Santo Domingo de los Colorado, Pichincha

Vía Alóag, is the most popular road from Quito to the heartland of Santo Domingo, which is awesome with meandering roads and bends along most of the elevated scenic drive that from the right side looks over fantastic valley views of trees, forests, houses dotted along the skyline and rock ranges. This snake road passes the small villages of Tandapi (45 km from Alóag), with basic accommodation and several restaurants along the road. 2 1/2 km from Tandapi, look out or ask the driver if in bus for the "El Poder Brutal", which is a sculptured rock of the devil's face complete with his fangs and horns. Alluriquín, 104 Km on the road is Hotel Florida with horse riding, swimming pool and a restaurant.
If driving by car please be careful to watch out for any careless drivers overtaking on bends especially in the evening when the fog and clouds create visibility problems forcing drivers to reduce speed to 20 km per hour.
15 minutes before arriving to Sto. Domingo de los Colorados is Tinalandia, a lodge with comfortable cabins and over 360 species of birds.

Santo Domingo de Los Colorados is 129 km from Quito. Is the central route from the highlands to the coastline. Sto. Domingo has become a central banana and palm oil industry, though sugar plantations are also to be found in this valley province. The city itself is prone to flooding after torrential rains and not very attractive for travelers though you may find several reserves in the surrounding areas away from the city.

The "Monumento al Colorado" statue west of the center of town personifies well the look and dress code of the Tsáchila people nicknamed "Indios Colorados" but these indigenous Indians never venture to town in their traditional attire unless during special celebrations. The name "Indios Colorados" was attributed to them mainly because they would paint their hair red with a vegetable dye. They are spread around 8 different areas, from Santo Domingo to Chone, Quinindé and Quevedo inhabiting a reserve of around 8000 ha although today they total less than 2000 in numbers.