Things to Do in Ecuador in September

September is the final full month of Ecuador's humpback season. The watching tends to be notable. Whales migrate north from Antarctic feeding grounds to breed in the warmer Pacific waters off the coast. By September the population includes mothers with young calves that surface frequently and linger near the boats. Puerto López, a small fishing town on the central coast about 170 km (106 miles) south of Manta, is the departure point for most excursions. Boats head toward Isla de la Plata, roughly 40 km (25 miles) offshore. Blue-footed boobies nest on the cliffsides there. Whale sightings concentrate in these waters. You will smell the salt and diesel before you clear the harbor. Then the Pacific opens up. The swells stay moderate enough in September to keep most trips running. Strong enough that you feel the ocean working under the hull. The sound of a tail slap carries across the water in a way that makes the scale of these animals suddenly real. Bring motion-sickness medication if you are prone to it. Book for early morning when the light sits low and the whales seem to breach more freely. By late September the migration begins thinning. The first two weeks are likely the better bet.

September's dry conditions make the central highlands good for serious trekking. Cotopaxi, the symmetrical ice-capped stratovolcano that dominates the skyline south of Quito, is the anchor. The standard route takes you from the parking area at about 4,500 m (14,760 ft) up to the José Rivas refuge at 4,864 m (15,955 ft). This is a steep but non-technical scramble across volcanic scree that takes roughly ninety minutes if you have acclimatized properly. The air thins noticeably above 4,000 m (13,120 ft). Your breathing becomes louder in your own ears. The wind carries a mineral coldness that smells faintly of sulfur and wet stone. Below the volcano, the Limpiopungo lagoon reflects Cotopaxi on still mornings with a mirror clarity the wet-season cloud base never allows. For a less crowded route, try the Quilotoa Loop. This multi-day trek connects indigenous villages around a turquoise crater lake at 3,914 m (12,841 ft). It is at its driest and most walkable in September. The páramo grasses crunch underfoot, golden-brown against black volcanic soil. The silence at that altitude is the kind that makes you aware of your own heartbeat.

Baños de Agua Santa, the adventure town wedged into a valley between Tungurahua volcano and the Amazon basin, runs canyoning year-round. September hits a sweet spot between the wet season's swollen waterfalls and the mid-dry trickle. The Cashaurco canyon route, the most established in the area, involves rappelling down a series of waterfalls between 8 and 35 m (26 and 115 ft). Cold mountain water hammers your helmet. The roar drowns out everything except your guide's hand signals. The Pastaza River thunders through the gorge below town. On clear September mornings you can see steam rising from the thermal springs that give Baños its name. Volcanic heat mixes with the cool air in visible plumes. After the canyoning, those thermal baths are the reward. They are pools of naturally heated water that smell faintly of minerals, with temperatures ranging from barely warm to almost scalding. Baños sits at only 1,820 m (5,970 ft). It is noticeably warmer and more humid than Quito. The lush green canyon walls are a visual jolt after the brown páramo of the highlands above.

Quito's old town, the first city UNESCO ever designated a World Heritage Site back in 1978, is best explored through its food. September's dry weather means the steep cobblestone streets are not slick with rain. Start at the Mercado Central. The morning rush fills the building with the smell of roasting hornado, whole pig turned slowly over coals until the skin crackles and the fat renders into the meat. A bowl of locro de papa, the thick potato soup with cheese and sliced avocado that is Quito's comfort food when the evening chill sets in, steams in ceramic bowls at stalls that have been ladling it for decades. On La Ronda, the restored colonial lane that curves below the old town, evening brings canelazo. This is hot cinnamon water spiked with naranjilla juice and aguardiente cane spirit, sold from doorways where you smell the cinnamon boiling half a block before you arrive. The empanadas de viento, fried until they puff with trapped air, shatter when you bite through the crispy shell to the stretchy white cheese inside. September's humidity at 64 percent makes the walking comfortable. Nothing like the clammy slog that February and March can be at elevation.

Tena, the small jungle city that is Ecuador's way into the upper Amazon, sits at the confluence of the Tena and Pano rivers at just 500 m (1,640 ft). It is warm, humid, and thick with the green-rot smell of tropical vegetation. September's moderate rainfall keeps rivers running strong enough for Class III and IV rapids without the unpredictable flooding the heaviest rainy months bring. The Jatunyacu River, the most popular run, flows through a corridor of jungle so dense the canopy closes overhead between rapids. This muffles the world to river noise and bird calls. The water runs brown with jungle sediment but it is clean. The spray hitting your face between sets of rapids is warm. It is a welcome contrast to highland river runs. In the calm stretches between whitewater, the raft drifts while howler monkeys groan from the canopy and parrots streak across the gap of sky above the river. Multi-day options combine rafting with jungle camping along the riverbank. The nighttime chorus of frogs and insects is loud enough to feel physical against your skin.

September's garúa season in the Galápagos is cooler and mistier than the warm months. That is precisely why serious wildlife watchers prefer it. The cooler Humboldt Current upwelling brings nutrients that fuel the food chain. Larger aggregations of marine life follow. Sea lions are active and playful in the shallows. Marine iguanas forage with visible urgency. The Galápagos penguins on Isabela and Fernandina Islands are at their most numerous. On land, waved albatrosses on Española are still present through September before departing later in the year. The flightless cormorants on Fernandina spread their stubby wings to dry after fishing in the cold water. They hold the pose long enough to photograph from arm's length. The trade-off is the comfort factor. Water temperatures of 18-21°C (64-70°F) demand a proper wetsuit for snorkeling. Overcast mornings give the volcanic landscapes a stark, almost lunar quality. Some western-island crossings get choppy. But September also means fewer boats in the anchorages. Easier permit availability at limited-access sites follows. You get the uncanny experience of watching a blue-footed booby courtship dance on a lava field with no other group in sight.