Chimborazo
Cotopaxi
Cuenca
Esmeraldas
Galapagos Island
Guayaquil
Ingapirca
Otavalo
Quito
Riobamba
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CHIMBORAZO
This article is about the Chimborazo province. For the Chimborazo volcano, see
Chimborazo (volcano). Chimborazo is a province in Ecuador, located in the
central Ecuadorian Andes, containing a section of Sangay National Park. The
capital is Riobamba. The province contains Chimborazo (6,267 m), Ecuador's
highest mountain.
COTOPAXI
Cotopaxi is a stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains, located about
75 kilometres (50 mi) south of Quito, Ecuador, South America. It is the second
highest summit in the country, reaching a height of 5,897 m (19,347 ft).
Cotopaxi has an almost symmetrical cone that rises from a highland plain of
about 3,800 metres (12,500 ft), with a width at its base of about 23 kilometres
(14 mi). It has one of the few equatorial glaciers in the world, which starts at
the height of 5,000 metres (16,400 ft). The mountain is clearly visible on the
skyline from Quito. It is part of the chain of volcanoes around the Pacific plate
known as the Pacific Ring of Fire. The volcano is the subject of 1855 and 1862
paintings by Frederic Edwin Church.
CUENCA
Cuenca (full name Santa Ana de los cuatro ríos de Cuenca) is the third largest
city in Ecuador in terms of population, and is the capital of the Azuay Province.
It is located in the Sierra, the highlands of Ecuador at about 2500m (8200 ft)
above sea level. The center of the city is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage
Trust site because of its historical buildings.
ESMERALDAS
Esmeraldas is a coastal city in northwestern Ecuador. It is the seat of the
Esmeraldas Canton and the capital of the Esmeraldas Province. It has an
international sea port and a small airport ( IATA location identifier: ESM).
Esmeraldas is the major seaport of northwestern Ecuador. It lies on the Pacific
coast at the mouth of the Esmeraldas River. The city is the chief trading centre
for the region's agricultural and lumber resources but is lacking in industrial
development. Esmeraldas is home to the majority of the Afro-Ecuadorian
population. It is the terminus of the 313-mile (504-km) Trans-Ecuadorian
Pipeline from the oil fields in northeastern Ecuador.
GALAPAGOS ISLANDS
The Galapagos Islands are a small archipelago of islands belonging to Ecuador
in the western Pacific Ocean. The islands are quite remote and isolated, lying
some 1000 km (620 miles) west of the South American continent. The
Galapagos archipelago consists of 13 main islands and 6 smaller isles, which
together embrace some 50,000 sq km (19,500 sq miles) of ocean.
The Galápagos archipelago is world-renowned for its unique and fearless
wildlife - much of which was inspiration for Charles Darwin's Theory of Natural
Selection. The islands are therefore very popular amongst natural historians,
both professional and amateur. Giant tortoises, sea lions, penguins, marine
iguanas and different bird species can all be seen and approached. The
landscape of the islands is relatively barren and volcanic, but beautiful
nonetheless. The highest mountain amongst the islands is Volcán Wolf on Isla
Isabela, 1707 m (5600ft) high.
GUAYAQUIL
Guayaquil (pronounced), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest and the
most populous city in Ecuador, as well as that nation's main port. Guayaquil is
located on the western bank of the Guayas River, which flows into the Pacific
Ocean at the Gulf of Guayaquil. The climate is hot and generally humid. During
El Niño years rainfall is very heavy between January and April and flooding
usually occurs. Typically however, rainfall is minimal due to the influence of the
Humboldt Current. Guayaquil is at 2.21 S 79.90 W, about 250 km southsouthwest of the capital of Ecuador, Quito. According to the most recent census
(2008), its population was 2,985,379. However, the built up area population
with Eloy Alfaro (174,531 hab.) was 3,359,911 . Guayaquil is the capital of the
Ecuadorian province of Guayas and the seat of the namesake canton. (In
Ecuador, a cantón (canton) is a second-order subnational entity below a firstorder province.) The city is the center of Ecuador's fishing and manufacturing
industries. The city's new airport, José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport
(IATA airport code: GYE), though using the same runways, had its passenger
terminal completely rebuilt in 2006 and was renamed. The old passenger
terminal is now a convention centre.
INGAPIRCA
Ingapirca is a town in Cañar Province, Ecuador and the name of an Incan ruin
site just outside the town itself. The ruins are the largest Incan ruins in Ecuador.
The most significant building is the temple of the sun, an elliptical shaped
building constructed around a large rock. The building is constructed in the
Incan way without mortar. The stones were simply chiseled and fashioned to fit
together perfectly. The temple of the sun was positioned so that on the
solstices, at exactly the right time of day, sunlight would fall through the center
of the doorway of the small chamber at the top of the temple. Most of this
chamber has fallen down. The Incans were not the first inhabitants to
Ingapirca. After the King of the Incans died in Peru the oldest son took over the
kingdom. The younger brother decided to find a place and kingdom of his own.
He took his family and his followers and went down the mountains to the coast
of Peru and followed the coastline north to Ecuador. He found his way back up
the Andes to Ingapirca which was already inhabited. After much fighting and
killing the two groups decided to settle their differences and live together
peacefully but they still kept most of their individual customs separate. Even
though the Incans were more numerous, they did not demand that the other
group give up their autonomy. Eventually they merged into one group. On his
OTAVALO
Otavalo is a largely indigenous town in the Imbabura Province of Ecuador. The
town, which is in a valley, is surrounded by the peaks of Imbabura 4,610m,
Cotacachi 4,995m, and Moianda volcanoes.
Every Saturday there is a Mercado Artesanal in Plaza de Poncho on calle Sucre y
Salinas where indigenous people come from far and wide to sell their
handicrafts to tourists. Although Saturday is the main market day, purchasing
handicrafts on any other day is possible and a far less hectic experience. If you
want something more authentic, try the food market Mercado 24 de Mayo, it's
the best place to buy pig's heads or intestines. There is also an animal market
Mercado de Animales northwest of town across the panamaricana and a
cockfight on Saturdays.
QUITO
San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito, is the capital city of Ecuador in
northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the
Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active
stratovolcano in the Andes mountains. With a population of approximately
1,397,698 according to the last census (2001), and, as estimated by the
municipality, approximately 1,504,991 in 2005, Quito is the second most
populous city in Ecuador, after Guayaquil. It is also the capital of the Pichincha
province and the seat of Quito Canton, which since the 1993-12-27 passage of
the municipal law known as "Ley de Régimen para el Distrito Metropolitano de
Quito" is also known as Metropolitan District of Quito. The canton had
1,842,201 residents in the 2001 national census. In 2008 the city was
designated as the headquarters of the Union of South American Nations. The
elevation of the city's central square (Plaza de La Independencia or Plaza
Grande) is 2,850 m (about 9,350 ft), making Quito the second-highest
administrative capital city in the world (after La Paz, Bolivia), and the highest
RIOBAMBA
Riobamba (full name San Pedro de Riobamba) is the capital of the Chimborazo
Province in central Ecuador, which is located at the Chambo River Valley of the
Andes. It is 200 km (125 miles) south of Ecuador's capital Quito and located at
9,000 feet (2,700 m) on the Avenue of the Volcanoes.
It is the starting point of the train ride to Nariz del Diablo. On a clear day don't
miss the view of the surrounding mountains. The best views in the city are from
parque 21 de abril, close to the train station.
AMAZON REGION
Ecuadorian amazon is mainly tropical rainforest elevated 400 m above sea
level. The Amazon region of Ecuador is one of the few places in the world
where its probably best to travel with a group, with a guide or through a jungle
lodge. Unless you are studying, teaching English or consulting on a project in
the Amazon, you are unlikely to have enough knowledge about the area to stay
safe and, most importantly, to learn about the plants and animals that make
the area so special. If you have more than a few days and you're not a super
tight budget, staying and traveling with a jungle lodge can be very rewarding.
You're based right in the midst of the jungle, and, at the better lodges, you're in
an area that's protected from farming, logging and drilling. You usually have 2-3
activities per day including birding hikes, canoe trips and fishing for piranhas.
Again, at some of the better lodges, you usually have a guide that speaks
English, French, etc and an indigenous guide. This ensures that you really get to
see some amazing things like five different species of monkeys, caimans,
tarantulas and lots and lots of birds. For hard-core birders, most of the lodges
offer special sight-seeing activities with much earlier wake-up calls. Typically,
you pay one daily fee that includes transportation to/from the airport,