Turtles in the Galápagos

Read More Stories About Ecuador on GoNOMAD

Riding Down the Devil’s Nose: The Infamous Nariz del Diablo

I am sitting on top of the front caboose when the wheels below began screaming and a sudden jolt nearly throws me from the train. I turn my head just in time to see the two rail cars behind me jump off the track and drag the rest of the train to a stop. We have derailed again, for the fifth time today.

Although this may seem frightening, it’s not, really. At no time do I or any of the other passengers riding atop the Nariz del Diablo train feel any terror, for the train itself is moving at the pace of a trotting buffalo and derailments are commonplace and seem to pose no danger. The first derailment, in fact, was quite amusing. Read more...

Finding Sea Legs in the Galápagos

The Galápagos Islands, located about 1000 kilometers from mainland Ecuador, are home to a wide variety of land and sea life.

The islands get their name from the old Spanish word “galápago,” which was a type of saddle. The first Spaniards to find the islands thought that both the shape of the islands and the tortoise shells resembled the saddles.

With 12 main and 12 minor islands, you can spend about two weeks alone exploring each island and swimming in the surrounding areas. The more popular option is to stay on a boat and travel by night, but my friends and I were only in the islands for five days and on the cheap, so we stayed in a hotel on Santa Cruz.Read more....

Waterfalls are a common sighting in Ecuador

Ecuador: Mountain Biking on the Highway of the Waterfalls

The topography of Ecuador is as diverse as you could ask for: in the highlands you find mountain ranges high enough to be covered in snow, yet they aren’t because of how close they are to the equator. Only the tallest peaks in the country are snowcapped.

The mountains are either lush with vegetation or a bit drier and desert-like. On the coast the vegetation changes a bit and plantations of bananas open up into huge expanses of land, as the temperature rises dramatically.

Sandy beaches stretch up and down the coast. And in the Oriente, or Amazon Rain Forest, the vegetation and wildlife is dense and thick, as you would imagine seeing in any jungle.Read more...

Read more GoNOMAD stories about Ecuador:

Canoa, Ecuador: Surfing, Relaxing and Helping

Beyond a Shadow of a Snout: A Saturday in Otavalo, Ecuador

An Eco-Lodge in the Cloud Forest of Ecuador

Ecuador: Amazon, Andes and Darwin

The Galapagos Island: A Controlled Adventure