'Ecuador: The Royal Tour'
(DVD / NR / 2016 / PBS)
Overview: Take a Royal Tour with journalist Peter Greenberg, and see Ecuador in a way no visitor has ever seen it before.
DVD Verdict: Guided by President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, explore the Amazon rainforest, here in 'Ecuador: The Royal Tour' we go whale watching off the coast of Manta, shop like a local in a rural town in the Andes Mountains, visit a chocolate farm in Cacao, and become mesmerized by the diversity of species only found on the world-famous Galápagos Islands.
As we soon discover by watching this fascinating documentary, Ecuador is a country straddling the equator on South America’s west coast. Its diverse landscape encompasses Amazon jungle, Andean highlands and the wildlife-rich Galápagos Islands. In the Andean foothills at an elevation of 2,850m, Quito, the capital, is known for its largely intact Spanish colonial center, with decorated 16th- and 17th-century palaces and churches including the ornate Compañía de Jesús cathedral.
We spent significant time on the Galápagos Islands, a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, is a province of Ecuador, lying about 1,000km off its coast, and considered one of the world's foremost destinations for wildlife-viewing. Its isolated terrain shelters a diversity of plant and animal species, many found nowhere else. Charles Darwin visited in 1835, and his observation of Galápagos' species later inspired his theory of evolution. 'Ecuador: The Royal Tour' shows us how things exist out there, how the days develop, and what not to ask for, even if you feel you really want to! This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.
www.PBS.org