Things to Do in Ecuador in August

August places you mid-window for humpback migration. Several hundred whales congregate in waters off Machalilla National Park. Boats depart Puerto López, a low-key fishing town where morning air smells of salt and drying nets. Within forty minutes you watch breaches, spy-hops, and mothers guiding newborn calves through swells. The boat rocks in a slow, rolling rhythm. Isla de la Plata, about 40 km (25 miles) offshore, pairs whale watching with blue-footed booby colonies. Their turquoise feet glow absurdly bright against grey volcanic rock. August seas run calmer than June's. This reduces seasickness that derails earlier trips. Plan a full day. Eat light.

August's dry skies turn the Avenue of Volcanoes into a premier trekking corridor. Cotopaxi's glacier-capped cone, at 5,897 m (19,347 ft), is visible from Quito on clear mornings. The national park's lower trails through tawny páramo grassland pass Laguna Limpiopungo at 3,800 m (12,467 ft). Reasonable fitness suffices. The air at altitude bites thin and cold at your lungs on steeper sections. The compensation is silence so complete you hear wind hissing through ichu grass. The Quilotoa Loop, a multi-day walk between indigenous villages perched on a collapsed volcanic caldera rim filled with turquoise water, finds ideal conditions in August. Firm trails and reliable weather seal it. Night temperatures drop near freezing at these elevations. Pack layers.

Baños sits at 1,820 m (5,971 ft) in a valley wedged between the Tungurahua volcano and the gorge where the highlands tumble into the Amazon basin. August's lower river levels make it the sweet spot for canyoning. You will rappel down the mossy face of waterfalls with cold spray hammering your helmet. Wade through chest-deep pools where the water runs a milky mineral green from volcanic sediment. Finish the descent with the particular exhausted satisfaction of having done something slightly reckless in a controlled way. The town itself smells permanently of sugarcane being boiled into melcocha. The taffy that vendors pull on hooks outside every other shopfront along Calle Ambato. Rafting on the Pastaza River in August runs at Class III to IV. Energetic enough to feel dangerous without being so. That is exactly where most people want the dial.

Quito's old town, the first UNESCO World Heritage Site ever designated, is best explored on foot in August. The rain that turns its steep cobblestone streets into skating rinks is largely absent. Walking through the Plaza de San Francisco at dawn, you catch the waxy scent of devotional candles drifting out of the basilica's open doors. The sound of pigeons echoes off five centuries of stonework. The Mercado Central, a few blocks away, serves locro de papa. The thick potato-and-cheese soup comes topped with slices of avocado and a scattering of fresh cheese that Quiteños eat for breakfast, lunch, or whenever comfort is required. The bowl arrives steaming. The broth is starchy and rich. The cheese squeaks slightly against your teeth. August mornings in Quito start cool enough for a light jacket. They warm to a comfortable walking temperature by ten. The low humidity keeps you from overheating on the hills that make the old town a genuine cardiovascular event.

Tena, the cinnamon capital of Ecuador, sits where the Andes dissolve into the Amazon basin. August's relatively lower water levels on the Jatunyacu and Misahuallí rivers create rapids that are technical and fun without being terrifyingly powerful. The water runs warmer here than in the highland canyons. The jungle presses in from both banks dense and loud with insect noise. Between rapids you drift past cecropia trees where toucans perch with improbable nonchalance. The Jatunyacu, which translates from Kichwa as big water, delivers a Class III run that takes most of a day. It includes lunch cooked riverside on banana leaves, typically tilapia and rice with the smoky char of a wood fire underneath. The jungle humidity down here, around 1,000 m (3,280 ft), is thick enough to taste. It is a sharp contrast to the dry highland air you likely flew into days earlier.

August in the Galápagos is the garúa season. It sounds like a drawback until you understand what the cooler, nutrient-rich water does to the wildlife. The Humboldt Current drives upwelling that floods the shallows with plankton. Everything in the food chain responds. Sea lions are pupping on the beaches of San Cristóbal. Marine iguanas are more active in the cooler water. Galápagos penguins, the only penguin species found north of the equator, hunt close to shore where snorkelers can watch them torpedo past at startling speed. The air temperature hovers around 22°C (72°F). It is comfortable for hiking the lava trails on Isabela and Santa Cruz without the equatorial sun that bakes the islands in the hot season. The trade-off is visibility. The water is greener and more turbid than in the warm months. The overcast skies rob the postcard blue that photographers chase. The animals do not care about your colour palette. In August they are everywhere.