Ecuador

• Climb Cotapaxi, one of the world’s highest active volcanoes.
• Photograph the pretty colonial town of Cuenca, which dates back to 1557.
• Visit a clay lick on the Napo River to watch hundreds of colourful parrots lick the rocks to feed on minerals; a stunning natural phenomenon.
• Ride the Teleferico cable car up the Pichincha Volcano for epic panoramas over Quito.
• Scuba dive with whale sharks, hammerheads and manta rays in the waters around Darwin and Wolf islands in the Galapagos.
• Hike through the beautiful, wild Pasochoa Reserve, past herds of skittish llamas.
• The Bosque Petrificado Puyango near Loja is one of the world’s largest petrified forests, with fossilised trees dating back 120 million years.

You can travel overland from Peru or Colombia as part of a longer South American itinerary. If you’re arriving by plane, you’ll likely fly into Quito’s Mariscal Sucre airport, though there’s also an international airport in Guayaquil, the jumping-off point for the Galapagos Islands. There are no direct flights to Ecuador from the UK; flights go via the US or Europe and take approx. 15-18 hours. Direct flights from the US take approx. 4-13 hours. From Quito you can take hopper flights around the country, and on a clear day you’ll see volcanoes and rainforests below you. If you’d prefer to travel overland, take private transfers, self-drive, horseback ride or go by bus: the autobús de lujo (luxury buses) are air conditioned and comfortable.