Once the hassle of the previous day was out of our system we headed to the Museum of Sipan which was the main reason for coming here. An intact Moche, pre Incan civilisation tomb was discovered in 1987 of Lord Sipan and lots of priceless artifacts were recovered. The attraction for me was something so important was found so late in the century when most of the world’s treasures have been found. It just goes to show how much we don’t know and that there can be buried treasures right under our feet in a number places around the world. Since [View Full Entry]

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What a day and deserves lots of swear words. We planned a very long day of travelling as were trying to get to Chiclayo in Peru about 600 km away for a reasonable time. We were on our first bus at 5am for a 5 hour journey to the border, I hate getting up early for border crossings as you always end up knackered all day and from experience you always need to be very aware as everybody is on the make and trying there best to rip you off. The bus we were on was a decent bus and when [View Full Entry]

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We were gutted to be leaving the Galapagos and will be taking away many happy memories and will hopefully be back one day. Next up was a very busy day to try and get to Cuenca. We landed back in Guayaquil at 1pm and were in a rush to get to the bus station for a 4 hour journey and try and get to Cuenca before it was dark as we didn’t fancy walking around in the dark looking for a hotel. We managed to get there in enough time and after checking out a few hotels we booked into Hotel [View Full Entry]

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Since I was a kid I have always loved watching Wildlife programs and when at home try and watch as many as possible as they are so interesting and a lot better than watching East Enders any day. When we first decided to go traveling again, this part of the world was selected mainly because of the opportunities we would get to see a number of different animals in their natural habitat and up close and personal. So the Galapagos was always a must and nothing would stop us not even the cost! The boat we choose is called the Friendship [View Full Entry]

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After the amount it cost us to dive here (500 pounds in total for 8 dives each) we were looking forward to it and hoping that it would be worth every penny. We weren’t disappointed and would have paid double the price. Our first dives were around the island of Floreana about 90 minutes south from Santa Cruz. And this is what we were hoping to see. What the dive shop said about the dive site. This site is one of the best in the central islands to see coral colonies, such as pebble coral and endemic black coral, sea turtles, [View Full Entry]

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We are now in a bit of rush as the Galapagos trip we have booked is flying from Guayaquil. We have noticed that everytime we have any sort of date to meet it spoils the travel experience as you to try and rush and fit as many things in your itinary as possible and always conciouse of the date. Due to this we have had to miss out Banos which is a shame as it sounds very nice and the main attractions the hot spring pools would of been a welcome retreat. Oh well there are a few similar attractions later [View Full Entry]

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Well after being stuffed from the Indian the night before it was time to head South to Latacunga for a bit of exercise and burning off all the food we ate in Quito. We were planning to partially climb Volcan Cotopaxi, the highest active volcano in the world (5897m) and Ecuador’s second highest peak. Going from the Lonely Planet which described the 2 hour drive from Quito as ‘Magnificent’ we were looking forward to some nice views of snow capped mountains. The two hour drive summed up the next 4 days, shite. All we got to see was mist and fog [View Full Entry]

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Next up was Quito and to book our trip to the Galapagos. We have been looking into this over the last few months and most people said it was best to book in Quito as you get more choice and are not left with a crappy boat. When we arrived there wasn’t that much choice and the prices were expensive and it took us two days to find something that suited us, mainly the cost!. I am hoping we got lucky. The boat we choose is called the Friendship and cost 410 pounds each for an 8 day boat cruise. We [View Full Entry]

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After Ibarra we headed a few hours south to Octavalo which is famous for being one of the best markets in South America, selling lots of goods from woolen Ponchos, blankets, jumpers to crafts, paintings and jewelry . Michelle was looking forward to it! The main day of the market is Saturday and we arrived a few days early to make sure we got a room as they get very busy the day before. We stayed in a very nice hotel, Riviera Sucre which had very hot showers which we were glad for as it was a bit cold and no [View Full Entry]

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After our lovely time in Popyan and Colombia in general we were off to Ecuador. Colombia was a very nice surprise and summed up what is great about traveling, you cannot have too many preconceived ideas of what a place is like until you have explored and experienced it yourself. Our first stop in Ecuador was Ibarra and we wanted to come here to sample the famous ice cream which we have read about. To get here we had to get 4 buses and a taxi so not the easiest way of getting from one place to the next. No major [View Full Entry]

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