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Ecuador Travel Guide

Ecuador- Overview

The country has everything to enchant a tourist: biodiversity, breathtaking landscapes, highland markets, traditional costumes, colonial buildings. It’s impossible not to buy an alpaca wool sweater, not to enjoy the peanut or plantain dishes, the ceviche if you like fish or the local fruit. Aguardiente is the local alcohol, produced out of sugar cane. Whenever you are traveling, spare a few days to allow yourself to get accustomed to the high altitude of the country and then start an amazing tour of history, nature, customs and architecture.

Ecuador -Nature’s Blessing

The country has a continental part, but it includes the islands of Galapagos as well. The main national parks are: Pululahua Geobotanical Reserve, Cuyabeno Wild Life Reserve, Podocarpus Natinonal Park, including Vilcabamba sacred valley, Cotopaxi Natinonal Park, sheltering the highest active volcano. The rainforest in the Amazon basin is home to a large number of animals, many unknown to entomologists or herpetologists. For instance, recently, a strange looking salamander has been discovered, but frogs, snakes and lizards are offering surprises all the time as well. The amphibians, besides being an exotic branch in the animal system, have an important role of keeping the ecosystem healthy whether we speak of water or climate. For adventure seekers, along with the jungle, active volcanoes are available to see, like for instance Tungurahua in Banos. Hot spring, waterfalls, mangrove sites, bird watching are some other choices for the tourist. If you are not looking for adrenaline, stick to the nice beaches of the Pacific Ocean.

Ecuador -Quito, or fully named San Francisco de Quito is the capital of the country. One of the most interesting means of transportations is to be used in the city: TeleferiQo. It takes tourists from the center of the city to the East side of Pichincha volcano, a place full of shops, café –s and restaurants. The city has a very well preserved historical center, including the cathedral and many churches. In fact, it is the first city mentioned in UNESCO World Heritage List. Quito also has many parks: Metropolitano, larger than New York Central Park, La Carolina, El Ejido.

Ecuador –Economy

The premises for the country’s economy are not very favorable: the natural conditions include the phenomenon El Nino, which periodically produces damages of billions of dollars; approximately half of the population is living at or below the poverty line. Still the country has some rich natural resources, many leaving the country: oil, fish, shrimp, gold, bananas, coffee, cocoa, tropical fruit (passion fruit, naranjilla), palm oil, rice, corn and human resources formed in the Ecuador universities. The latest success of President Rafael Correa is fooling the international markets by not paying the interest for the country’s bond, a good enough reason for price dropping and then repurchasing them at a low price. This technique helped reduce the external debt of the country and made S&P raise the rating for the country. The trust for future transactions with the country is to be analyzed later. An important aspect for travelers is that the currency is the US dollar, so there is no reason to look for exchanging points.