Ecuador’s capital Quito lies in the shadow of high, snow-capped volcanoes, at 2,750 metres (9,000 feet) above sea level and just 25 kilometres south of the equator. In the east of the country Amazon forests blur the borders with Colombia and Peru, while to the west the Galapagos Islands lie almost a thousand kilometres off the sandy beaches and resorts of the republic’s Pacific coast.     

By South American standards Ecuador is a small country, with most of its main travel destinations easily accessible from Quito, just one or two days from the city. This means that with relatively little travelling time between destinations, and during a short vacation, one can experience the high Andes, explore the tropical Amazon lowlands and even relax for a while at the end of a trip on one of Ecuador’s Pacific beach resorts.