Ecuador
ECUADOR
After two long years away from Latin America – my spiritual home – I’d finally be going back. Ecuador had been on my list for ages, but I had always wanted to do it properly. In other words, I wanted to wait until my finances allowed me to do everything I wanted to do.
And finally, I was all set for the trip. I have to admit that, as excited as I should have felt, I was kinda indifferent to it all. Maybe it was because I had those two exams looming over me and the extra night shifts had me feeling like a zombie. Maybe it was because I usually don’t allow myself to get all hyped up until after I arrive at my destination. But there was another ‘maybe’ at the back of my mind: maybe I just wasn’t feeling it.
When Adventure Becomes Boring
You see, when I decided to go to Ecuador, I didn’t think much about it beyond the fact that I’d be going back to the continent where I feel I belong.
Then, when I started planning my trip, it dawned on me that I had already done many of the same kinds of wild, incredible and adventurous things. I’d be doing the things I love, granted, but somehow it felt as though I’d be reliving the same experiences over and over. Back in Albania, I had realised that my usual backpacking trips were no longer doing it for me. Yet I still went on to Pico Aneto and planned another familiar adventure in Ecuador without so much as considering a different kind of trip in between.
I guess it’s normal that, once you’ve travelled and experienced so much, there are fewer ‘firsts’ left to experience. I am in no way saying that I’ve done and seen everything – far from it – but, when I looked at the adventures on offer in Ecuador, I felt uninspired, to say the least. I remember feeling the same way back in Central America after visiting the umpteenth waterfall and volcano. At the time, I was afraid I had grown jaded, but now I understand that wasn’t necessarily the case. When you do something repeatedly, it gets boring – simple. Even something extraordinary can start to feel ordinary if you repeat it often enough.
Much like I had figured out back in Albania, I just needed something new. An Arctic survival expedition. A bikepacking trip. Some crazy adventure I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to try. As much as I love trekking, diving and exploring, planning trips that always revolved around the same few things had started to grow somewhat stale. Okay, maybe not diving. But the rest, yes.
Part of it was the fact that I was so busy with exams that I barely had any time to think, let alone plan. But part of it might also have been fear of the unknown. After Ecuador, I’d try all of that. For now, though, I swore to myself that I’d make the most of this adventure, familiar though it might be.
Ecuador in Brief
Familiar, of course, did not mean ordinary. Ecuador is relatively small, but it compresses an absurd amount of geography, biodiversity and history into its borders – all of which I’d discover over a period of three weeks.
So, a bit about Ecuador. Aptly named, the country sits on the equator, with Colombia to the north, Peru to the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is commonly divided into four natural regions: the Pacific Coast, the Andes, the Amazon and the Galápagos Islands. In a relatively short distance, the land rises from coastal lowlands through volcanic mountains and high-altitude páramo before descending into the Amazon Basin.
Climate in Ecuador varies more with altitude, rainfall patterns and ocean currents than with latitude. The Amazon is generally warm and wet, the highlands are cooler and changeable, and the coast ranges from humid in the north to much drier in the south-west. The Galápagos, meanwhile, has a warm, wet season and a cooler, drier one, both shaped by ocean currents. Together, these landscapes support mangroves, dry forests, cloud forests, páramo, rainforest and some of the world’s most distinctive wildlife.
As for the country itself, Ecuador is a constitutional presidential republic. Daniel Noboa began a full four-year presidential term in May 2025 after winning re-election, and his current term runs until 2029. Recent politics have been heavily shaped by violent organised crime, security policy, employment and economic pressure. Ecuador has used the US dollar since 2000, and its economy relies heavily on oil, shrimp, bananas, cocoa and tourism. That dependence also leaves the country vulnerable to changing commodity prices and natural disasters.
One final note about its people. Ecuador describes itself in its Constitution as an intercultural and plurinational state, and its culture reflects Indigenous, Spanish, Afro-Ecuadorian and other influences. Food, music, dress and festivals vary markedly between the Coast, Andes, Amazon and Galápagos, so there is no single Ecuadorian experience. Spanish is Ecuador’s official language. Kichwa and Shuar have official status for intercultural relations, while other ancestral languages are officially used by Indigenous peoples in the areas where they live.
Whatever doubts I had before leaving, this was still a country of four worlds, and I was about to throw myself into all of them.
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