Ecuador Summary
Geographical:
We entered into Ecuador from Peru at the crappy Aguas Verdes/Huaquillas border crossing, from where we directly took a bus to Guayaquil. From here we did a little circular route through the Sierra. We took a bus to Banos and its volcano, then moved on to Riobamba by bus. From Riobamba we took the famous train to a town close to Alausi. From here it was a short bus ride to the colonial town, Cuenca and then back to Guayaquil. We flew from Guayaquil to Galapagos and from the islands we returned to the mainland by air to Quito. From the capital, we took a bus and a boat to get deep into the Orientes, the Ecuadorian part of the Amazon jungle. The same route took us back to Quito from where we left the country by plane to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In total, Ecuador and the Galapagos were covered in just over three weeks - quite exhausting!
The weather was really good - I suppose it is always nice and warm here. As suspected, we had a bit of rain in the jungle, but hey, it is the rainforest after all 
Ecuador favourites:
- The wildlife was amazing - Galapagos…Amazon jungle….
- Galapagos
- Cheap Al Muerzo’s
- The Amazon jungle - eating a worm, licking an ant, listening to the millions animal and insect sounds resonating through the jungle
- Friendly locals
- Volcanoes
The ‘not so cools’:
- How expensive it is to visit the Galapagos
- The worst border crossing ever!
- $40 departure tax at the airport
Overall:
We really enjoyed Ecuador. It is a very diverse country in terms of nature - beautiful beaches on the coast line (including Galapagos), the central Sierra with its volcanoes and snow-capped mountains, and the Orientes with the Amazon jungle. Three weeks is not nearly enough for exploring the whole country, but the part that we saw was beautiful. The food and accommodation was cheap and good.
The Galapagos and the Amazon jungle are both highlights for our entire one year trip.
Click on image below to view the Ecuador gallery: