Ecuador at the Globetrotters Club: Where to Visit After April's Earthquake

By Russell Maddicks

Ecuador is one of the most interesting and rewarding countries to visit in the Americas. A small country blessed with a hugely varied geography – encompassing Andean peaks, Amazon rainforest, Pacific beaches, and the wildlife-wonderland of the Galapagos Islands – it has been described as a microcosm of South America.

On 16 April a 7.8 magnitude earthquake devastated communities along the northern Pacific coast and a massive relief effort is still underway. Meanwhile, the rest of the country is operating normally and more than ever needs tourism revenue to help fund the rebuilding on the coast.

Russell Maddicks, the author of the “Culture Smart! Guide to Ecuador” will give an illustrated presentation on Saturday, 4 June, at the Globetrotters Club in London explaining the current situation on the ground, why you should visit Ecuador now, and giving a taste of the country's main tourism highlights. 

On 16 April a devastating 7.8 magnitude quake struck the Pacific coast of Ecuador killing some 660 people, injuring over 7,000 and destroying homes, businesses, schools and hospitals in Manabi and Esmeraldas provinces.

This is one of the worst disasters to hit the country in decades and an unprecedented time of need for Ecuadorians living along the northern Pacific coast. Millions of dollars have been raised by well-wishers around the world to help the relief efforts, and international groups like Oxfam, Care, and UNICEF are all operating in the country to assist the government in housing, feeding and providing medical attention to those most affected.

The rebuilding efforts will cost over $3 billion and maintaining tourism revenue, a key element of the Ecuadorian economy, is more important now than ever.

While the northern sector of the Pacific Coast is slowly coming back to life, the rest of the country is operating as normal and tourists can expect no difficulties visiting the Galapagos Islands, the Andean capital of Quito, the Amazon region, and the port city of Guayaquil (the gateway to the Galapagos) or many other parts of the country.

The message from Ecuador is if you really want to help the country rebuild come and visit. This talk will hopefully give you the information you need to plan your visit.

Admission to Globetrotters costs £3 for Members and £6 for Non-members. You do not need to be a member to attend, and they do not sell advanced tickets, so just come on the day to The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, off Russell Street (behind the Fortune Theatre), Covent Garden,WC2B 5EZ. Doors open at 2:15pm and the program starts around 2:30pm with each talk lasting approximately 40 minutes.

About the Speaker: Russell Maddicks is a BBC-trained writer, translator, and journalist. A graduate in Economic and Social History from the University of Hull, England, he has spent the last twenty years traveling, living, and working in South and Central America, most recently as Latin American Regional Specialist for BBC Monitoring.

A fluent Spanish speaker, he has made many extended trips to Ecuador, one of his favourite South American destinations, where he has explored the length and breadth of the country both for work and for pleasure.

He is the author of the Bradt Guide to Venezuela, Culture Smart! guides to Venezuela and Ecuador, and has guides to Cuba, Mexico and Nicaragua scheduled for release in 2016-2017.

Ecuador Scoops Top Prizes at World Travel Awards in Bogota

By Russell Maddicks

Ecuador continued its successful run at the World Travel Awards on Saturday, 10 October, picking up 14 prizes at a glittering gala ceremony held at the Teatro Colón in the historic centre of Bogotá, Colombia. 

For the third year in a row, Ecuador won the award for South America's Leading Green Destination, a nod the country's biodiversity and continuing commitment to eco-tourism and sustainable development.

Another top eco-tourism award went to the Finch Bay Eco Hotel - located on the island of Santa Cruz in the wildlife-rich and environmentally-important Galápagos - which walked away with the prize for South America's Leading Green Hotel. 

It was also a big night for the historic Andean capital of Quito, a third time winner of South America's Leading Destination, considered among the most important prizes awarded on the night.

Quito's hotels also took home top gongs, with the stylish Hotel Plaza Grande taking the prize for South America's Best Luxury Hotel, and Swissôtel taking South America's Best Hotel. 

Quito's Mariscal Sucre International Airport, which only opened in 2013, garnered the prize for South America's Leading Airport. 

The Tren Crucero, Ecuador's revamped train route from Quito through the Andes to Guayaquil on the Pacific Coast, won the award for South America's Best Luxury Train.

"These international acknowledgments confirm, once again, that Ecuador continues to captivate the world with its spectacular destinations and tourism products," said Ecuador's Tourism Minister Sandra Naranjo, on hearing the results at the WTA Latin America Gala Ceremony 2015. 

The annual WTA event is considered the Oscars of the travel industry and Ecuador's growing share of the top awards, especially in the luxury sector, is a testament to the high level of public and private investment in tourism infrastructure and promotion over the last ten years.

"Ecuador has made great strides in recent years, and is now a tourist force to be reckoned with in South America,” said Graham Cooke, the founder and president of the WTA, adding that Ecuador's sweep of the prizes "is a reflection of the country's success in positioning itself not only as a unique destination - with both Quito and Ecuador, as winners - but also through high-quality products."

In other top awards, Argentina picked up the trophy for South America's Leading Heritage Destination, and Peru won the gong for South America's Leading Adventure Tourism Destination. 

Peru also won South America's Leading Culinary Destination and South America's Leading Cultural Destination.

South America's Leading Beach Destination, another major prize, was awarded to Colombia's Caribbean resort island of San Andrés.

Colombian flag-carrier Avianca won the prestigious award for South America’s Leading Airline, while Mexico and Central America's Leading Airline went to Copa Airlines. 

The full list of Ecuador's pizes at the 2015 World Travel Awards (WTA): 

Ecuador: South America's Leading Green Destination.
Quito: South America's Leading Destination.
Tren Crucero (Cruise Train): South America's Best Luxury Train.
Finch Bay Eco Hotel: South America's Leading Green Hotel.
Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito: South America's Leading Airport.
Hotel Plaza Grande (Quito): South America's Leading Luxury Hotel.
Swissôtel (Quito): South America's Leading Hotel.

The following Ecuadorian hotels and resorts also won awards:
Hotel Plaza Grande (Quito): Ecuador's Best Boutique Hotel.
Hotel Oro Verde (Guayaquil): Ecuador's Best Business hotel.
Mashpi Lodge: Ecuador's Best Green Hotel.
Swissôtel (Quito): Ecuador's Best Hotel.
JW Marriott Hotel (Quito): Ecuador's Best Presidential Suite.
Arashá Tropical Forest Resort & Spa: Ecuador's Best Resort.
Termas de Papallacta: Ecuador's Best Spa Resort.

For the full list of WTA 2015 winners click here. 

Related articles:
The Wonders of Galápagos Laid Bare by British Author Henry Nicholls

Ecuador Launches Arty "Feel Again" Tourism Campaign

Guayaquil Prepares for FITE 2015 - Ecuador's International Tourism Fair

Follow me on Twitter: @EcuaTravelGuide
Follow me on Instagram: @LatAmTravelist
Purchase a copy of my book Culture Smart! Ecuador

Ecuador Launches Arty "Feel Again" Tourism Campaign

By Russell Maddicks

Following the success of its ambitious All You Need Is Ecuador campaign. which featured the well-known Beatles' song All You Need Is Love, Ecuador's Tourism Ministry has now launched an even more ambitious campaign with the emotive slogan: Feel Again!

The $10 million campaign begins with a major art project featuring 18 contemporary artists, photographers and travel bloggers from four countries who flew into Quito on 21 September for a 7-day expedition to experience one of Ecuador's four worlds: the Andes, Amazon, .Pacific Coast, and the Galapagos Islands.

Tourism is an important source of non-oil revenue for Ecuador, coming in third place after bananas and shrimp and generating some $1.5 billion in 2014.

The idea is for the invited artists to explore the sensory experiences of travelling in Ecuador - the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and feelings that make travelling such an awakening, empowering and life-changing experience - and then produce work that reflects those experiences.

The artists will also engage on social media with their followers in a way that hopefully inspires others to visit Ecuador and sample its food, culture, history as well as its diverse landscapes and wildlife.

Team USA includes Andrew Norton, Brendan Van Son, Marc Reisbig, and Scott Pommier, and they will be exploring the Galapagos Islands.

Team Canada includes Benoit Paille, Jeff Bartlett, Jesse Louttit, and Rick Leong, and they'll be heading to the Pacific Coast,

Team UK includes Conor MacNeill, Esther Teichmann, Jason and Keiko Hindley, and Sara Thomas, and they'll be immersing themselves in Ecuador's mega-diverse Amazon region.

Team Germany includes Johannes Conrad and Michelle Phillips of Studio Yukiko, Rocket & Wink, and Steve Hanisch, and they will be experiencing the high Andes.

All the teams will be documenting their journeys in real time with stories, photos, videos, sounds, and artworks published on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and other social media platforms.

The best way to follow the artists' progress is through Ecuador Travel's accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, where you can use the hashtag #FeelAgainInEcuador to get the latest updates.

The invited artists posed with Ecuador's Tourism Minister Sandra Naranjo at the Feel Again! project launch in Quito's historic centre.

Follow me on Twitter: @EcuaTravelGuide
Follow me on Instagram: @LatAmTravelist
Purchase a copy of my book Culture Smart! Ecuador

Forget Panama, it's an Ecuador Hat

The Ecuador Hat
By Russell Maddicks
Beach or street, a well-designed straw hat is the ultimate in chic Summer headgear. Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Shakira, Beyonce, all the A-listers have sported a "Panama hat" in the past, but how many people know that this timeless style item is completely misnamed and actually comes from Ecuador?

The success of a recent hashtag campaign in Colombia called #itscolombianotcolumbia got me thinking. How come after so many years people are still calling a style of straw hat made in Ecuador the "Panama hat"?

It seems to me that we owe it to the thousands of hardworking artisan weavers of Ecuador that we fight against this historical misnomer, raise awareness, and win back Ecuador's rightful place in the Iconic Headgear Hall of Fame.

That's why I'm starting my own hashtag campaign: #EcuadorHatNotPanama  

Origins of the Ecuador Hat

Headgear has been made in Ecuador from fine, soft, but very strong paja de toquilla (toquilla straw) for thousands of years.

When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in 1531, they marvelled at the skill of the indigenous weavers, who wove the straw so tight that it would keep your hair dry in a tropical downpour but was light and airy enough to keep your head fresh in the Equatorial heat.

As the straw was found mainly in Jipijapa Manabí, that's where production first began in the Spanish colonial period and after 1830 under the new Republic of Ecuador it flourished.

Ecuadorian President Eloy Alfaro (1842–1912) came from the village of Montecristi, just outside Manta, in Manabí and made his fortune making toquilla hats.

The finest-quality Montecristi hats, the ones most sought after by connoisseurs, are called montecristi superfino and are woven by hand to exacting standards.

Eloy Alfaro exported his fine straw hats via Panama and it was there in the 19th century that the problem over the name began.  

The "Panamanization" of the Ecuador Hat

Workers on the Panama Canal and the US engineers working alongside them found the light, Ecuadorian straw hats perfectly suited for hot, sweaty work in harsh conditions and they became very popular.

The international boost for the hats came after US President Theodore Roosevelt was photographed wearing one on a visit to the Panama Canal in 1904 in a picture that was reprinted in newspapers all over the world.

Suddenly, anybody who was anybody wanted a "Panama hat". The style went global and has remained a classic summer essential ever since.

The downside for the Ecuadorian producers is that the Panama name stuck.

I still find it odd to come across signs in Ecuador stating: “Se vende Panama hats” (“Panama hats for sale”), even in Montecristi.

Production today 

Workshops in and around the UNESCO World Heritage city of Cuenca now get the most passing trade form tourists as they are easily reached from the city.

if you don't have time to visit Montecristi or the mountain weavers around Cuenca, a great place to see how the hats are made is the Museo del Sombrero de Paja Toquilla (Toquilla Straw Hat Museum) in the centre of Cuenca or the Museo Magia del Sombrero (Magic of the Hat Museum) run by the prestigious hatmaker Homero Ortega P. & Hijos, which is located on Avenida Gil Ramírez Dávalos.

A Hat for Life

Light, hardwearing, and cool to wear, a hand-woven Panama hat will last a lifetime.

The true test of quality is the tightness of the weaving—so tight that it will hold water. Resist the temptation to screw the hat up to see how well it holds its shape or pass it through a wedding ring as many travel guides suggest.

Unless it's a really expensive hat, this will just ruin it. 

But whether you haggle over a $4 straw trilby sold at a Quito market or head for a stylish hat shop like Homero Ortega P. & Hijos in Quito's Plaza San Francisco and shell out $400 for a Superfino Montecristi that took four months to make, an Ecuador Hat is an essential purchase.

So come on! Join the campaign. Tweet this blog post with the hashtag #EcuadorHatNotPanama and follow me on Twitter

Fabulous Fanesca - Ecuador's Easter Soup

By Russell Maddicks

It's Easter in Ecuador and that's good news for travelers looking for a unique culinary experience, because according to Ecuadorians the true flavour of Easter is a rich, creamy soup that comes so laden down with extras that it's more like an all-you-can-eat-meal.

Made from a base of zambo (gourd), zapallo (pumpkin), melloco (Ullucus tuberosus) and chunky lumps of bacalao (salted cod), fanesca is not only hearty but holy as well.

Following the Catholic tradition of abstaining from meat on Friday, fanesca was traditionally eaten for lunch on Good Friday but nowadays it's eaten for the whole of Semana Santa (Holy Week) and most almuerzo (lunch) bars will and market eateries will have a hearty fanesca on the menu for anything from $2-$10.

According to tradition, fanesca should include twelve types of grains or beans like chochos (Andean lupins), habas (faba beans), choclo (maize), arvejas (peas), and lentejas (lentils), among others. The beans and grains are meant to represent the twelve apostles and the fish symbolizes Jesus.

The final flourish is to decorate the hot soup with slices of boiled egg, mini empanadas, slices of white cheese, palmitos (palm hearts), maní (peanuts), and plátano maduro frito (fried ripe plantain).

No wonder people eat it at lunchtime. Even the Man-V.-Food guy Adam Richman would need a siesta after a bowl of Ecuador's holy soup.

Making fanesca is a tradition in many families who have their own closely-guarded recipes handed down from the abuela (grandma). It's a huge process that can take days, as the grains, dried beans and lupins must all be soaked and cooked individually before being combined in the soup. The bacalao is bought dried and salted and is prepared by soaking and cooking it in milk.

They even hold competitions in Quito and Cuenca, with highly-coveted prizes for the best fanesca. 

Despite its massive popularity, there has been little serious investigation into the origins of this singular dish. The first known printed reference to fanesca only occurs in 1882, when it appears in Juan Pablo Sanz's book “El Manual de la Cocinera” (The Cook's Manual).

Some investigators maintain that it was named after "faneca" a type of fish popular in Spain and Portugal and that the recipe arrived with the Spanish conquistadors.in the 16th century.

Others have said it was cooked up in a Quito monastery by a woman called Juana and was originally called Juanesca,

However, more recently, Ecuadorian researchers have suggested the fanesca tradition could date back more than 4,000 years, to an ancient harvest festival that the Incas adopted and called Muchuc Nina (which in Quechua means Day of New Fire).

On that day a meal of boiled Andean maize and grains called Uchucuta, (or Uchukuta) was cooked with chilis and herbs and served alongside roast cuy (guinea pig) to mark the first fruits of the harvest.

As a way to aid the religious conversion of the Highland Quichua and other indigenous tribes, the Spanish conquistadors incorporated elements of Muchuc Nina, which was celebrated in March, with the Catholic rituals marking Semana Santa, or so the theory goes.

The syncretic combination of Indigenous and European beliefs found in modern Ecuador is echoed in the combination of indigenous and European ingredients used to make fanesca, making it such a unique expression of Ecuadorian culture.

However ancient its origins, its popularity shows no signs of waning. Not everybody in Ecuador takes part in the many religious festivals during Semana Santa, but few miss out on the opportunity to tuck in to a bowl of this filling pumpkin and fish soup.

So what are you waiting for? A comer... fanesca! 

All You Need is Ecuador... in London

By Russell Maddicks
A towering letter E decorated with large photos of tropical birds created quite a stir in London's bustling Victoria train station on 1 April. Standing in the centre of the busy concourse, it was hard to avoid the large letter, which easily attracted the attention of the rail and tube passengers scurrying past.

On closer examination, it was clear the letter was also decorated with information linked to Ecuador's latest tourism campaign, encapsulated in the hashtag #AllYouNeedIsEcuador and the slogan: "Like nowhere else. All in one place. So close. Galapagos, Pacific Coast, Andes, Amazon".

On hand to answer questions about the campaign, give tourism advice, and dish out Ecuadorian chocolates and roses was Magaly, a young Ecuadorian studying at university in London.

Magaly explained that one of the focuses of the London campaign is to draw attention to the incredible birdwatching opportunities in Ecuador, which has some 1,630 species of birds, including 132 species of hummingbirds (a world record), and birdwatching opportunities in the Amazonian jungle, the Andes, the cloudforests of Mindo, and the islands of the Galapagos. 

When I arrived, Magaly was wearing a crochet mask of Diablo Huma, a popular figure from the annual Inti Raymi (Sun God) festival in Otavalo.

Inti Raymi dates back to the time when the Incas briefly ruled Ecuador, and is just one of a hundred folk festivals celebrated around the country.

As Magaly pointed out: "Ecuador is not just a mega-diverse country in terms of its geography and ecology, with Andes mountains, snow-capped volcanoes, Pacific coast, Amazon jungle and the Galapagos Islands. We are also a mega-diverse people with a long history and culture, which is reflected in our music, our festivals and our food."

Tourism has been booming for Ecuador in the last few years, reaching a record 1.3 million tourist arrivals in 2013 and a forecast of 1.5 million for 2014.

The global #AllYouNeedIsEcuador promotion campaign has cost about $18 million, including $1.3 million to acquire the rights to use the classic Beatle's song "All You Need Is Love" in the videos that accompany the campaign.

The E will be in Victoria for a week or so, and is just one of the 19 letters that spell out All You Need Is Ecuador that have been positioned in 12 capital cities around the world and in seven Ecuadorian cities. (See full details and video here) 

If you're in the vicinity of Victoria station this week, pop in and say hello. You might get a pink or yellow rose, or a small bar of single-origin dark chocolate made by Republica del Cacao.

For more information about visiting Ecuador and inspiring photographs and videos of the country visit http://allyouneedisecuador.travel/en

 

   
   

All You Need is... Ecuador

By Russell Maddicks

You can't get much bigger or more internationally famous than Liverpool band the Beatles, so it should come as no surprise that the government of Ecuador has paid $1.3 million for the right to use the Beatles' song "All You Need is Love" to launch the biggest tourism campaign in its history.

With the slogan "Like nowhere else, all in one place, and so close. All you need is... Ecuador", the country is hoping to capitalize on its world-renowned natural beauty spots like the Galapagos Islands, its snow-capped Andean volcanoes, the magnificent colonial-era cities of Quito and Cuenca, and its bio-diverse Amazon rainforest, which are all packed into an area slightly larger than Great Britain or the US state of Colorado.

The idea is to boost visitor numbers and make tourism the country's third biggest revenue provider after oil, and agricultural exports of bananas and cocoa.

The new campaign will launch on 1 April in 12 cities across the globe, including Paris, Madrid, Sao Paulo, Bogota, New York, Santiago, Berlin, London, Lima, Mexico City, Amsterdam and Buenos Aires.

Seven cities in Ecuador will also participate: Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca, Manta, Loja, Tena, and Santa Cruz.

The idea is to have a different letter of the phrase "All you need is Ecuador" in each city as a form of teaser campaign, which includes quick response (QR) codes, a dedicated webpage, and a hashtag - #AllYouNeedis (@AllYouNeedis_ -,to encourage passers by to find out what the letters mean.

In Paris, France, the letter A will be displayed in the Gare de Lyon train station with an image of the Toquilla straw used to weave the iconic, but erroneously-named Panama hat.

In Madrid, Spain, the letter L will be displayed at the main Atocha railway station, with an image of colorful masks from Ecuador's many folk festivals.

In Sao Paulo, Brazil, the letter L will be displayed at the Morumbi shopping mall showing a snow-capped mountain from the Valley of the Volcanoes in the Ecuadorian Andes.

In Bogota, Colombia, the letter Y will be displayed in El Virrey Park with an image of Baroque art, representing the colonial splendor of the churches of Quito and Cuenca, which are recognized as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

In New York, in the United States,the letter O will be displayed in Gasenvoort Plaza, with an image related to the country's production of fine aromatic cocoa beans that are used in some of the best chocolate in the world.

In Santiago, the capital of Chile, the letter U will be displayed at the Parque Arauco boulevard, with an image of the fine textiles produced by Ecuador's many highland indigenous groups.

In Berlin, Germany, the letter N will be on display at the Sony Center, with an image from the recently reopened and revamped narrow-gauge railway line that links Guayaquil to Quito, crossing dramatic Andean valleys with antique steam trains still working along some sections.

In London, England, the letter E will be displayed at Victoria Station, with an image of one of the spectacular birds that draw international birders to the country. A relatively small country with an incredible geographical diversity that includes Andean mountains, Amazon rainforest, lowland desert, high paramo, Pacific coast and the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador is home to over 1,630 species of birds.

in Lima, Peru, the letter E will be displayed at Salazar Park - Larcomar, with an image of extreme sports. While climbing with crampons across the glaciers of the highest active volcanoes in the world has brought mountaineers to Ecuador for many years, there is now a wide range of adventure sports available in places like Baños de Agua Santa, a popular stop for travelers.

In Mexico City, the letter D will be displayed at the Paseo de la Reforma, with an image of the Galapagos Islands, known for their biodiversity and their connection to Charles Darwin and his Theory of Evolution.

In Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, the letter I will be displayed at Schiphol Airport, with an image of the country's famous orchids, another legacy of its extreme biodiversity.

In Buenos Aires in Argentina, the letter S will be displayed at Puerto Madero, with an image of roses, one of Ecuador's key exports, especially to the United States, where a large percentage of the roses bought on Valentine's Day come from Ecuador. Some 40% of Ecuador's roses are exported to the United States, 25% to Russia and 9% to the Netherlands.

So what makes you want to visit Ecuador? Let me know by leaving a comment below and I'll feature your suggestions in future posts.

Visit the official All you need is Ecuador website for photos, videos and more information about where to visit and what to in Ecuador.  

On Twitter use the hashtag #AllYouNeedIsEcuador

I'm Off to Discover Ecuador

I thought the best way to launch this blog was to post a new video from the Ecuador Tourism Ministry that captures the essence of the Ecuador I discovered many years ago when I traveled overland from Caracas through Colombia to Quito.

Far from the postcard images of stately churches and big-eyed llamas I found a land of contrasts; tiny mountain hamlets seemingly unchanged since the days of the Incas, steamy jungles full of colorful butterflies and birds, and crazy cities like Guayaquil where the parties last all night.

I also discovered remote beaches with salt-encrusted surf dudes just as cool and laid back as the ones I'd left behind in Caribbean Colombia and Venezuela.

Back then I had no guidebook or any real clue what I would find in Ecuador but the offer of a free bed and a few weeks of freedom to explore was enough to get me on the bus.

Once there I just followed my instincts and went with the flow: Quito, Otavalo, Mindo, San Rafael, San Vicente, Cuenca, Vilcambamba, Guayaquil, Galapagos - each place different to the one before, like a microcosm of South America squeezed into one tiny country.

That first adventure and the people I met on it has set the tone for all subsequent trips.

And now I'm setting off again for the land of volcanoes, beaches and jungles and all I can think about is chowing down on a cuy (roast guinea pig), sipping on a cool juice made from tomate de arbol, and meeting heaps of local peeps who can help me get a deeper understanding of this amazing country.

If you want to help me gather research for my new book "Culture Smart! Ecuador" send me an email at newzvision@hotmail.com or leave a comment below.

In the meantime, I'll be posting photos and videos and recipes and anything interesting that I stumble across on my travels.