Ecuador, which is roughly the size of the UK, manages to package up all the best bits of Latin America. Measured by square mile, it is the most biologically-diverse country on the planet.
“Ecuador is the most exuberant expression of life on Earth”,
Andy Drumm, Tropic founder and president.
It boasts some 25,000 plant species (compared with 17,000 in the whole of North America), more than 2000 varieties of orchid and nearly 1600 bird species. Ecuador’s natural and cultural resources present ample opportunities for all travellers.
Ecuador is now emerging as Latin America's best-kept secret with a sophisticated and vibrant cultural scene and enough adventure to satisfy the keenest of appetites. Quito, the country's colonial capital and a UNESCO World Heritage site, has jumped up in the glamour stakes as the city has just received a £20-million face-lift and a number of stylish new restaurants in bustling plazas and restored hotels in elegant boulevards are also fueling the renaissance. The imposing churches built in Quito (and Cuenca) after the 16th century Spanish conquest of Ecuador will amaze.
Nowhere is very far away in Ecuador, on any day of the year you can reach glaciers, snow, jungle, mountains, volcanoes, moorland, beaches etc… One moment you can be in the heart of the Amazon, the next standing in view of an active volcano in the Cotopaxi National Park. Among Ecuador’s Andean peaks is the perfect snow-capped cone of Cotopaxi, nick-named the Mt Fuji of Ecuador, which at 5,897 m or over 19,000ft is the world’s second highest active volcano.
The amazing Galapagos Islands were never part of the continent of South America. Their flora and fauna developed in isolation and subsequently gave Charles Darwin a unique window into the evolutionary process. Modern-day wildlife enthusiasts will find the islands (actually the peaks of underwater volcanoes, some of which are still active) just as fascinating; having never learned to fear humans, the copious animal species are extraordinarily approachable.
Click on the separate section, The Galapagos, for more information.
Visas
Travellers with British Passports (the machine-readable type) do not need visas for Ecuador, but ensure that your passport has at least 6 months to run from the your departure date.
When to go
Ecuador can be visited all year round. Though not large, there is great variety in the climate, determined by altitude. A popular time to travel is between June and September. Due to its location at the equator, Ecuador experiences little variation in daylight hours during the course of a year. Dusk is around 6 pm all year round. More…
Getting There
It takes more or less 13 hours to get to Ecuador. There are no direct ways of flying there, but we can recommend either Iberia from London Heathrow via Madrid or with British Airways to Miami and then American Airlines down to Quito.
The Galapagos islands are accessed by air from Quito and Guayaquil in Ecuador. All flights to the Galapagos which originate in Quito and touchdown in Guayaquil en route. The return trip is the same. Aerogal is the main airline serving the islands.
Time Difference
GMT -5
