Start in Quito, whose old town was on UNESCO's first World Heritage list, and give the Sierra the first days: Otavalo for the market, the volcano road past Cotopaxi, Baños for waterfalls and Cuenca for the best colonial streets. West, the Costa runs from Guayaquil to the surf towns. East, the Oriente drops to Amazon lodges by road to Tena or a flight to Coca. The Galápagos need their own flight, park fee and transit card, so plan them as a separate trip.
3 Ecuador city guides
Fun fact
Ecuador wrote the rights of nature into its constitution in 2008, the first country in the world to do so. Article 71 gives ecosystems standing in court, and Ecuadorian judges have since ruled for a river and for a cloud forest against mining concessions.
Stereotypes, sorted out
The realityThe islands are one province of twenty-four. The mainland has the second-highest capital in the world, a volcano corridor you can drive in a morning, cloud forest an hour from Quito and Amazon rivers by road. Most island visitors leave wishing they had given it more than two nights.
The realityThe Inca held the northern highlands for only a few decades before the Spanish arrived, so Ecuador's set pieces are colonial and volcanic. Ingapirca is real and modest. Quito's old town, on UNESCO's first World Heritage list, is the reason to come.
The realityIt is the smallest of the Andean countries. Quito to the coast is a morning's drive, Quito to an Amazon lodge an afternoon, and the volcano corridor runs alongside one road. A week covers two of the four regions without a rushed itinerary.
The realityAltitude sets the temperature here, not latitude. Quito sits at 2,850 metres and runs to cool spring weather all year with cold nights, while Guayaquil is humid and tropical. Pack a fleece and shorts, and expect to use both in the same week.
The realityDollarization cuts both ways. Set lunches, buses and markets are inexpensive; imported goods, island flights and park fees are not. The Galápagos are priced like a different country because, in cost terms, they are.
Cultural notes that actually help
- Greetings are close. One kiss on the right cheek between women, and between a woman and a man, is standard on first meeting; men shake hands.
- Lunch is the main meal, and the almuerzo (soup, a main and a juice for a set price) is what most of the country eats at midday. It is also the best value on any menu.
- Punctuality is loose socially and firm professionally. Arrive on time for a meeting and comfortably late for a house invitation.
- Ecuador calls itself plurinational in its own constitution, and indigenous identity is political, not folkloric. Ask before photographing people at Otavalo or Saquisilí.
- Titles get used in full. Doctor, ingeniero and licenciado are ordinary courtesy, and dropping them reads as brusque.
- Altitude is a real constraint, and locals will tell you to slow down before you notice it yourself. Take the advice on the first day.
- Carnival means water. In February, being soaked by strangers with buckets and foam is a national pastime and not an insult.
Famous Ecuadorian faces
Oswaldo Guayasamín
Jefferson Pérez
Julio Jaramillo
Eloy Alfaro
Manuela Sáenz
Manuela Sáenz
Eloy Alfaro
Eloy Alfaro
Nina Pacari
Daniel Noboa
Juan Montalvo
Julio Jaramillo
Carlota Jaramillo
Tania Hermida
Jefferson Pérez
Alberto Spencer
Andrés Gómez
Enner Valencia
Moisés Caicedo
Oswaldo Guayasamín
Richard Carapaz
Eugenio Espejo
Jorge Icaza
Eugenio Espejo
Pedro Vicente Maldonado
Rosalía Arteaga
Jorge Icaza
Juan León Mera
Sebastián Cordero
Richard Carapaz
Eduardo Kingman
Manuel Chili "Caspicara"
Pedro Vicente Maldonado
Must-try Ecuadorian food
Llapingachos
Cheese-stuffed potato patties with peanut sauce, chorizo and a fried egg.
Fritada
Pork simmered in its own fat and orange juice, with hominy, plantain and toasted corn.
Seco de chivo
Goat braised with naranjilla and chicha until dark, with rice and fried plantain.
Mote pillo
Hominy scrambled with egg, onion and milk. Cuenca's breakfast.
Cazuela de mariscos
Green plantain and peanut paste baked with seafood in a clay bowl until the top sets.
Humitas
Fresh ground corn steamed in its own husk, taken with coffee in the morning.
Fanesca
Twelve grains and beans, for the apostles, with salt cod in milk. Holy Week only.
Colada morada
Spiced purple corn and berry drink, served warm on 2 November with guaguas de pan.
Helado de paila
Fruit ice churned by hand in a copper pan over ice and salt, an Ibarra technique.
Canelazo
Hot aguardiente with cinnamon and naranjilla, drunk standing outside on cold Quito nights.
Chicha de jora
Fermented corn drink from the highlands, poured at festivals and older than the Inca.
Hornado
Pig roasted in a wood oven, pulled to order, with potato cakes, hominy and crackling.
Locro de papa
Potato soup thickened to a purée, with avocado and fresh cheese. Highland comfort.
Cuy asado
Guinea pig turned whole over coals. An Andean festival dish since before the Spanish.
Yaguarlocro
Potato soup topped with blood sausage, avocado and onion salsa. Better than it looks.
Encebollado
Albacore, yuca and pickled onion in cumin broth. The national dish, eaten at breakfast.
Ceviche de camarón
Shrimp cooked in lime with tomato and onion, served with popcorn and plantain chips.
Encocado
Fish or shrimp stewed in coconut milk with coriander, the Esmeraldas signature.
Corviche
Plantain and peanut dough stuffed with fish and fried, eaten at a roadside stall.
Bolón de verde
Mashed green plantain packed with cheese or crackling and pan-fried. Coastal breakfast.
Empanadas de viento
Thin cheese empanadas fried until they puff up like a balloon, then dusted with sugar.
Patacones
Green plantain smashed flat and fried twice. Better than chips, wherever chips would go.
Choclo con queso
Boiled highland corn with thumbnail-sized kernels and a slab of fresh cheese.
Tigrillo
Green plantain mashed with egg and cheese, breakfast in Loja and the Amazon foothills.
Ecuadorian chocolate
Arriba Nacional, the fine-flavour cacao Ecuador grows more of than anywhere else.
Jugo de naranjilla
Sharp green fruit, part citrus, part tomato, and the country's default juice.
