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Sitting on the equator between Colombia and Peru, Ecuador is the smallest of the Andean nations, covering an area no bigger than Nevada. For all its diminutive size, however, the country is packed with the most startling contrasts of scenery, taking in steaming tropical rainforests, windswept highlands, ice-capped volcanoes and palm-fringed beaches, all within easy reach of the capital, Quito. It's a land of bold contours and heightened colours, where you can find yourself beneath a canopy of dripping vegetation amongst clouds of neon-coloured butterflies one day, and in a highland market, mixing with scarlet-ponchoed indígenas the next. It's also a country of astounding biodiversity, boasting 1600 species of bird (more per area than any other South American country), 4500 species of butterfly and over 3500 species of orchid, to cite just a few examples. Add to this the country's stunning colonial architecture and diverse indigenous groups, and it becomes clear why Ecuador is regarded by many as a sort of South America in miniature, offering a pocket-sized microcosm of almost everything travellers hope to find on this bewitching continent. As if more were called for, its attractions are triumphantly capped off by the Galápagos Islands, whose extraordinary wildlife has gone down in history for its pivotal role in shaping Charles Darwin's theories on evolution. |