ECUADOR & GALAPAGOS   

Birders Paradise – Cloud Forest

An internationally recognised 'important breeding area' for birds: more than 390 species have been seen in the area's extensive primary forests, among them 30 species of hummingbird, as well as toucans, and the famous Cock of the Rock.

It is possible to hike to the tops of mountains with spectacular views over the forest, and venture deep into the heart of the cloud forest. For those lucky enough, they may even catch a glimpse of the rare spectacled bear.

 

Ecuador's Pacific Coast

Ecuador's pacific coast has everything, and all within easy reach of Guayaquil, the country's largest city and newest tourist destination, with its comfortable hotels, and impressive boardwalk flanking the broad, slow flowing, River Guayas.

On the Pacific coast visitors can enjoy sun and sand, tropical rainforests with their colourful animals and birds, beach front hotels and hostels, and of course, the enticingly warm waves of the Pacific Ocean. And after the beach, there is the famous Isla de la Plata, the Galapagos in miniature where Sir Francis Drake is supposed to have hidden a large treasure; coral reefs with their shoals of magnificently coloured fish; the chance to kayak through the magical mangrove forests and, best of all, whale watching expeditions between June and October, when these magnificent creatures come to Ecuador's coast to calve.

 

And if that's not enough, there' s the chance to explore historic pre-Inca archaeological sites, some belonging to cultures more than 2,000 years old.

Where the green–fringed beaches meet the Pacific Ocean. From north to south, beautiful beaches line the Pacific coast, interspersed with busy ports, charming fishing villages, modern cities and protected tropical forest.

The pre–Inca and pre-Columbian cultures and their other– worldly interpretations of their surroundings are interwoven into these pristine beaches. The coast has a great diversity of ecosystems and for bird lovers shelters about 700 species of bird.