Transportation

Transporting a dog in Quito is not the easiest process. 1st of all they aren't, by principal, allowed on public transportation. Some people can get away with it if their dog is small and quiet and they go in the back door. For example, if you have a poodle and you want to take the bus home from the park you probably can. No one will tell you no. But if you have a boxer and you want to take your dog home from the park on the bus, don't even think about it.

As far as taxis, this also depends on the size of your dog. As most people in Quito have small dogs, taxi drivers are fairly accustomed to transporting schnauzers, poodles and other little yappy things. But if you have anything bigger than collie or anything that 'looks' mean than you'll be waiting for a while. It's not impossible to transport dogs by taxi at all, but a lot of people will just shake their finger at you. Something that you can do to help are to call a taxi company and tell them you have a dog. Also it helps to bring a sheet to put down on the seat in the taxi, for some reason this makes them feel better.

Now, as far as long distance travel in Ecuador with a dog. Apparently you can take a dog in the long distance buses. We have never tried because I get to nervous. But that is something I want to attempt before we leave. The way that we'll eventually go about it is we'll take a taxi to the Carcelen bus station in the north and we'll go to the counter for our destination and just tell them that we want to take this dog with us. We'll probably have to wait until there is a bus empty enough to be permissible and until there is a driver that is willing to take a dog. We'll have to pay for his seat and we'll probably have to put a diaper on Chuki. It doesn't sound too intimidating but it does intimidate me.

How we've done it before is hire a car. When my parents were visiting us we were able to hire a van from Le Parc Hotel and take Chuki with us in the van. We went to Banos and Otavalo with them. (More details on where to stay and eat later). We were also able to take Chuki to Cotopaxi because the hosteria we stayed at provided a truck for transportation. (More details to come).

Here are some phone numbers for taxi companies and transportation companies in Quito:
Taxi Companies: 098384413 or 022222222
Transportation at Le Parc: 022276800

I'm still looking for the private transportation company that we looked into using. Once I find it I'll post it!




Bottom line, if you have a larger dog your best bet is to have a car. If you don't you'll need a lot of patience, a loose itinerary and if all else fails a good dog sitter!