Dear Friends, I'm dusting down this travelblog to let you know I'm off on a new adventure! Tomorrow I fly to Sri Lanka where I'll be be doing voluntary work with tsunami survivors. Towards the end of 2003, while I was working in India, I took a weekend trip to Sri Lanka. I completely adored the place and vowed to return one day to see more. Sadly, just a few months laters, the southern part of the island was decimated by the Boxing Day tsunami. We've all seen the dreadful pictures. Thirty thousand people died in Sri Lanka alone. I wonder about the people I encountered on that short trip, those I met and those that just waved and smiled. I don't imagine that the rustic beachside cabin I stayed in is still standing. Sobering thoughts... ... read more

Greetings again, this time from Antigua, Guatemala! Actually right now I'm in Guatemala City, somewhere which def wasn't on my itinerary. Am trying to sort out flights and the sheer incompetence of a particular Spanish airline has driven me to desperation, hence having to hang around in one of the world's most dangerous cities while they eat their lunch and prob take a little nap... ggrrrr!!! Anyway, onto nicer things... Since my last post have been doing some serious relaxing. If the Galapagos was Paradise on Earth, then Vilcabamba in the South of Ecuador must surely be the garden of Eden! Mountains, cloud forest, lush green valleys, hummingbirds, more butterflies than you could shake a net at and stunning, stunning views. Spent much of my time admiring it all from the comfort of my own personal ... read more

Hi! Don't have a lot of time right now and haven't really thought this through, but given the current state of affairs in Ecuador thought I'd better write a few lines to let you know I'm safe! Got back from the Galapagos on Sunday (more on that later!) to read in the paper that Ecuador was under a State of Emergency. Then an hour later to read in a different newspaper that it had been called off. Either way there had apparently been riots in the streets, calling for the President to step down due to corruption scandals, etc, the usual South American political shenanigans. Didn't notice anything other than a lot of cars horns all night, but nothing unusual there. Either way decided to leave Quito asap and next morning came down to the relative ... read more

End of week three - already?! I´ve now successfully booked my Galapagos trip for eight days from the 10th April. That gives me another week here in Otovalo, so I´ll be able to spend an extra few days up at the community, which I´m grateful for, because what with Spanish lessons, Easter, and various other unforeseen situations, the four weeks that I allocated to the project has rapidly shrunk to just a few days of actually teaching my own English lessons, which is a little disappointing after studying so hard for the TEFL before coming out here. Hey ho, all good experience though, and a lot of fun too! So what’s Otovalo like? Well, right now, just sat here in the internet café I’m at twice the height of Ben Nevis (highest mountain in UK), i.e ... read more

Started at the school this week, am loving it! The school is in an area called Urquisiqui. This place is definitely not in the Lonely Planet! It’s not even a village, it’s just one or two buildings at a junction in the road, and most of the kids live in the surrounding hills in small farms, some of them walking up to an hour to get to school. There’s probably around 50 kids between the ages of 4 and around 14, I guess, although it varies daily as they’re often needed at home to help in the fields. The school has two large classrooms, two smaller ones, a tiny kitchen and a ‘toilet block’, which frankly is a plague waiting to happen, I try to find a quiet corner in the field like the kids do! ... read more