Get to know Ecuador
This is a feature from Issue 19 of Charitable Traveller. Click to read more from this issue.
What's it all about?
Ecuador is one of nature’s most biologically rich nations with biomes ranging from the Galapagos and Amazonia to Andean mountains and fiery volcanoes. Yet it’s a tiny country that packs a punch, meaning journeys between its attractions are never long. On a recent trip, I arrived in its Andean capital, Quito, and a 25-minute flight later, I was in the Amazon basin to begin a spectacular rainforest river voyage.
Amazon Adventures
Ecuador hosts only 2% of the Amazon and I would say its finest river trip is the Rio Napo tributary towards the Peruvian border. Captain Raul Garcia is a legend on this stretch, his company Anakonda Amazon Cruises supports the indigenous Kichwa through community tourism. The Kichwa will guide you to see river otters, macaws, and the world’s tiniest monkey, pygmy marmosets. The Kichwa make beautiful handicrafts for tourists, which help to empower women financially in these marginalised communities.
Classical Quito
The impact conquistadors had upon indigenous communities when they arrived in 1531 was culturally disastrous. Yet they bequeathed high-altitude Quito a sumptuous baroque architecture. Stay close to the two most classical squares, Plazas de la Independencia and Grande, and lose yourself on foot amid museums, convents, churches and palaces. At sundown join Quiteños congregating at Plaza Grande to meet friends and family.
Hacienda del Condor
Of Ecuador’s hacienda accommodation, my favourite is Zuleta – a shining advocate of community responsibility and conservation. Zuleta’s Jesuit origins date back to 1691 and it has been in the Plaza Lasso family since 1898. Still a working dairy farm, it offers luxurious classically furnished rooms and visits to their foundation’s good works, not least an ambitious project to captive-rear and save Ecuadorian condors. These critically-endangered behemoths currently number a parlous 150 across Ecuador.
In the Clouds
Cloud forests cling to Ecuador’s mountaintops like damp hair to skin after a shower. Their biodiversity is hugely exotic – expect iridescent butterflies and hummingbirds. A decade ago, I ventured to Bellavista Cloud Forest Lodge to watch a newly discovered furry mammal, an olinguito, emerge from the lichen-festooned canopy. I also love the unforgettable Mashpi Lodge, who protect one of the Earth’s great green lungs – the Andean Choco.
The use of cocoa here dates to 3,300BC. Nowadays, Ecuadorian chocolate production is taking the global market by storm, producing it bean-to-bar to ensure greater profit stays within the country
Ecuador's blast furnaces
And another thing...
So many soups, which should I try?
HOW MANY?
Almost incalculable as every time I open an Ecuadorian menu a new variety is listed. They can be light and summery, health-giving broths, winter warmers, or possess religious connotations.
WHICH ARE POPULAR?
Locro de papa is a mainstay – thick potato and cheese for chilly Andean days, while during Holy Week’s fasting, you’ll find Fanesca made with salted cod.
I’LL SKIP THE SOUP…
Then try bolon de verde, meat-stuffed green plantain dumplings, but pet lovers might assiduously avoid cuy asado – roasted guinea pig.
Ready to visit Ecuador?
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This is a feature from Issue 20 of Charitable Traveller.
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