Ecuador's compact size and enormous diversity of habitats offers you an incomparable opportunity for exploration, whether the Galapagos Islands, the Amazon rain forest, the highland haciendas, volcanoes, villages and people.  You can wake up in a hacienda in the Sierra with views toward the perfect snow-cone of Cotopaxi Volcano, and reach the Amazon rain forest within four hours of extraordinary downhill driving (or a quick flight!)  After a Galapagos yacht cruise, just a 90-minute jet flight from the mainland, you can return the same evening to Quito, to explore the astonishing colonial riches of this UNESCO World Heritage site. So many options...so little time!

While the best Ecuadorean adventure includes visiting a variety of habitats, the majority of our passengers focus on a Galapagos Island cruise, with good reason!  The Galapagos Islands are so unique and other-worldly, all our passengers find that they far exceeded expectations. There is no place else on earth quite like it.  See our Galapagos pages where you can view details and photos of a range of Galapagos yachts to help you choose. Before or after your Galapagos cruise, we warmly recommend spending some time on the mainland.  You'll be abundantly rewarded.

For a taste of at least three habitats, combine a  Galapagos cruise with an Amazon rain forest lodge, and time in the highlands at a historic hacienda. Within each habitat, you'll see many of Ecuador's 1,600 bird species. Whether you're a life-lister or a casual birder or photographer, watching hummingbirds feed, or getting up before dawn to hike to view the exotic Andean Cock of the Rock offer subtle and easily accessible rewards.

Besides Ecuador's verdant landscapes and rich wildlife, the Ecuadorian culture contains a fascinating mix: over 27 different ethnic groups -  not even considering Lebanese, Chinese and other more recent immigrants -- occupy distinct territories and social groupings. As you travel north to south along the Avenue of Volcanoes through the heart of the Andes, you notice a change in housing styles, in hat designs, and in fashions.  Fashion trends move laterally and vertically:  the humble straw hat, woven since time immemorial from Toquilla palm fibre native to the Ecuadorean lowlands, became know as the Panama hat during the construction of that great canal.  Now Ecuadoreans are exporting the best of their hand-made hats to the fashion houses of Paris and New York.

You must explore Ecuador with us -- this small jewel of a country so richly textured -- its charms will amaze you, its diversity beguile you, and its people will delight you.