TOURISM: What to visit in Ecuador

QUITO:

Quito, capital of Ecuador and of Pichincha, the country's most populous Andean province, is situated 116 limes from the Pacific coast at an altitude of 9,350 feet, just south of the equator. It has a pleasant climate that can be described as "permanent spring". The city, one of the oldest in South America, is built in a small basin on the lower slopes of Cerro Pichincha , a volcano that last erupeted in 1666. It was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Quitu and for several decades, prior to its occupation by spaniards in 1534, was a second (northern) capital of the Inca empire.

The city official name as given by the Spaniards, is Villa de San Francisco de Quito, with a population of 1.3 in 1989, is Ecuador's second largets city. It is the political, administrative, and cultural capital but has lost its primary economic position to Guayaquil, with which it has had a railway link since 1908.

Quito, more than any othe South Amrican capital, has preserved its colonial atmosphere, with squares, fountains, public buildings, and houses built in the typical Sapanish or Moorish style. Mosta attractive is the main square, Plaza Mayor, with its seventeenth-century cathedral, government palaces, municipal hall, and other buildings. Quito is well known for its many small workshops producing native arts and for its outdoor Indian markets.

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS:

The Galapagos Islands are a group of twelve volcanic islands and numerous islets an rocks 650 miles off the Pacific coast of Ecuador. They form the country's twentieth province, known as the province of Colon. The area of the islands is 3,086 square miles. Only two are inhabited: Isabela, the largest of the group, and San Cristobal. The population was near 8,000 in 1987. The islands are hilly, rising to a height of 5,000 feet, and there are several active volcanoes.

The Galapagos are famous for their unique fauna and flora, which include species not found elsewhere. Best known are the huge tortoise (galapago in Spanish) and some species of lizards. Charles Darwin visited the islands in 1830. It was here that he made the major portion of his observation that led to his theories on evolution and the Origin of the Species. Many scientists have since carried out research on the islands.

Photographs of Galapagos Islands

CHIMBORAZO AND COTOPAXI:

Ecuador's "Avenue of the Volcanoes" is a 325 km. long valley between the major Cordillera ranges. Massive and standing alone, the volcanoes provide brooding, snow-covered contrast to the green equatorial lushness. They also provide mountaineers a rare opportunity to achieve very high altitudes withouth technical difficulty. Volcano climbing offers an exciting, unforgattable challenge.

In the Indian language, Chimborazo means "mountain of snow". It is an enourmous massif of overwhelming scale. Alexander Von Humboldt mad an unsuccessful attempt to climb the Chimborazo in 1802, and believed it to be the highest mountain in the world (6,526 feet). This distinction lasted until the discovery og Mt. Everest fifty years later. Chimborazo was finally climbed by Edward Whymper in 1880. Today it is climbed fairly frequently, but less than Cotopaxi, which is the highest active volcanoe of the world (6,005 feet).

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