Residents of Quito, Ecuador sometimes refer to their hometown as la ciudad de los campanarios: “city of bell towers.” It’s easy to see why. With over 80 churches inside the city limits, Quito’s skyline is crowded with domes and spires, giving the world’s second-highest capital a luminous, transcendent quality unlike any other in Latin America….

 Ecuador is quickly recovering from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked the country on the evening of Saturday 16 April, writes our author in Quito, Jon Jared.The earthquake that shook Ecuador on Saturday night has caused considerable damage and hundreds of tragic deaths, but the country is quickly springing back to its feet.Tourist infrastructure, including…

  It isn’t easy having a rep as the ocean’s most fearsome man-eater. But Ecuador, at least, is trying to show some love.On March 21, the shark population around the Galápagos Islands scored a victory it could really sink its teeth into when Ecuador’s government, responsible for the conservation of the remote archipelago, created a major…

Three high double-stops from the guitar announce the song’s opening. Two trills and a rapid slide down the neck, and the crowd explodes into whoops and cheers. A series of meditative, arpeggiated chords. A pause. Then the guitarist launches into a fast waltz rhythm, percussive and full of manly swagger, in which he’s joined by…

Most popular alternatives to the Inca Trail Trek  In many ways the famed Inca Trail is a victim of its own success. As one of the world’s most popular trekking routes it is also one of the most vulnerable, with the ancient stone and steps at real risk of erosion from visiting trekkers.  To counter…