A wealth of vibrant indigenous cultures, colonial architecture, otherworldly volcanic landscapes and dense rainforests are packed into the borders of tiny Ecuador, the smallest Andean country in South America. You can change your surroundings here as fast as you can change your mind-one day your cold fingers are picking through handwoven woolen sweaters a chilly indigenous market in the Andean highlands, and the next they’re slapping mosquitoes on a tropical beach. Then there are the Galapagos lslands, lauded as one of the world’s greatest natural history treasures.

From May to December on the mainland, to April for the Galapagos

Travelling to theGalapagos lslands to snorkel with harmless sharks, stare at iguanas and scuba dive with manta rays Wandering through the splendid colonial streets Cuenca Outdoor pursuits in the Orienty-where you can hike, visit indigenous communities, white-water raft, fish for piranhas spot caimans Bouncing around the spectacular high Andean road known as the Quilotoa loop, stopping to hike, buy indigenous crafts and visit Ecuador’s most stunning crater lake, Laguna Quilotoa Journeying down the Rio Napo to the Amazon River by canoe and cargo boat from Coca in the Oriente to lquitos Peru

Read Jorge laaza’s Huasipungo (The Villagers), a naturalistic tale of the miserable conditions experienced on Andean haciendas in the early 20 th century. Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut is a comic, cautionary, evolutionary tale

Listen to Marco Villota, a singer-songwriter who plays with the band Pueblo Nuevo

Watch Talking with Fish and Birds, directed by Rainer Simon, documenting the life and death of a shaman

Eat ceviche (uncooked seafood marinated in lemon and served with popcorn and onion) or patacones (fried plantain chips)

Drink the good local cervezas (beer), or aguardiente (sugarcane alcohol)-a moreacquired taste

Bacan (cool)

The Galapagos lslands; panama hats; panpipes; the Andes; eating roasted guinea-pigs

Ecuador has one of the highest deforestation rates in Latin America; the oldest tools found in Ecuador date to 9000 BC

Most Ecuadorians have three things in common: pride in the natural wealth of their country (both its beauty its resources); disdain for the corrupt politicians who promise to redistribute yet continue to pocket that wealth; and the presence of a relative in another country (over 10% of the population-some 1.3 million people-have left Ecuador in search of work elsewhere).