Overview
Take a trip to Guayaquil on your Ecuador Vacation
On an Ecuador vacation, the country’s largest and most populous city is Guayaquil, located on the western bank of the Guayas River. Serving as the country’s main port, Guayaquil is Ecuador’s principle commercial and manufacturing centre.
Before a settlement was established by the Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellano in 1538, the region that Guayaquil covered was a native village. Its location meant that it was a target for pirates during the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1820, a group of civilians and soldiers from the ‘Granaderos de Reserva‘ defeated the Royalist guards’ resistance (almost without bloodshed) to declare independence from Spain. This victory would later be viewed as key in the Ecuadorian War of Independence. The city became part of the Republic of Ecuador in 1830. A fire devastated a great part of the city in 1869 and as a result, there are few colonial buildings today. Instead, Guayaquil offers a more modern and contemporary vibe than another Ecuadorian cities.
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If you a looking for a unique experience, then a stay at Mashpi Lodge, Cloud Forest would be perfect. It is a remote high-biodiversity experience which boasts over 600 bird species, unique monkeys, and other fascinating wildlife
Ecuador has incredible biodiversity and varied landscapes, from the wildlife-rich Galapagos Islands to the high-altitude Andes mountains and Amazon rainforest
Tourists often focus on the Galápagos or the Amazon, but the Cloud Forests — mysterious, humming with life, and relatively uncrowded — are a hidden gem.
One local tradition that travelers should absolutely try to experience in Ecuador is "La Diablada de Píllaro", or The Devils of Píllaro, held every January 1–6 in the small Andean town of Píllaro, in the Tungurahua province
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