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Monday 26
th First thing we walk into town and find a shoe repairer. Christine's new sandals lasted one outing before a heel fell off ! We find a repairer who succeeds in replacing the heel. Next we search for a luggage shop and buy a extra wheelie bag for all the souvenirs. Christine's now got room for even more !
Back at the hostel we hire a taxi for 4 hours to take us out of town. First stop is Pululahua Reserve which has the Pululahua volcanic crater. The volcano collapsed many years ago leaving the crater some 400m below. It's now very fertile and we see it planted with crops. It's ok but not staggering.
Our next stop is the Museo Solar Inti Nan. It's a fun place which is supposed to be on exactly the equator, but is just off. We get a guided tour which explains the oddities of the equator and we take part in some simple tests. We can balance an egg on a nail head much more easily, except we can't ! Next we do some simple resistance tests which prove that there is less gravity on the equator. I hold my
arms out and the chap tries to push them down and can't when I'm standing either side of the equator line but when I stand on the line I can't stop him ! Finally the water down the plug hole test. Either side of the line the water spins one way or the other but on the equator the water runs straight down without spinning.
Our final stop is the La Mitad del Mundo. The place which is supposed to be the middle of the world where the Earth bulges but again it's just off. The equator line is shown and there's a sort of tower built over it which houses indigenous peoples costumes. There are also lots of handicrafts and restaurants. It's ok.
Our ride ends and we get taken back to the hostel. We find a 3 course lunch and fruit juice for $2 each in a local cafe.
Most of the afternoon we spend at the hostel trying to sort out accommodation for the next day but the internet is down. Finally we take a walk to the Basilica del Voto Nacional. It's a huge cathedral which looks very French and has the best
stained glass windows we've ever seen. It's well worth a look.
Back at the hostel we rearrange our bags for tomorrow so that we can leave the heavy bags for a couple of days while we go off.
Tuesday 27th
We put our big bags into storage and with only our day sacks we get a taxi to the bus station. Like all of them they're miles out of town. We arrive at 9.30 and have missed the bus to Mindo. The next one's 11am so we sit and wait.
We get the bus and both soon fall asleep. I'm woken by the bus swinging from side to side as it goes round the twisty roads into Mindo. Good job the arm rest was down !
We arrive in a sleepy little town where most buildings are being done up. It's the first time since we left home that we have no accommodation booked because the internet was down last night.
The Lonely Planet recommends Casa de Celia and so we go and look for it. We find the hostel up a dirt road and we get shown a room in a timber building
that looks like a big shed. We take a double room with bathroom for 12 pounds a night. We're in a mosquito area and there's a net over the bed but huge holes in the walls ! Hope our sprays work.
We book a night walk tour in the forest to see the wild life and are collected by a chap from Leeds !
He takes us to his "garden" in the forest and starts to show us lots of spiders and insects and all goes well for half an hour. We then go looking for animals and find an oppsum. We then spend the next 45 mins walking around with our torches in vain. There's nothing else to see. Finally we see two more oppsums before he says the tour's over. He takes us back into town at 9.30 and the place is deserted. All the restaurants are closed except a greasy spoon cafe which we have to settle for. Overall a disappointing evening.
Wednesday 28th
We walk into town and arrange to be taken to the Santuario de Cascades. A group of small waterfalls. The taxi takes us into the jungle and about 25
mins later we arrive. The first thing we do is take an open cart on a wire across a huge valley at tree top height. It's a great view but not much Health & Safety involved.
We then start off on the path to the 5 small water falls and share the trip with a couple from New Zealand. The cascades are all quite pretty but not amazing and we return after about two hours for the bucket ride back across the valley.
The jungle's very attractive but the sight's are all a bit tame.
Just as we arrive back in town it's starts to rain. We've been warned that it rains a lot in the cloud forest and it sure does, as it rains for the next 4 hours ! The forest looks stunning when the rain stops and the steam rises over the trees.
We spend the afternoon reading and researching for Costa Rica and see humming birds in the trees next to us but it's impossible to get photos as they move so quickly. We then go for a hot chocolate. They make amazing chocolate in town !
We go out early
for dinner before the town closes for the night. We have learnt from last night's experience !
Thursday 29th
Straight after breakfast we share a taxi with two others and go to Mindo Lindo. It's a house owned by a German women and set within 21 acres. She's turned it into a nature and bird reserve. We've come to see the humming birds.
There's a small area in the garden where they come to feed and we can stand about 2 feet from them and watch. It's fascinating to see them fly in and hover around the food bowls and then shoot off.
We watch for about half an hour and Christine gets some good photos. We then go for a walk in the garden and can see the tremendous work involved in turning the jungle into a semi garden.
We then return and watch the humming birds for quite a while longer. We get given a herbal tea and then return to the hostel.
We have plenty of time before our bus back to Quito and have lunch and watch the rain ! It's starting to become another very wet day.
The
bus trip lasts about 2 hours but we're asleep for most of the journey. The altitude keeps causing us to feel drowsy.
Back in Quito it's a pretty wet and grey day too as we get dropped off at our hostel.
Friday 30th
Up nice and early and it's warm sunny day. Unfortunately, for the first time since leaving in August I'm not feeling well. Nevertheless we get a taxi to yet another bus station and catch the bus to Otavalo. The town has one of the largest handicraft markets in Ecuador and Christine's been wanting to go there ever since we arrived. It's a two hour trip.
At first we have trouble finding the market but Christine soon sniffs it out ! There's not many people there and the stall holder's look desperate. We have a good look around and I manage to convince Christine that she doesn't need a shawl, various bags or more table clothes. She still manages to get 3 table runners to make into pillow cases and two scarves. Good job we have that extra bag.
After lunch we go in search of a wall hanging but fail to find
one we like. Not to be put off we buy his and her's trousers.
The market is full of people in traditional costumes and is very colourful.
We catch the bus back and sit in a taxi for nearly another hour. Quito makes the M25 look like a race circuit.
Saturday 31st
We finish packing, store our bags and do some last minute shopping.
The rest of the day is spent waiting to leave tonight.
Our spell in Ecuador is over. We have found the country has some great places to visit, the people have been friendly and helpful, bearing in mind our lack of Spanish. The food's been better than we were expecting !
So we're 8 countries down and only two more to go ! On to Costa Rica. Time's flying.
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Roger Smith
non-member comment
Le Casa Celia
First question. Was Norman Bates the owner? I can imagine this place at night, in the dark, with a thunderstorm raging, Humming bird pictures look good. Guys at camera club love Costa Rica so get your camera ready for the wildlife. Missed you by half an hour yesterday. Was going to switch on the laptop but we had visitors coming. Had to hire some new friends as you've been away so long. Hanging a door on Tuesday - that brings back some memories.