A modern Garden of Eden and a living laboratory of evolution, the Galapagos are nothing less than spectacular. The Islands are peaks of enormous underwater volcanoes; having never been connected with the South American continent, Galapagos' flora and fauna developed in complete isolation, a fact that in many ways allowed Charles Darwin's to form his theory of evolution. The Galapagos are truly a wonder that should not be missed. Where else can you swim with hammerhead sharks, penguins, sea lions, and hundreds of tropical reef fish, and sleep on a volcanic peak?

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The Amazon jungle is without a doubt Creation's greatest achievement, moreover, Eastern Ecuador, known as El Oriente, is blessed with some of the Amazon's most biologically diverse, pristine areas. Experience nature's most impressive orchestration of life; canoe along meandering rivers; climb into the canopy; hike along primary forest trails, learn about medicinal rainforest plants, or just "be" amidst the teeming forest.

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Quintessential Ecuador, La Sierra is the most visited region in the country. Boasting condors, glaciated volcanoes, bustling Indian markets, grand old haciendas, cloudforests, Incan ruins, and high-altitude paramo grasslands, it is hard not to love.

The Andes form a mountaneous backbone that divides Ecuador's lowland coastal plains and its treasured share of the Amazon jungle. In addition to serving as the physical middle, or spine, of Ecuador, La Sierra, as home to nearly 50% of the country's population and Quito, its capital city, occupies a place of chief political and economic importance.

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Almost a three-hundred-mile stretch, Ecuador's Pacific coast is a combination of bikini-friendly beaches, mangrove forests, marshes, estuaries, and small fishing villages. The North is wet, wild, relatively undiscovered, and renowned for its vibrant afro-Ecuadorian communities who highlight the year with a Marimba dance festival. The drier and cooler Central and Southern Coast regions offer popular beach resort destinations. Furthermore, the vigorous port city of Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, sits tucked behind the Santa Elena Peninsula at the mouth of the Guayas River.

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On this page:El Oriente (Amazon) | La Sierra (Andes) |La Costa (Coast) | Galapagos Islands |