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Laguna Quilotoa
About 14km north of Zumbahua, the famous volcanic-crater lake of Laguna Quilotoa is a gasp-inducing sight. A lookout on the precipitous crater rim offers stunning views of the mirror-green lake 400m below and the snowcapped peaks of Cotopaxi and Iliniza Sur in the distance. When y
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Los Galápagos
At the northern end of San Cristóbal is Los Galápagos, where you can often see giant Galápagos tortoises in the wild, although it does takes some effort to reach the highland area where they live.One way to reach Los Galápagos is to land in a bay at the north end of the island and
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Malecón 2000
Malecón 2000 , one of the most extensive urban-renewal projects in South America, is made up of ponds, playgrounds, sculptures, gardens and river views. From its southernmost point at the Mercado Sur to Cerro Santa Ana and Las Peñas in the north, the malecón stretches 2.5km along t
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AmaZOOnico
You’re guaranteed to see all manner of critters at AmaZOOnico , a well-known animal rehabilitation center. The center is located on the grounds of Selva Viva, a 1500-hectare reserve of primary forest on Río Arajuno, a narrow tributary of the Napo about 3km east of Ahuano. A Swiss-K
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Los Gemelos
Part of the highlands that can be visited from the road are these twin sinkholes (not volcanic craters), surrounded by scalesia forest. Vermilion flycatchers are often seen here, as are short-eared owls, on occasion. Los Gemelos are about 2km beyond Santa Rosa on the trans-island r
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Museo de la Musica Popular Guayaquileña Julio Jaramillo
This small, quaint museum is worth a peek while strolling through this historic area. One part is dedicated to the great singers and songwriters of Ecuador (especially the legendary Julio Jaramillo), with old Victrolas and vintage mandolins among the memorabilia. The other part of
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El Pital
An option for reaching the high forest in and around San Sebastián is to go via El Pital, a community ecotourism project 9km (35 minutes by 4WD) east of Puerto López. Guides are available here to take you on foot or horseback along trails that crisscross several streams, including
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Asilo de la Paz
From the village of Puerto Velasco Ibarra, a road runs inland uphill for 5km to this official visitor site. A chiva goes up twice a day at 6am (returning at 7:30am) and 3pm (returning at 4:30pm); one way $1. Or you can hire a truck ($50 return). Here you can see lumbering giant tor
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Archaeological Site
About 3.5km northwest of La Mitad del Mundo, this small, pre-Columbian archaeological site was built around 500 BC by the Quitu-Cara culture and used principally as a ceremonial site during the equinoxes. You can walk in at anytime. It’s not Ecuador’s most impressive site, but ther
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Centro Cultural Metropolitano
Just off Plaza Grande, this beautifully restored building houses the municipal library and lecture rooms and hosts temporary art exhibitions. The location is rich in history: supposedly the pre-Hispanic site of one of Atahualpa’s palaces; a Jesuit school from 1597 to 1767; an army
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El Junco Lagoon
Around 10km east of El Progreso along the main road, youll find El Junco Lagoon – a freshwater lake some 700m above sea level. It’s one of the few permanent freshwater bodies in the Galápagos. Here you can see frigate birds shower in the freshwater to remove salt from their feather
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Cerro Crocker
A path north from Bellavista leads toward Cerro Crocker (864m) and other hills and extinct volcanoes. This is a good chance to see the vegetation of the scalesia, miconia and fern-sedge zones and to look for birds such as the vermilion flycatcher, the elusive Galápagos rail and the
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Tarqui Beach
The east end of this stretch of sand is a hive of activity early in the mornings, as vendors sell row upon row of shark, tuna, swordfish, dorado and other fish (whose size decrease with each passing year). You’ll also find the so-called Parque del Marisco here: lots of stalls servi
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Bosque Protector Cerro Blanco
This is a private reserve owned by construction conglomerate Holcim Ecuador SA and administered by Fundación Pro-Bosque. There’s an organic farm, an education center with exhibits on the local ecology and birdlife in Spanish, and a wildlife rescue center where endangered species ar
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Palacio del Gobierno
The white building on the plaza’s northwest side is the seat of the Ecuadorian presidency. Visitors can enter by guided tours (in Spanish and sometimes English), which offer a glimpse of the brilliantly hued mosaic depicting Francisco de Orellana’s descent of the Amazon and a few o
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Reserva de Producción Faunística Chimborazo
Volcán Chimborazo and Volcán Carihuairazo are both within the Reserva de Producción Faunística Chimborazo . It is called a ‘fauna-production reserve’ because it is home to hundreds of vicuña (a wild relative of the llama). Once hunted to extinction, they were imported from Chile an
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Muro de las Lágrimas
Some 7km west of Puerto Villamil is the Muro de las Lágrimas (Wall of Tears), a 100m-long wall of lava rocks built by convicts under harsh and abusive conditions. The penal colony closed in 1959 but the wall stands as a monument to an infamous chapter in the island’s history. The b
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Cascada Las Latas
Misahuallí’s most enjoyable sight is some way outside the town, but it’s well worth spending a few hours to do the return riverside walk, which takes you through the rainforest. Take a Misahuallí–Puerto Napo bus and ask the driver to drop you at Río Latas, about 15 or 20 minutes fr
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Reserva Ecológica Cotacachi
This 204,420-hectare reserve is by far the largest protected area of Ecuador’s western Andean habitats. Altitude ranges from about 200m above sea level around San Miguel to 4939m at the summit of Cotacachi. Habitats change quickly from lowland, tropical, wet forest to premontane an
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El Chato Tortoise Reserve
South of Santa Rosa is El Chato Tortoise Reserve, where you can observe giant tortoises in the wild. When these virtually catatonic, prehistoric-looking beasts extend their accordionlike necks to feed, it’s an impressive sight. The reserve is also a good place to look for short-ear
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