Ecuador with Mum!!

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Once again it has been such a long time scince I wrote, so get ready for a lot of excitment. Last tim I wrote I was sitting in Mancoura, Peru. I am now in the beautiful house of Maria Cano in Bogota, Colombia. So lets get into it!

My last days and nights in Mancoura were amazing! Each day was spent sunbaking, learning some new handicrafts from the local artesian family I made freinds with. Katrijn and I went surfing again, she was having lessons so I was on the other end of a camera. Got some good photos, and after some of the other surfers thought I was a pro and asked to buy my photos LOL. Unfortunately I am too honest and just gave them the photos and took the compliment...new job hmmmm? We had a great last two nights, taking advantage of the beautiful coastal nights and beach parties. There is something special about danicing on the beach in Peru even if the music at times resembled my worst nightmare! However thing were not all sunshine and happiness, I experienced the greatest loss of my travels so far in Mancoura. After uploading my most recent photos to my USB, I put it on the bedside table (stupidly not locking it up, But I honestly did not think that it would be taken). Of course when I returned to pack my bag in the afernoon it was gone! The girls in my room all helped me look through every piece of my belongings and theirs and still nothing. So the devestating fact is that I have lost two months of photos! I am sure any traveler can tell you that, you would give up your passport, money and possesions if only to keep your photos. So although my time in Mancoura was unforgettable, I was left witha sour taste in my mouth.

Next stop, Guayaquil. I had bought my bus ticket the previous day, assured that it was a direct bus that did not stop in tumbes, would not stop to pick up locals all the way and was a cama bus. So the next day when I was shoved in a mini bus to tumbes, waited for an hour there only to be put on a local bus that stopped to pick up locals all the way to Guayaquil I was not happy! After a 6 and a half hour trip I arrived in Guayaquil and made it to a beautiful hostal, ready for the next day when mum arrived. As I had about 4 hours sleep in the past 2 days, the first thing I did was curl my sorry corpse up in bed and sleep well into the next morning. Guayaquil is not what you would call the meca of tourism and the city definately did not give me and incredibly safe feeling so I decided to save the sight seeing to do with mum. I filled my morning with buying some food for a delicious dinner with mum and chillin at the hostel. Soon enough it was 5pm and time to go get mum from the international airport. Although I was waiting for an hour at the airport, apparantly customs was tough, I was so happy to see my mum´s familiar face. We had a great dinner and prepared for the exciting flight to the Galapogus the next day!

A resonable houred flight saw us leaving the hostel at 930 and taking off in the aeroplane promptly at 1030am. As mum and I were saving money anywhere we could, Galapogus has to be in the top 5 most expensive tourist destinations, we told our tour company we would get ourselves to the hostel on the next Island independently. We did fairly well but did have a major bump along the way. We were not aware of the US$100 fee that you had to pay on entry, in Cash. So mum did not have suffiecient cashola and her passport was seized at immigration. Here I became glad of the spanish I had learnt, as the immigraton officer explained that we could get the passport back at the tourism office in Puerto Aroya once we had extracted some money. Well needless to say, having your passport taken causes some discomfort, but we had a reciept and continued on with no other choice. Next we took a bus, then a ferry and another bus to Puerto Aroya where we would stay for the next week. I am proud to say this went without hiccups and once arrived we took a taxi to our package included hostal (Thanks Mum). Well we were in awe when we arrived. We chose the most budget option for accomodation and when we walked in my mouth dropped. Beautiful polished timber building with green grass gardens, full of flowers and hammocks. Our room had a nice ensuite bathroom and we had a little alcove with nice table and chairs. So after we settled in our bags, we had a busy afternoon. Not only did we now have to find our dive centre we also had to get some money pronto and find the tourism office! Bring it on! So we decided to find first our dive centre with the idea that they could point us towards the tourism office. So off we went, fistrly withdrawing some omney then on the way to the dive centre something happened that truly proved the small size of Puerto Aroya. I had wondered how the passport was going to be at the tourism office as it was such a long trip that we had made ourselves. As we walked along a car pulled up beside us, and who should get out? THe immigration officer himself, with mums passport in hand, he kindly walked with us to the nearby tourism office where we quickly paid the money and happily recieved mums passport. Now once again happy and excited we headed to the dive Center. Here we were fitted with our dive gear and given the details for our first day of diving the next day. With the prospect of a 6am start we decided to get a good feed and some sleep.

Okay so the next three days were unbelievable so if I was to give you a blow by blow account we woud be here for days. So following is a summary of our diving days in Galapogus.

Day 1: Early start saw us on our way to a dive site called Gordon Rock, famous for it´s big animal sightings. The first dive was a shock to the system for me but still the best of all the dives. We got in the 15 degrees celcius water (that only gets colders as you go down). I had never dived in such cold water, followed by some interesting underwater currents. As wave beat against the rock we were diving near, the water falls and rises. Having never been in water doing that before, I really thought my Nuetral Boyancy (ability to float in the water without risinf or sinking) was shocking until i realised it was the waves washing me up and down under there! My ear played up and caused me some serious pain, and i needed to pee desperately halfway through (not something you do in a 7ml wetsuit!). So It was definately the most uncomfortable dive, however what we saw made it unforgettable! We had Scalloped Hammerheads sharks circling us, sea lions playing and a spotted eagle ray. Basically everything I really wanted to see under water on the first dive! The second dive saw a pod of 10 Hammerheads and a lot of amazing fish too.

Day2: Another amzing day of diving. This time at a place called the Seymore and´Cousins´. Highlights, a tropical flounder, amazing bed of Garden Eels (there were hundreds) and another Sea Lion Who really played with us!!

Day 3: Unfortunately I forgot the name of the last dive site (mum has my Dive Log). However I only go tone dive in as my ear was really giving trouble. I did however see some amazing scorpian rock fish, a galapogus shark and some endemic nudibranchs on the first dive. Todays water was absoulutely freezing, beyond description! In the afternoon I went to see a dive doctor who had a look at my ear. Extreemly inflamed apparantly, so I was put on a course of anntibiotics, ibuprofen and sinus clear. Happy to say now, it seems to be completely recovered!

After diving we had two full days on the islands before leaving on the morning of the last day. We managed to see just as amazing things above water as below and I think that is really what makes the Galapogus such a special place! So the second last day we went on a self guided adventure. Firstly we hired a taxi for the morning to take us up to the highlands on Santa Cruz Island where we first visited Lava tubes. I had never been in Lava tubes, it was incredible how they were formed, and there was even a belly crawl halfway through! THe next step however was my highlight. We went to a farming area where we knew the Giant Tortises roamed free. We paid a farmer to wander around his farm taking pictures of the magnificant creatures. At one point two of them decided there was no need for privacy and started getting it on right in front of us! After a couple of hours wandering around the farm we headed back to Puerto Aroya. Back in the Harbour we managed to find some lunch, catering for a vego and gluten intolerent is unsuprisingly difficult here in South America. Unfortunatley there were now tours to Seymore the blue footed boobie breeding island on the days we were there. However we managed to book a tour to Isabela the next day. The afternoon we filled up with a walk to a place called Tortuga Bay. After about an hour walk you reach a secluded beach and bay full of Marine Iguanas and amazing birdlife. It was easy to spend the rest of the afternoon in this white sand paradise until the rangers came to drag us back up the path home.

Our last day in the Galapogus really showed us and excellent Show. The first part of our tour took us to Isabela a 2 hour boat trip (we will just have to ignore the fact that we got water in the fuel line and were down an engine for the trip). When we landed on Isabel we were greeted to Sea Lion Families lining the beaches! We got on another boat that took us to through the harbour to one of the smaller islands close by. This Island was made of volcanic rocks. Lava flows that formed twisted and pointed forms. Incredible to see euch young volcanic formations covered in mangroves, sitting in the ocean. The Island was really pre-historic like, it was a breeding fround for the marine iguanas and was covered in tiny little lizards. here we also saw Sea turtles mating, a bed of white tip sharks resting in a natural channel and Sea Lions mating too!

After the Island Tour we had a delicious lunch at the beach and then came mums highlight! We went to a volcanic crater full of flamingos. Mum having never seen them before was on cloud nine, and I have to say that they were alot pinker than the ones I had seen standed in the Bolivian Desert! Our next stop after that was to a tortise breeding ground. Unfortunately of the 14 species that orignally existed there are now only 10. The last species becoming extinct when Lonesome George died in June of this year. So now there are a couple of centres that are working to ensure no more die out. So we visited the Isabela centre and had a great look arounf, and one of the tortises sitting in a pond farted! I saw the bubles, they were Big!!! Too soon it was time to go back to Puerto Aroya where we finished our trip in the Galapogus with some shopping!

The next day we made our way back to the mainland of Ecuador. When we arrived in Guayaquil we discovered that there was a bus to Baños that night. So we bought our ticket, put our bags in lockers and decided to spend the afternoon in guayaquil exploring. Bad idea! Little did we know that Barcelona had won some kind of soccer cup there that day and the city was in caos! The big park was closed and the city was a sea of yellow jerseys and airhorns. We did manage to find the Iguana Park and eventually some food (which was really hard). Then we returned to the bus station, where our bus was an hour late!! Finally we got on, and I have to say I had forgotten that mum had not experienced an overnight bus before. Unfortunately it was one of the worst I had been on. The whole night they played intensly loud latin music, until about 3am when it changed to a ´comedian´I cant say i enjoyed his show! SO needless to say mum and I arrived in Baños red eyed and blearly. I found our hostel and mum gratefully collapsed into a power nap before our day began.

Baños was beautiful. A small town surrounded by mountains, it has a beautiful feel to it. We found a delicious breakfast at Blah Blah Cafe and headed of to the virgin hot baths. We had an amazing morning here, jumping between the 50 degree celcuis baths then under icy cold waterfalls! Followed by masage in the afternoon and a great vego dinner Baños really did well, unfortunately we only had one day before we moved on to Tena the next day. Deciding to make the most of our time we got a 6am bus the next day! So needless to say we were in bed early that day!

TENA Wow! Back in another Jungle village, for me Tena was a smaller version of Iquitos and a bit of a shock for mum I think! It was a huge change from the well established Baños. We found our hostel, and after some serious research went off to find a jungle tour! We booked a four day trip for the next day, mum up for every adventure offered! So here is how it went:

Day1: Our first day was a visit to a small community. Here we learnt about life in the amazoninan village. How education is intergrated into a community where the men and women work hard to live every day. Everyone here works manual labour, including the 70 year old woman, the mother of one of the two families living there. We saw their crops, learnt how they eat and tried some truly affronting foods and drinks! In the afternoon we got some tubes, made a raft and drifted down the river to our lodge. On the way we saw a group of black tamarin monkeys and lots of amazing bird life.

The lodge we floated to was truly amazing! A Wooden lodge overlooking the amazon rainforest, however the true treat was that the guy running it was a vegetarian chef from france. I was in heaven!

Day 2: Our second day was also unforgettable! The day consisted of a 7 hour jungle trek, which to some may sound like hell but not for us! We learnt so much about the local plants, their uses and dangers. Just before luch something really incredible happened! Our guide managed to find a poison dart frog. Never in my life did I think I would see one of these frogs, and it was the first time our guide had found one in the area! Wll if that wasn´t exciting enough, after lunch we had another advenure. Along the next segment of the walk we followed a creek and went canyoning. Nothing that needed ropes, but there were some tight squeezes filled with bats! Too soon we were back in the troopie bouncing home. That night I woke to have the most intense headache of my life. By morning I hadnt slpet at all and it took some serious pain killers and encouragement to go on the third day trip.

Day 3: Despite my state I decided to take on the waterfall walk that day, and I am glad I did! We followed a creek up to the waterfall and I think we broke every climbing safety rule that there is in the book. I am glad to say we all made it up ther harness-less waterfall climbs, log balancing moments and rock hoping to arrive at a beauiful waterfall. Afterwards we hasd the long walk back down the mountain and lunch at the bottom. By the time we returned to the lodge at 4 I was completely exhausted from the days efforts nad the headache had poke its ugly head back in to my life. I managed to sleep for 16 hours from that afternoon, and the next day felt ready for out last day of adventure.

Day 4:Rafting! What can I say, rafting down an amazonian river, it didn´t matter if there was only class three rapids, the adventure and tranquility in one place was overwhelming. We arrived back in Tena that night and after packing our bags had an early night as we had a 530am bus to quito the next day.

Despite the fact that I set my alarm for 430pm I somehow woke up at 440am and we made it on our bus, that was slightly more pleasent than the last despite the lack of leg room. So 6 hours late our adveture in Quito Began!

Quito

Well Quito definately left an impression on myself an mum! We arrived at midday in Quito and after finding a hostel and some food we decided to take on the bus system to get to Mitad Del Mundo, the centre of the world. The Bus trip was hellish!! 4 buses late, emerged two vvery tired and bothered Australians! We managed to get in to the mueseum inti ñan before it shut (10min before) and our gripes about the bus faded quickly as we watched water spiral different ways only meters away from eachother. We balanced an egg on a nail and jumped from northern to southern hemispheres with one step. Afterwards we got some dinner and both decided there was no way in hell we were getting on a bus back to our hostels, and hailed a cab home. Needless to say we both collapsed into bed for a good sleep that night. The next day saw alot of changes in out plans. Mum advised me that there was no way she could get a 15 hour bus to Bogota and then on to a plane for 30hours back to Aus, so we dedcided that we would fly there. Which gave us another day in Quito. Once again I had fallen victim to another Migrain, and mum loveingly gave me the day to sleep and explored Quito Solo!! THe next day and our last day in Quito we headed to the Otavalo markets. I can happily say we negotiated the bus system easily and arrived in Otavalo where we immersed ourselves in the famous markets there, which even on a weekday did not disappoint. After a day of shopping we were back on the bus system and when we got on the trole in Quito we were far out of our comfort zone. My arm got stuck in the door because the bus was so full, and somehow more people managed to get on at every station. I have never been on a bus that crowded and it was a serious effort to get though the crowd to get off the bus at the right stop!

I also forgot to mention the absoulutely insane hostel we stayed in, where people and dogs yelled throughout the day and night. The stair case was locked with a metal gate during the night, as it was the only fire escape we became concerned. When we asked about it they said, oh its ok we believe in god, so there won´t be a fire. We didn´t tell them we didn´t believe sure that they would tell us that non belivers would burn!! Crazyness but we made it through.

After a short one hour flight, mum mand I arrived in Bogota where we were welcomed into the beautiful home of my frien Juliana! We had great two days here before mum had to leave. Scince then the christmas celebrations have started and I will be here for the near future!

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