Quito sits amid a bowl of snow-capped mountains and volcanoes and is the capital of Ecuador. You get to explore the old city and also to spend a couple of days in the highlands, staying at a hacienda (ranch) dating back to Spanish colonial times, from which you can explore the prairies on foot or on horseback.

Between these adventures you travel to Ecuador’s Amazonia  - it  sounds remote but in fact it is easily reached. Your family has a unique opportunity to spend a few days on a cruise following the jungle-fringed banks of the Napo, a major tributary of the vast Amazon river.

 Fly to the Galápagos Islands, but instead of taking a conventional cruise you will stay on one of the main islands, Santa Cruz, close to the town of Puerto Ayora with its many facilities. You can choose from a menu of optional guided explorations offering plenty of opportunities to marvel at the giant tortoises, swim and snorkel with sea-lions and eyeball prehistoric-looking iguanas.