay or Misicata. In Quito, if you're in La Mariscal, go see Cumbayá or González Suárez. Each neighborhood has a completely different feel, and the right neighborhood matters more than the right apartment.

Days 6-7: Settle In

Make a housing decision. By now you should have seen enough places to either commit or narrow to 2-3 finalists. When you sign a lease, expect to pay first month's rent plus one month's security deposit. Get everything in writing — even if it's a WhatsApp agreement, screenshot it. A formal contrato de arrendamiento (rental contract) is better. Have a Spanish-speaking friend or your landlord's assistant explain anything you don't understand.

Join the community. This is when you stop being a tourist and start being a resident. Find your people:

• Cuenca: Wednesday Gringo Night at various rotating venues (check the Cuenca Expats Facebook group for the weekly location), coffee meetups at Common Grounds or Café del Museo, various hobby groups
• Quito: Expat meetups through InterNations and Facebook groups, La Ronda area social events
• General: Volunteer organizations, Spanish classes (a great way to meet other expats and locals simultaneously), church groups, fitness classes

Stock your kitchen. Now that you know your way to the Supermaxi and the mercado, do a proper grocery run. Buy the basics: rice, eggs, vegetables, fruit, coffee, cooking oil, spices. A full week of groceries for one person runs $25-40 at the market, $40-60 at the supermarket. See our grocery shopping guide.

Build your routine. Find the coffee shop where you'll be a regular. Map out your morning walk. Identify the restaurant where the owner starts to recognize you. Routine is the antidote to the chaos of newness. Within two weeks, you'll have a version of normal.

Breathe. You did it. You moved to Ecuador. The hardest part — actually showing up — is behind you.

Common First-Week Mistakes

These are the things that trip up almost every new arrival. Don't be that person.

Trying to do everything at once. You don't need a bank account, a cedula, a lease, IESS enrollment, a Spanish tutor, and a gym membership in seven days. Spread it out. You have 90 days on your tourist stamp.

Signing a lease on day 2. The first apartment you see is never the best apartment you'll find. Give yourself at least a week. Monthly Airbnb rates give you that flexibility.

Not hydrating. In the highlands, your body loses moisture faster than at sea level. You need to drink 3-4 liters of water per day for the first week, minimum. Headaches, fatigue, and nausea are usually dehydration plus altitude, not a mysterious tropical illness.

Fighting altitude with caffeine. You're exhausted, so you drink more coffee. Caffeine dehydrates you and constricts blood vessels, making altitude symptoms worse. Switch to coca tea (mate de coca) — it's legal, traditional, and actually helps with altitude adjustment.

Comparing everything to home. "In the US, this would never happen." "Back home, the customer service is so much better." "At Costco, I could get this for half the price." Stop. Every comparison reinforces the idea that you're in the wrong place. You're not — you're in a different place. Give it a chance to be itself.

Not asking for help. Expat communities exist specifically for this moment. Post in the Facebook group. Talk to the person next to you at the coffee shop. Ask your Airbnb host for recommendations. People who've been here a year love helping newcomers because they remember being exactly where you are.

Isolating. It's tempting to hide in your Airbnb with Netflix and delivery food. Don't. Every day you stay inside makes it harder to go outside. Force yourself out, even when you don't feel like it. Especially when you don't feel like it.

What You'll Need in Your Phone

A quick-reference list you can screenshot:

• Emergency: 911 (works in Ecuador), 101 (police), 102 (fire), 131 (Red Cross ambulance)
• Your embassy's local number
• Your Airbnb host's WhatsApp
• Offline Google Maps of your city
• A photo of your passport (information page and entry stamp)
• Your bank's international phone number in case your card gets blocked

The One-Month Mark

By week 4, you'll look back at this first week and laugh at how stressed you were. You'll have a favorite almuerzo spot, a routine at the market, a few friends, and the beginning of a life. The hardest part of moving to Ecuador isn't the bureaucracy or the language or the altitude. It's the first seven days of feeling completely out of your depth. You just got through them.

Welcome home.

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Related guides: Moving to Ecuador Checklist | Best Neighborhoods in Cuenca | Altitude Sickness in Ecuador | Opening a Bank Account | Cell Phone Plans in Ecuador