ECUADOR



Geography and biodiversity: Ecuador - with its Pacific Coast beaches, whitewater rivers, Amazonian rainforest, Andes highlands, and the Galapagos Islands - offers a wealth of opportunity for every adventure travel and ecotourism enthusiast. Located along the Pacific Coast of South America on the equator (read: hot), Ecuador is bisected by the Andes Mountains (read: cold), which separate the Amazon rainforest in the east from the coastal region and the Galapagos Islands in the west. This unique geography creates one of the most bio-diverse countries in the world. For example, there are more than 1,600 species of birds in Ecuador, more per square mile than any other country in South America. At the same time, Ecuador´s relatively small landmass (270,000 sq. kilometers, about the size of the state of Nevada) makes it easy to travel across these diverse climate zones in a short period of time.

Population, history, and culture: Approximately 14 million people call Ecuador home, 3 million of whom live in Guayaquil (the largest city) and 2 million in Quito, the capital city and ancient seat of government of the Inca Empire. The majority of Ecuadorians are mestizo, or a mixture of Spanish and indigenous heritage. The legacy of the Spanish conquerors who arrived in the sixteenth century is stamped in every city of the Andes, with their cobblestone streets, tiled roof buildings, large central plazas, and intricately decorated colonial churches. For its colonial architecture, the historical center of Quito and the city of Cuenca have been named World Heritage Sites by the United Nations. At the same time, Ecuador maintains a large indigenous population and cultural influence, especially that of the Quechua (or Kichwa) peoples. In the highlands, indigenous residents display their culture through traditional dress in colorful ponchos and sell handmade weavings and crafts in large open-air markets.  Meanwhile, many of the indigenous tribes of the Amazon, especially those recently contacted by Western civilization, have to a great extent preserved their traditional ways of life, and live in thatch-roof houses, use dugout canoes to navigate the region’s waterways and blowguns to hunt.

GALAPAGOS



Located off the coast of Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands were formed by a series of volcanic eruptions occurring over millennia. While the islands originally held no trace of life, they were slowly populated by plant and animal species that have evolved in isolation on the islands with no natural predators for thousands of years. Because of this, many mysterious creatures can be found only on the Galapagos, including giant tortoises, marine iguanas, and Galapagos finches. Charles Darwin was inspired by precisely these birds and a visit to the Galapagos when he wrote his treatise on evolution, The Origin of Species.


Discovered for the first time by humans in the 1500s, referred to as the Enchanted Islands by the first sailors, and the best argument for evolution according to Darwin, the Galapagos Islands promise to inspire you in the same way they have inspired humanity for hundreds of years. Beautiful volcanic landscapes protruding from tranquil turquoise waters, pristine white sand beaches, and wildlife so tame that they seem to pose for pictures and seek out human contact - tortoises, iguanas, sea lions, blue-footed boobies, and more - will leave you with the best feelings, and also the best pictures.