Well, just to dispell this travelling Cockney Victor Meldrew image I am gaining both with my wife and certain comments on the blog (thank you very much) we have had an amazing week both in the desert and then in Arequipa and the Colca Canyon. Leaving Lima, which was no sad occasion, we made the bus trip to Huacachina which is a desert oasis. In fact, you get the bus to a place called Ica and then a taxi onwards. Its very odd arriving there as one minute you are in a normal Peruvian city and the next minute you turn a corner to be faced by huge desert of sand dunes. The change is so rapid it does feel a little like walking into a film set or something. Around the dunes you arrive at ... read more

Well to say we cheated death might be overplaying it slightly, but for those convinced that I am in someway both jinxed and blessed with great fortune it will be of no suprise to hear that we narrowly survived an avalanche this week. Leaving Quito for the final time felt good as we were finally departing south towards some of the other countries we had planned to visit. Ecuador is a difficult place to leave as despite its small size there is a ton of stuff to do. We planned to go up into the Andes and stay at a hostel called The Black Sheep Inn for a few days (and for my birthday). The hostel is a bit of a legend in Ecuador as it is nestled in the middle of nowhere but is run ... read more

Hi all, Another week of language school has passed and scarily there is only one week left to improve my stumbling Spanish. This week has been fairly quiet really although we did have an abortive attempt to volunteer and a trip to some great hot springs in the mountains. School was quiet hard core this week and even ´model´student nosi was driven to saying ´**** Spanish - let´s not go today´. This week it has felt a bit like really going to school as the glow of finally speaking Spanish has worn off and the reality of learning hundreds of verbs and all their conjugations has set in. We have stuck with it but it does feel good to only have 1 more week to go now. Our Spanish is miles better now though and to ... read more

Buenos dias! (the Spanish lessons are really paying off :). First things first the shock waves from the sad death of an Aussie legend have reached as far as South America and Nos and myself have been very upset indeed by the untimely demise of the crocodile hunter. We have been in Quito for a week and a half now and are finally getting fully to grips with the city and the people. Spanish lessons are very hard and tiring but great in many ways, not least that out tutors are able to explain to us what on earth the crazy goings on we see are about. Last week the goverment sacked every street cleaner in the city, sparking demonstrations aplenty. (Demonstartions being a national past-time here.) My backside has finally recovered from the double whammy ... read more

I shudder at reading Joe´s last entry about the people of Riobamba. We woke up yesterday morning to find that a nuclear winter had descended over the city. The sky was a murky brown and it looked like a heavy snow storm was engulfing the region. This turned out to be volcanic ash from the biggest Tungurahua volcano eruption of all time. Banos was completely evactuated the night we left and is now unreachable by road, 150000 ´people are now either displaced or without electricty. The Ecuadorian government has declared a state of emergency in the area. The streets of Riobabamba were ankle deep in dust which swirled everywhere , pervading our eyes and mouths. People had umbrellas up to protect themselves from the constant drizzle of volcanic fallout. All the shops were shut and no ... read more