the first flight went from los ángeles to san josé , in about 6 hours . much to our delight , the san josé airport harbors and outdoor bar area carved out of the main building , sheltered from the inclemence of the weather and non-smoking regulations . 90 min later we took a second flight to ecuador , about 2 hours . the plane stops in quito to drop off some folks and refuel . quito is a narrow valley at 9,300 ft , surrounded by tall mountains . the descent is not something you sleep through , specially the first time . the plane then continues to guayaquil , our destination , a 35 min flight .

the weather in ecuador is not exclusively determined by its location at 0º latitude . for one thing , the andes run right through it , reaching over 20,000 ft . but just as importanly , ocean currents have a profound influence in weather patterns . the humboldt stream works its way along the pacific coast of south america from the antarctic and meets el niño on our coasts , with shifts back and forth that affect rainfall and ambient temperature . the waters around galápagos can be cold like san francisco bay , while the santa elena peninsula waters (salinas, playas) are warm year round , in the neighborhood of 75ºF .

there are three distinct regions : the coast , the highlands or sierra , and the rainforest or oriente . the galápagos have their own weather sytems . the coastal areas are very lush and green . guayaquil sees more than 9" of rain monthly between january and march , the height of the coastal rainy season (winter) , with a mean temperature of 80ºF and high humidity . a warm day will hit 93ºF . they get less than 1" of rain between july and november , a mean of 77ºF with low humidity , and lovely breezy evenings like the best southern california summer nights .

the highlands are a different beast . two sierras run north-south , with transverse ranges in a ladder-like arrangement that create high valleys well above 6,500 ft , surrounded by high mountains . temperatures and rainfall vary from valley to valley , but in general the north sierra is very lush . quito sees 4 to 6" of rain monthly from october to may , with a mean of 58ºF . mornings into noon tend to be sunny and bright . the afternoons are cooler and prone to rain . evenings are cool . though it never snows , it will hail from time to time .

ecuador is about 1/33 the size of the US , with about 1/21 its population . the bulk of the people inhabit the coast and sierra . the oriente is sparsely populated but with a high influx of migrants .