About Ecuador

Ecuador is home to the Galapagos, the place that inspired Charles Darwin´s theory of evolution and which he considered a wonderful demonstration of natural selection due to its high number of variations both within and across species. The Galapagos Islands are home to many rare species some of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

Ecuador has four regions: the Galapagos Islands located off the coast; the coastal region with its beautiful beaches; the Andean mountains with its high peaks and stunning sights and “El Oriente”, Ecuador’s part of the Amazon. Ecuador is considered one of the most diverse places on earth because of its different regions and the many different types of flora and fauna found here.

The Ecuadorian Amazon has the most bird species diversity in Ecuador with over 690 species listed below 500 meters. There are approximately 2,000 species of birds in the Amazon (including all 8 Amazonian countries). Our own list is increasing and we have 18 species that are endemic to this region, 42 boreal species (northern migrants) and 15 Austral species (southern migrants). In the area of San Isla and Pañacocha, there are 27 species that associate with ant swarms at different levels of the forest and 9 of these are professional ant followers.

Ecuador is also known for its high species diversity in mammals, amphibians and reptiles, fish, insects, etc. One may find over 10 species of monkeys, 2 species of dolphins, 5 species of wildcats, 89 species of frogs, 49 species of snakes, over 500 species of fish and at least 100,000 species of insects including 1,200 species of moths and butterflies only in our Amazon region.