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Ecuador’s 500-year War

Ecuador is one of South America’s smaller countries but that doesn’t mean its territorial ambitions are small - quite the opposite. In fact, a simmering border dispute with southern neighbor Peru that has lasted for over half a millennium was only recently settled to the satisfaction of both sides.

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Features

No Blank Walls in Quito, Ecuador

There is a saying in Ecuador: “No wall is blank in Quito.” This can mean two different things. One is that a wall that appears to be blank is actually a canvas that was created to be painted. Sooner or later - and likely sooner - it will be blank no more. The other, more literal meaning is that it really is difficult to find a blank wall in Quito. Graffiti is omnipresent in this ancient city, but it’s not obtrusive in the way American urban or gang graffiti can be.

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Features

Ingapirca - Ecuador's Major Inca Site

Ingapirca, which can be roughly translated to mean “Inca Wall”, is Ecuador’s major Inca archeological site and one of the most impressive anywhere. Although it does not approach the magnificence of sites like Cuzco, Ingapirca is still an astonishing site to see. Part of Ingapirca’s appeal comes from the natural scenery of the location; set into the dry, windswept hills of the Southern Sierra region of Ecuador.

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Features

Ecuador: Luna Runtun - The Adventure Spa

The nice folks who run the exotic Luna Runtun Spa in Baños, Ecuador, have succeeded in combining Ecuador’s stunning natural resources, Ecuadorian friendliness and charm, and efficient Swiss management to create a spa like no other: Luna Runtun - The Adventure Spa. It was back in 1993 that Olivier Christophe Currat, a native of Switzerland and graduate of the prestigious Lausanne Hotelschool, moved to Baños with his Ecuadorian wife Carmen and laid the foundations for Luna Runtun.

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Juan José Flores, Founder of the Republic

Juan José Flores was Ecuador’s first president and is remembered today as “The Founder of the Republic”. Although born in Venezuela in the year 1800, Flores spent most of his life in the service of Ecuador and was instrumental in both the attainment and maintenance of the country’s independence in an era in which national borders were far from being set in stone.

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Features

Ecuador’s Dark Secret: World Class Coffee

When you think of coffee and where it’s grown, countries like Brazil and Colombia are usually what come to mind. And why not... Brazil is the world’s largest coffee exporter with up to one third of all coffee produced in a good year. Colombia is also a major exporter, and has benefited from a series of successful marketing campaigns (can you say “Juan Valdez”?) to boost their coffee’s reputation. Not many would mention Ecuador, yet this small Andean country was once one of the world’s leading coffee exporters.

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Features

Ecuador: Afro-Ecuadorians and the Culture of Esmeraldas

Once the “forgotten people” of Ecuador, citizens of African heritage are at last beginning to achieve the notice and attention of not only their own government, but of the world as a whole. The national soccer team that progressed farther in the FIFA World Cup 2006 tournament than in any other previous year, and on that team was a preponderance of Afro-Ecuadorian players.

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Features

Ecuador’s Fishing Industry

Ecuador is a land of many regional variations, ranging from the Pacific coastal lowlands to the mountains and volcanoes of the majestic Andes running down the country’s spine, to finally the lush, verdant rainforests of the Amazonian east. While much has been made of the Andes, even to the point that Ecuador is considered an “Andean nation”, it is the Pacific lowlands along the coast - and the rich ocean waters that break upon them - that have proven to be Ecuador’s salvation.

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