Ecuador

Baños sits on a narrow plateau above the Pastaza River where the steep eastern Andes begin to descend towards the Amazon. Water comes from every direction: hot springs below the town, clouds around Tungurahua and long waterfalls along the road towards Puyo.

The Ruta de las Cascadas is the classic day, by bicycle or vehicle, passing Manto de la Novia and several smaller falls on the way to Pailón del Diablo. Casa del Árbol and other high viewpoints reveal the Tungurahua massif when the clouds open. After hiking, rafting or canyoning, the day can end in the town’s thermal pools.

Baños is highly developed for outdoor activities but still has a compact local centre with a basilica, market and melcocha pulled into long glossy strands in shop doorways. Three or four nights allow both activity and recovery and make the town a natural link between Quito, Cotopaxi and the Amazon.

Cuenca’s blue domes rise above tiled roofs while the Tomebamba River runs below the historic city. Bridges, parks and low-rise streets give the centre an easy scale, and the Andean mountains remain close enough to appear between the buildings.

The historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with cathedrals, convents, markets and houses from several periods. Pumapungo introduces both the Inca city of Tomebamba and Ecuador’s many living cultures. Workshops and museums continue the tradition of the hat internationally known as the Panama hat, even though it originated in Ecuador.

Cuenca is also the gateway to the lakes and páramo of Cajas National Park and the craft towns of Gualaceo and Chordeleg. Three or four nights allow time for the city, museums and a full day beyond the centre. The result is one of Ecuador’s most balanced combinations of culture, everyday life and highland nature.

The boat leaves Coca or the Cuyabeno bridge and follows a brown river between walls of rainforest. Howler monkeys and oropendolas sound in the morning, and after dark frogs, insects and nocturnal birds take over the soundscape. Ecuador’s share of the Amazon is smaller than Brazil’s or Peru’s, but it gives remarkably quick access to some of the basin’s richest ecosystems.

Yasuní lies around the Napo and Tiputini, with large areas of continuous forest, research stations and lodges reached by longer river journeys. Cuyabeno is a landscape of rivers, lagoons and flooded forest where canoes may reveal monkeys, caimans, birds and sometimes Amazon river dolphins.

The region is also home to Kichwa, Waorani, Shuar and several other peoples. The strongest cultural visits are led by the communities themselves and show present-day life, language and land use without turning people into a staged attraction. Four or five nights give the rainforest time to reveal different parts of the day, aquatic habitats and changing weather.

A sea lion lies across the walkway as if people were simply another part of the harbour. Marine iguanas warm themselves on black lava, blue-footed boobies nest close to trails and beneath the surface turtles, rays and penguins move between cold and warm ocean currents.

The Galápagos lie around a thousand kilometres from mainland Ecuador and consist of volcanic islands of different ages. Isolation and the meeting of several ocean currents have created species and behaviours found nowhere else. The animals are often remarkably unafraid but must never be touched or surrounded.

The journey can be made by expedition cruise or from hotels on inhabited islands. A cruise reaches more remote sites and reduces daily transfers. Island-based travel provides greater contact with Puerto Ayora, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and Puerto Villamil. Five to eight nights give a much better overall experience than a brief add-on after Quito.