Show Your 20's and Hide Your 1's

Ecuador uses the American dollar, which makes traveling to Ecuador a little easier than traveling to other countries. I don’t have to worry about obtaining the currency prior to my flight, and I don’t have to constantly convert currencies in my head when shopping. However, a few differences do exist. For instance, one dollar coins are very popular here. One dollar bills are also common; both are accepted. The coins have Ecuadorian monuments on them instead of US monuments and US presidents. A large 50 cent coin exists. And pennies are rare. They are rare because they aren’t really needed. When something costs $2.50, it costs $2.50- no tax is added to make it a more difficult number to provide change for, such as $2.66.

ATMs don’t dispense 50 or 100 dollar bills, even when taking out hundreds of dollars. Instead, only 1’s, 5’s, 10’s and 20’s are dispensed. Any person planning to use a 50 dollar bill will have great difficulty finding a place that will accept the bill- even if purchasing an item that costs $48. The money seems to be constantly cycled on the island. I’m not sure when the money gets transported to a bank on the mainland to be exchanged for new bills, but I won’t be surprised if it’s only twice a year. Many of the bills I receive as change are incredibly oily, worn down to be paper thin (bills aren’t exactly paper since they are made of blue jeans), and are commonly held together with pieces of tape. The one dollar bills are most commonly found in these conditions- which helps make sense why one dollar coins are popular, coins don’t tear or disintegrate from excessive use.

Furthermore, and the most shocking difference for a tourist, is the expectation to have exact change or provide a bill that is only one or two dollars more than the cost of what you are buying. Both in Quito and the Galapagos, venders, restaurants, and stores will reject selling you an item if you cannot provide the exact amount or close to the amount. One time in Quito, I tried giving the sales clerk a $5 bill to pay for $1.80 worth of notebooks; she flat out refused my $5 bill and insisted I pay her the exact change- which left me with only a $5 bill to pay for the 25 cent bus ride I was about to take. I explained to her I wanted my change for the bus, but she didn’t seem to care; she told me to exchange my $5 on the bus. Now that was surprising! She wouldn’t except a 5 for a bill of 1.80 but she expected me to pay for a 25 cent bus ride with a 5 dollar bill?! I didn’t know I could pay for a bus ride with a 5 dollar bill until I took her word for it and tried it. And of course the bus teller didn’t like taking a 5 either- it holds up the line and gets rid of a lot of his wanted coins.

When shopping whether it be for food, clothing, or souviengers, if a cashier knows you have smaller bills or coins, he’ll force you to pay for your items with them. So, to avoid these situations, I keep my one dollar bills and my coins in one pocket and my higher bills (my 5’s, 10’s and 20’s) in another pocket. If a cashier doesn’t see my coins when I try to pay for a $1.50 item with a 5 dollar bill, he is much more inclined to accept my 5.

So, to you future tourists, hide your 1's and show your 20's