On Ecuador

A map of Ecuador, courtesy worldatlas

Ecuador, pronounced Eck Qua Door, is, that country, that, after saying the name a few times, one realizes is supposed to pertain to the ‘Equator’. According to its Wikipedia page the country contains approximately 16 and a half million people crammed into a little over a hundred and nine thousand square miles.

According to Wikipedia The 16 and a half million people consist of mainly mestizos, a mix of ‘European’ and ‘Amerindian’ peoples. According to Ecuador.com, however, the country is actually a boiling pot of cultures, which ‘representing every level of this very stratified community’.  

Ecuadorian Dresses as displayed during a celebratory parade

The Galapagos Islands, which are approximately seventeen thousand square miles, and the main focus of the Interim trip, housed 25,000 people at the time of the 2010 census. The people who live on these islands wear dresses that are specific to regions of the country, so that, depending on patterns or colors present, one could potentially identify where in the country that person’s ancestors originate from.

The current president of Ecuador is a certain Rafael Correa who, in February of 2015 waged a twitter war against John Oliver which he lost. Aside from the occasional online spat, Ecuador remains a relatively peaceful country, its days of seceding from Spain and Gran Colombia long behind it. However, as recently as the 1950s, Ecuador was in the midst of political turmoil. Longstanding differences in the cities of Quito and Guayaquil (conservative versus liberal) have occasionally resulted in violence. This resulted in the formation of a dictatorial state until around 1978. in 1979, a democratic government was put into place and free elections have continued ever since.

However, the current president, Rafael Correa has recently stepped up actions against anti-government journalists, which has caused some concern about the integrity of free speech in the country. However, unless we plan on making our blog the subject of international attention, we should be fine.

While we plan on mainly seeing Quito, the Capital of Ecuador, the country itself is diverse and unique. It has both portions of the Amazon, the Andes, and of course, the Galapagos Islands to its name.

Ecuador, as mentioned earlier is a boiling pot of cultures, so it makes sense that there would be a variety of languages that are spoken. Spanish, obviously, is an important language to know if one is to blend with the population, but amongst native groups another language, Quichua, is spoken. English, as always remains an important language amongst tourists, and is the most common foreign language present in the country. 

A llama.

    Animals in the country include turtles, land iguanas, pelicans, parrots, butterflies, blue-footed boobys, the nazca booby, waved albatrosses, marine iguanas, sally lightfoot crabs, galapagos sea lions, galapagos turtles, and, of course, llamas. Most of the animals that Ecuador is renowned for live on the Galapagos Islands, and can only be found there. In fact, the government is so concerned about maintaining the integrity of the natural habitat on the islands, that planes going to the Galapagos are sprayed and disinsectted while passengers are on board, one of the few countries to do so on a regular basis.

    After animals, of course, comes the subject of food. Because of its varied climates and ecosystems, food is different depending on region. For instance, Pork, chicken, beef, and cuy (guinea pig) are popular in the mountainous regions, whereas seafood (shrimp, fish, crab) can be found by, well, the sea. 

    Ecuador, in sum, is a rather nice country, which any google search will corroborate. From its famed Galapagos Islands, to its unique population, to its animals, and also cusine, there should be no limit to things to do in the country.

    That being said, there are a few questions that pop up when digging into Ecuadorian facts. How does the population’s diversity affect everyday interaction? Why is the Ecuadorian president in a feud with John Oliver? How will political dissent in Ecuador affect its citizens’ rights? Who knows? Maybe we’ll find out. 

Here is a Tourism Video for Ecuador.