RoamBerry

Theft in the Night Apologies for starting this entry on a serious note, but for those reading this who may travel Ecuador, I figure it's important to include. During our journey from Baños to Montañita two Argentinean's (not travelling together) had their day-packs stolen; here is how I believe it happened and the simple way to prevent it. There were two times during the hot and horrible journey when the bags were most likely taken. The first point was on arrival in Guayaquil where every single local left the bus, leaving only backpackers on board to carry on towards the coast. It was around 5am and so myself and the rest of the backpackers were in various states of sleep making it easy for an opportunist to grab a bag left on the floor wit little ... read more

Latacunga I saw so happy to finally board a bus in Quito, happy to be leaving the city and happy to be leaving with friends in Bill and Ryan, two big, fun personalities from the US. As we took our seats they gave me strange looks as I brought BBQ meat from a seller of the bus, but neither that or a hot-dog from outside a cathedral made me sick so I am loving Ecuadorian street food. Nice change from the constant sicknesses I had in Asia.We walked from the terminal and checked into the overpriced Hostal Tiana where we met a wonderfully miscellaneous group of travellers. Those that spring into my memory now are a couple from New York, two German guys, ... read more

Puerto López is a small coastal fishing town with a population of just 14,000 alongside a pleasant beach. Whilst not a beach destination for travellers, most head to Montañita in Ecuador or Mancora in Peru, Puerto López whilst lacking surf unlike its rivals, does have one thing that pushes it above its relative neighbours, Puerto López actually has plenty going on outside of it's beach, specifically in the shape of Parque Nacional Machalilla, the reason that we were in town. Our first day in town was following our first night bus experience in Ecuador, something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. A war movie was put on for the first two hours and despite their only being a few gringos on the bus, the movie was put on in English, good for us, utterly confusing ... read more

I arrived in the city of Cuenca, my first stop in Ecuador in the late evening with my two English friends Lindsay and Julia. Little did we know that we had arrived in Cuenca during the last evening of the fiesta celebrations the cities independence. The last night of the fiesta meant the final excuse for the youthful population to celebrate with crazy parties and we struggled our way through the mass of people on the streets, having left our hostel in hope of finding some cheap food. The first thing I noticed of the city was that despite being surrounded by drunk people and bars, the city is beautiful. The colonial elements combine with the modern to great effect and the lighting of the streets is particularly ornate. The second thing Lindsay, Julie and I ... read more

I have never been happier to leave a city. For those of you who have not read my previous entry, I had basically just spent eight days living in a hammock on a dirty, sweaty, noisy, smelly cargo ship to Iquitos - which I loved. Now, Iquitos is a crazy city lost deep in the Amazon Rainforest. It is only accessible by plane and boat - there is no road. If I'd known what was to come, I would've taken a leap into the river and swam through piranhas in a vain attempt to escape... I arrived with Marianella, Tansy and Ines and we checked into a fairly non-descript hostel. Fortunately, despite its complete lack of character, it was blessed with a luxury few people can truly appreciate, a hot showed with clean water. After 8 ... read more