Awoke slightly later, and staff reconfirmed our flights back to the UK. We were provided with vouchers for breakfast, in a restaurant situated on the square where we had previously eaten with our tour group on another occasion. Best free hostel breakfast yet, cooked breakfast and freshly squeezed juices! We will miss the fresh pineapple and passion fruit juices! Then we prepared ourselves for our journey home. We enjoyed an early lunch at one of the local pizza restaurants, fantastic service, as we were the only ones there! After, we briefly visited the nearby Inka market, some great h [View Full Entry]

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Arrived in Lima at 8.30am, and got taxi to Flying Dog Hostel. The taxi driver had some very strange breaking patterns as we weaved in & out of lanes at high speed! Relieved when we final arrived at the hostel, to discover we were at the wrong one, as there was a chain of the same hostel brand within Lima. However we did meet a very friendly hostel cat lazing on a sofa chair! We got assisted across the square to the correct hostel with the help of the tourist police. We checked in & decided to make the most of [View Full Entry]

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Arrived in Loja at 9.30am and got taxi to our prison style hostel! The town has an architectural musical bridge, as apparently the town is often lined with musicians, but no sign as of yet. There is also a very pretty gateway into the town, consisting of a characteristic white-washed church, which we think is now an artisan. We missed this on our first visit, as every single taxi driver has taken us a different route each time. We caught up on some sleep for a while, exhausted after our long journey. We will not miss those bus rides, but they [View Full Entry]

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Got up later today, and enjoyed our last opportunity for eggs and passion fruit juice, come highly recommended! Then we went to the bus station with our friends, to make our way to visit the Mitad del Mundo, 22km north of Quito via Ophelia. We were able to hop back and forth between hemispheres! Quite touristy, but interesting, as we were able to learn about the various tribal groups inhabiting Latin America in the past and present, & also about the various cultures and ancient traditions. Great views from the top of museum, with views of the prosperous middle of the [View Full Entry]

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Awoke 7.30am - not used to sleeping in anymore! Enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, our favourite pancake and passion fruit juice. Completed a few errands, mainly to the launderette, before walking to the local market with the USA family along Av Patria. Lots of different styles of paintings displayed on the pavements and crafts - difficult to barter though, more expensive than Peru and Bolivia! A great place for some unusual crafts though. After the family kindly treated us to lunch in our vegetarian restaurant in the new town. The new town lacks a little character, but does contain some grea [View Full Entry]

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Early start 5.30am, six of the group travelled down the river to the bird watching tower. A steep climb to the top, up the slightly rickety structure. Here we remained for a good hour waiting to hear the morning dawn chorus. We waited for sometime before spotting some small bright yellow birds, lots of parakeets & vultures. In the distance we could hear Howler monkeys socialising, but no sightings unfortunately. However, we gained some great views of all the various canopy layers, such lush, green vegetation, lots of cotton trees visible and bizarre nests hanging from trees. Just as we a [View Full Entry]

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A later start 7am and a jungle walk planned for after breakfast - yucca & eggs on the menu. We put on our wellies and headed off again in the motorised boat, setting off at around 10.30am. We entered the dense rainforest with the native guide in front clearing any vegetation away from our passageway with his machete. Every now and then we stopped either to look at a strange rainforest insect or learn about the medicinal uses of the assortment of plants and trees in the rainforest, including one plant that provides purified water and another sap, refer to Nick's [View Full Entry]

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A very early start 5.30am, took a dug out canoe ride before breakfast to check out the birdlife. We were lucky and did not have to paddle! Saw an array of wildlife and heard the morning birdsong. Ellie spotted many squirrel monkeys rustling in the trees close to the camp. We watched as they leapt elegantly from tree to tree, consumed fruit, had the occasional disagreement and generally played around, a personal highlight. We also saw White Banded Swallow, Finches, Toucans, Macaws, King Fisher, Fly Catcher, vultures, Hocatcitaing, fluffy cotton trees, beautiful deep red passion flowers and [View Full Entry]

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Lago Agrio approximately 21km from the Colombian border, is a small frontier town, with little on offer for the traveller, except a jumping off point for tours to the Cuyabeno reserve. We waited at a very basic hotel situated in Lago Agrio for about 4 1/2 hours to wait for the arrival of our tour guide. We then caught the rickety tourist bus at 10.30am , collected those who arrived by aeroplane, and made our way deeper and deeper into the jungle. The vegetation became much more tropical, with the occasional wooden shack, and the roads became more and more bumpy [View Full Entry]

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A sad day - as our final day in the Galapagos… Our only regret was taking a 5 day tour instead of an 8 day tour in the Enchanted Isles! After we discovered, it is also possible to spend a little time on a few of the islands independently, such as on Isabella island. This would definitely be worthwhile after participating in a tour. Extra time would be invaluable, just to allow the scenery to sink in around you, and to admire this special and unique place for a little longer. Definitely worth the money, nowhere else can you experience such [View Full Entry]

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