Waterson - Insight Guides: Ecuador & Galápagos

How To Use This E-Book

Getting around the e-book

This Insight Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to Ecuador, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editors Choice categories of activies and experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary life in Ecuador. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, hotels, activities from to culture to shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights in Ecuador are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

Youll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Ecuador. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

About Insight Guides

Insight Guides have more than 40 years experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.

Insight Guides are written by local authors who use their on-the-ground experience to provide the very latest information; their local expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide to you the best places to stay and eat, so you can be confident that when we say a restaurant or hotel is special, we really mean it.

Like all Insight Guides , this e-book contains hundreds of beautiful photographs to inspire and inform your travel. We commission most of our own photography, and we strive to capture the essence of a destination using original images that you wont find anywhere else.

2013 Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

Introduction: Latitude Zero

Small but spectacular, Ecuador is one of Latin Americas most attractive destinations, with fabulous diversity in both culture and nature.

In 1736 Charles-Marie de la Condamine and Pierre Bouguer headed a pioneering expedition mounted by the French Academy of Science to study the equatorial line at its highest points. Close to a century later, the founders of the Republic of Ecuador chose the invisible line in the Andes as its namesake, already well aware of the geographical diversity of its territories.

Among the worlds most biodiverse countries 1 hectare (2.5 acres) of Amazon forest holds more tree species than all of North America, and one in three bird species is found in Ecuador the country has drawn explorers and researchers for more than 300 years, from German explorer Alexander von Humboldt and Charles Darwin in the 19th century, to modern biologists who still discover previously undescribed species. Although occupying an area only slightly larger than the US state of Colorado, Ecuador contains the snow-capped Andes, the wide, largely deserted beaches of the Pacific coast, and expanses of steamy Amazon jungle.

Butterfly in Parque Nacional Machalilla on the Pacific coast.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Historically one of Latin Americas least stable countries, Ecuador has had well over 100 presidents since full independence in 1830, amid a succession of minor civil wars through the early 20th century, and numerous coups and defenestrations of leaders at the hands of the people or the military. Yet these events have been short-lived, and Ecuador has almost entirely escaped the brutal violence that has haunted so many of its Latin American neighbors. Hence it is also among the safest in which to travel, though pickpocketing and instances of armed robbery are on the increase in some tourist areas.

At Guatamotes Thursday market.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Ecuador is not, and has never been, a prosperous country, but it has largely avoided the most bitter extremes of poverty that afflict other Andean countries. The oil prospects deep within the jungle are, indeed, dramatically increasing its wealth, but at the same time jeopardising the natural resources which make it such an appealing travel destination. As for the Ecuadorians themselves, they are, for the most part, a friendly, laid-back people. The population includes close to a dozen indigenous groups which account for over 40 percent of the total inhabitants. Many of these still speak Quichua and maintain traditions from Inca times and earlier.

With its fascinating natural and cultural diversity, it is easy to see why Ecuador has become one of the most popular destinations in South America.

Ecuadors Top 10 Attractions

From the Galpagos Islands to colonial gems and sandy beaches to snow-capped volcanoes, here is a shortlist of Ecuadors most spectacular attractions.

Top Attraction 1

Avenue of the Volcanoes . These snow-capped peaks span Ecuadors Andean spine. Hike and climb at the top of the world, as measured from the earths center. For more information, .

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 2

Cuenca . Cupolas of the 19th-century Catedral Nueva blend in with the older buildings of Cuena, a Unesco World Heritage Site, and one of Latin Americas best-preserved colonial Spanish cities. For more information, .

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 3

Otavalo . Culture does not get more Andean than in Otavalo, with its excellent textile market. Nearby lakes, haciendas, and colonial Ibarra round off the experience. For more information, .