El Oro

El Oro stretches from Guayaquil to the Peruvian border and most people don’t stop en route. Admittedly, this area has no must-see attractions but the main city Machala is worth a look, if only to say you’ve visited the “banana capital of the world”. Machala is also a convenient starting point for exploring the mangrove circled town of Puerto Bolívar, the markets of Santa Rosa, the gold-mining community of Zaruma and the peninsula beaches of Jambelí. On the Río Zarumilla, on the border with Peru, sits Huaquillas, the busiest crossing point between the two countries. Huaquillas offers little more than a checkpoint and a shopping destination for Peruvians looking for bargains.