A short drive out of Cuenca is easy travel to Cajas National Park, otherwise know as the “Gateway to the Snowy Mountains”.  Cajas is a high-altitude area west of Cuenca known for trails through evergreen cloud forests and 768 lakes.  It is also home to rich...

As we proceeded down through the country our travels took us into Cuenca who’s first inhabitants date back to 8060 BC.  It has been modernized a bit since then and is a tourist delight.  Relatively small at about 580,000 people it has a quaint easiness about...

Travelling from Riobamba to The Devil’s Nose. Street of Alausi Coming down from altitude after the Chimborazo hike felt good.  A great sleep after a wonderful meal and we had new energy for the day.  There is a wonderful farmers market to explore in Riobamba...

We travelled up to Chimborazo National Park for a high altitude hike.  Due to the equatorial bulge the summit of Chimborazo at 6268m takes it farther from the centre of the earth than any other peak, including Mount Everest.  The centrepiece is the 58,000...

The resort town of Banos sits in the narrow Tie Pastaza gorge among the soaring green hills which are streaked with waterfalls..  It enjoys a mild, almost subtropical climate and is wonderfully scenic.  It sits under the unpredictable Tungurahua volcano...

A short journey travelling over the dramatic and breathless Papallacta Pass from Otavalo takes us into the Amazon Basin.  To break up the journey we stopped at the Papallacta Hot Springs which is noted as the nicest in Ecuador.  We soaked in the soothing...

The region surrounding Otavalo offers some great hiking and exploring. A short drive up the mountain from town will take you to the Cotacachi Cayapas Ecological Reserve and the Culcocha Crater lake. Culcocha is at an altitude of approximately 3000m so you want to be...

On the slopes of the Andean mountain range 52 km from Quito lies the Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve.  This conservation area, protected from continued deforestation, is a high biodiversity subtropical region offering up a smorgasbord of little-studied wildlife...

Ecuador, named because of its location directly on the equator. It was part of the Inca Empire then colonized by Spain in the 16th century. Ecuador has a very ethnically diverse population with 13 Amerindian languages in addition to Spanish. Travelling there, our trip...

The drive around the East Cape to the Bay of Plenty is exciting, beautiful and soul searching. You will likely have most of it to yourself. Towns along the way are small and I remember stopping for lunch in one with 4 buildings. There was a fish and chip shop where we...