I will add details later. [View Full Entry]

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I arrived at the Malaga airport late morning and Brad and Antonia, along with Antonia´s parents, met me outside. From there, it was a whirlwind tour of the coast, as we stopped for lunch in Almunecar, then a few more stops before Granada. Muchas gracias to Manuel and Alice for their hospitality. More to come later. [View Full Entry]

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After some mediocre snorkeling and wildlife viewing in Santa Cruz, Mike, Jon, John and I were more than ready to head to Isla Isabela, as we had heard such positive things about it, by far the largest island in the archipelago. When we arrived at the embarcadero on Isabela, we were confused as to where the town of Villamil even was. We hiked in the dry sun up a dirt road and some guy in a red shirt surreptitiously stalked us from hotel to hotel, every so often suggesting that we allow him to take us to his hotel. He wanted [View Full Entry]

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After Banos, I was ready again for a couple of travel days. The seven hour bus ride to Guayaquil was bumpy, but the views were pretty spectacular as I crossed the Andes again. I arrived in Guayaquil and immediately found a taxi to airport, hoping to gather some information about the Galapagos. Unfortunately, everything had already closed, but my plan was to get a good rest and go back the next morning at around seven, hoping to find an empty seat on a flight. The next day I was standing in line at the TAME window and overheard the American in [View Full Entry]

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Though this town is far more touristy than anywhere I´ve seen in Ecuador, it is a proper place to relax for a few days. The hotel choices are spectacular and all sorts of amenities are right nearby. I came into Banos through Ambato, and arrived at around nine at night. Banos is one of those places where fourteen year old kids stand at the bus terminal waiting to bother tourists about rooms. This is not the sort of town where you need to settle in order to find a good room, though. Walk around for fifteen minutes and you'll see many [View Full Entry]

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In Chugchilan I finally met some other backpackers, and I had a blast exchanging stories and finally speaking English. A few of us went on a day trip (searching for a Cloud Forest and a cheese factory, neither of which we found), and were surrounded by a pack of fierce, angry dogs at one point, but overall it was a peaceful two days at the wonderful Cloud Forest Hotel. Chugchilan is a lovely little town, and anyone looking for somewhere to stay before or after Quilotoa should absolutely consider staying there. It has excellent views of the Rio Toachi Canyon, and [View Full Entry]

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After barely sleeping in my leaky room in Quilotoa, I simply wanted to get out of that town, despite feeling tired and a bit ill. Atahualpa and Maria left with a guide at around 8:30 AM, and I stayed behind curled up in my bed, leaving periodically to stand outside when the sun peeked through the clouds. It was still in the high forties at around 9:30, so I decided to pack up and leave, instead of waiting for the 1:30 bus. It was the only way for me to warm up my body, so I began to walk back to [View Full Entry]

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After a short bus layover in Latacunga and an interesting ´bagged´lunch, I took a second bus into the clouds and to an area called Tigua. Here I stayed at the Posada de Tigua, a family-run farm house. When I first arrived, I went for a hike near the Rio Toachi Canyon (more to come about this canyon later), and then returned for one of the best dinners I´ve ever eaten. Everything was organically grown right at their farm, and all of it -- the soup, chicken, potatoes, carrots, greens -- was delicious. For breakfast, the fresh cheese, milk and yogurt were [View Full Entry]

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Because of flight delays in Bogota, I didn´t reach Quito until much later than planned -- at around 9:30 PM. Due to a huge mob scene at the airport of people waiting for loved ones, I had to pay twice as much as I had hoped for a taxi. The driver took me to several hotels in the Old Town, and I finally found one for around 8 USD. Though I only planned on spending a day in Quito in order to acclimate, I found the city to be fascinating. I walked around the old town for much of the day [View Full Entry]

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After a washout in Miami (but a stellar tour of the city -- thanks Zac), I left the states Thursday morning and arrived in Bogota at around 10AM. Since my flight for Quito wasn´t scheduled to leave until 4:30, after some research and some courage-building (note: some have complained about this comment, but I don´t think I´m going out on a limb to say that the world´s perception of Colombia is that it is dangerous. Perceptions are often wrong (as they are in this case), but check out this website for stats: http://www.nationmaster.com/red/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita∫= [View Full Entry]

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