Review of "Stories from Ecuador" by Tyrel Nelson

Score: 90/100 (9.0 out of 10)

Tyrel Nelson, the OCA award-winning author of Travels and Tribulations, returns with yet another exhilarating and eye-opening travel book!

Travels and Tribulations followed Nelson on Habitat for Humanity trips across Latin America while he processed the loss of his parents and adopted a people-first philosophy guided by their wisdom.
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Stories from Ecuador picks up that thread by slowing the pace in one country, turning those lessons into a year of teaching, friendship, and everyday encounters that deepen his empathy.

This book follows Nelson through a year of teaching, wandering, and soul-searching across Ecuador, capturing his experiences in warm, self-aware vignettes that read like journal entries polished into stories. He brings readers into bustling markets, misty highland trails, cramped buses, quiet cafés, and lively classrooms, always focusing less on sightseeing and more on the people who shape each moment. His curiosity is contagious, his humility disarming, and his reflections, whether on friendship, culture, or finding one’s place in the world, give the book a gentle emotional backbone that stays with the reader.

While it's not as profound and heavy-hitting with its existential messaging as Travels and Tribulations (we used the term "emotionally-bulldozing" to describe it), Stories from Ecuador still allows for moments of quiet resonance and hard-earned insight, letting small interactions open into larger reflections on belonging, service, and wonder. Its power comes from patient observation, gentle humor, and the way ordinary days accumulate into a portrait of growth.

For example, a simple bus ride, a shared meal, or an unexpected friendship often becomes a window into the culture and into Nelson’s own personal growth. A routine day of teaching can shift into a lesson about patience or gratitude, and a casual hike can turn into a moment of clarity about why he chose this path in the first place.

This is not a book that seems geared to knock you over or break your heart. This is a book that seems geared to bring you along on an eye-opening and fulfilling experience/journey.

This is truly an adventure at times.

With Travels and Tribulations, you really got the sense that Nelson was going through a huge emotional and spiritual journey in which he was reconnecting with humanity and coming to terms with life, loss, and death. There's one scene that still really stands out to us in which Nelson has a conversation about a beautiful cemetery he finds, and his female companion explains to him that death in some cultures and countries is treated as beautiful.

Ironically, there is a similar scene in Stories from Ecuador in which Nelson once again pauses in front of a cemetery and realizes it is the prettiest place in the city. During his visit to Azogues, he and Sheik discover that the local charnel ground is filled with cheerful colors and immaculate paths, and he even admits that “the cemetery is the best part of Azogues." The bright arches, palm tree centerpiece, fresh flowers, and spotless niches create a place that feels peaceful rather than gloomy, leading Nelson to smile in a cemetery for the first time. It mirrors the earlier book’s message that different cultures hold different views of death, and that these views can actually be beautiful.

This book really invites you to be open-minded and respectful of things that may be uncomfortable but that mean something else to people living in these countries. For example, bull fighting was huge in Ecuador when Nelson was there, and he experiences/witnesses them. Of course, as Americans, part of this seems barbaric, cruel, and disturbing. Weapons like spears are sometimes used on the bulls. However, Nelson handles this with tact and respect. No, he's not condoning or supporting these acts, but he's observing and reporting on them like a journalist would. He chronicles it.

And, in a lot of ways, this book is a chronicle with commentary.

The world is diverse. Cultures are diverse. Traditions are diverse. People are diverse. Everyone does things in their own way, and we're fortunate to get a glimpse of that here.

For example, he sees people washing clothes in the river. Who are we to judge?
It's resourceful and it gets the job done.

He also witnesses the famous Passing of the Traveling Child event in Cuenca on Christmas Eve, a massive procession filled with children dressed in vibrant traditional outfits, families celebrating together, and an entire community lining the streets with pride and joy. Nelson captures the beauty and innocence of the moment, noting how the children become the heart of the celebration and how the parade reveals a deep cultural reverence for tradition, faith, and togetherness.

He comes upon El Chorro, the iconic and massive waterfall near Girón, and it becomes one of the standout natural sights of his entire journey. The sheer force of the falling water, the cool mist drifting across the trail, and the dramatic cliffs surrounding the cascade give the moment an almost cinematic quality, reminding him again of how humbling and breathtaking the Ecuadorian landscape can be.

He even stops by the famous iguana park in Guayaquil, a quirky and unforgettable spot where dozens of large iguanas wander freely among benches, pathways, and unsuspecting visitors. Nelson describes the scene with a mix of amusement and fascination, treating it as yet another reminder that travel often surprises you in the most unexpected and delightful ways. In all honesty, this was one of our favorite scenes in the book. It resonated with us having just visited Miami, Florida and been surrounded by iguanas! It's quite an experience. They're goofy creatures.

He also visits what his friend Andrew calls “the best church in Ecuador,” the spectacular Church of Our Lady of the Holy Water in Baños. Inside, he finds towering yellow columns, ornate artwork, and a vibrant baroque altar that leave both travelers momentarily speechless . The scene becomes even more memorable when they discover the holy water fountain tucked off to the side, where locals line up to collect water, wash their hair, or fill bottles as part of a long-held devotion . It is one of Nelson’s most vivid examples of how faith and daily life intertwine in Ecuador, and he treats it with the same curiosity and respect that shape the rest of his journey.

We also appreciate Nelson's writing. No, it's not always top-notch or literary excellence (it's written more like a diary or journal), but there are great uses of alliteration and personification in here.

Nelson’s ear for sound gives the travelogue a gentle rhythm. Azogues opens under “skyscraping palms,” and its cemetery glows with “pinkish brick paths.” In Cuenca, evening paints the sky “a fascinating fuchsia.” Carnival in Baños leaves him grateful to arrive at Basilica Park “froth free,” where he steps into a “beige and blue church” and watches devotion unfold.

Along the Tomebamba, he lingers by a “riveting river” and follows a “pacifying passage” perfumed by the “sweet smells” of eucalyptus while people hum through the scene like “busy bees.” In the highlands, a sudden drizzle turns Sheik into a splash of color with a “bright yellow poncho” and “blinding rubber boots,” and later the energy of a “rusty-roofed stadium” and the climb up Turi’s “steep staircases” round out a style that feels musical, textured, and alive.

Two of his sharpest personifications come on the trail, where “the brush ‘swallowed him’” and later the “trash ‘consumed the trail.’” Together they show how the environment, both wild and human made, takes center stage and acts on the traveler. One image pulls him into nature’s thicket, the other exposes the scars people leave behind. By pairing those moments, Nelson captures the full, honest texture of the journey and his place in it. Along the Tomebamba, the river becomes “my loyal lady,” a steady companion who will “lull me to sleep.” Carnival turns Baños’s streets into a “frothy battlefield,” and the immaculate cemetery in Azogues “almost encouraged one to give up the ghost.”

Oh, and by the way, it's really cool to see the real, raw, unedited photos of Ecuador!

So, are you ready to go on an Ecuadorian adventure?

Check it out on Amazon!