Hey folks, so we left you in Santa Cruz in our last blog entry. After our 4 day trek in the beautiful mountains we were ready for some chill out time on the beach. Therefore Mancora, a little place on the North west coast of Peru, was our next port of call. We’d initially booked into what was a highly recommended hostel. However, we were slightly horrified to see lots of teenyboppers everywhere and particularly horrified when they told us that it was a pirate theme that night and all you can drink for 20 soles!! The accommodation was also a [View Full Entry]

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Journies, Arrival and Preparation for Action! I am pleased to report that we all arrived safely although not quite as planned! Richard who was initially meant to arrived on Friday evening was delayed in Miami for 24hours (don´t feel sorry for him - he was put up in the Marriot and went to South Beach twice in the space of 24 hours!) and so the group was reunited on Saturday night. Wendy, Olive, Lorna Mike and Lidia all arrived safely without too many mishaps along the way - Wendy had her expertly packed, Mary-Poppins-like hand-luggage emptied for all the world [View Full Entry]

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Hoi allemaal, even een heel kort en snel berichtje, want ik vertrek zo samen met een Duits meisje richting Riobamba. De afgelopen dagen waren weer prima. uiteindelijk toch in Quilotoa beland, erg mooi daar en het vulkanische meer was echt een plaatje om te zien. Ben helemaal naar beneden gewandeld (1 uur) en daarna weer omhoog... poeh (1,5 uur). Accomodatie daar was erg grappig, wel beetje basic allemaal, maar prima te doen. Later komen er wel foto´s, lukt hier nu namelijk even niet. Op dit moment in Banos. Duurde natuurlijk ook allemaal weer veel langer met de bus dan verwacht (zoals [View Full Entry]

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SCROLL DOWN FOR ENGLISH. Salut tout le monde! Je suis maintenant rendu en Equateur! Et devinez comment je me suis rendu?!?! En avion... premiere classe!!! WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOO. A vrai dire, il n'y avait qu'une seule classe donc par defaut j'etais en premiere classe! J'etais pret a prendre un bus de 30 heures de Medellin en Colombie jusqu'a Quito en Equateur mais j'ai trouve un vol (2 en fait) pour $138 qui ne dure que une heure et demie. J'ai pris le vol le plus court de ma vie (29 minutes) de Medellin a Bogota avec Avianca. Apres ca j'ai pris un vol [View Full Entry]

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Hola allemaal, Weer een verhaaltje van mijn kant, vanuit Otavalo deze keer... en ik heb veel te vertellen! By the way.. alles gaat nog steeds helemaal prima en heb nog geen echt gekke dingen meegemaakt. OK, we waren gebleven bij Quito en m´n wandeling door de oude stad. Nu is het me wel gelukt om foto´s te plaatsen, dus hierbij ook nog een paar kiekjes van eerder (o.a. mitad del mundo etc). Op 1 juli zijn we met een groep van 8 man vertrokken (Ecuadoriaans uurtje te laat) vanuit hostel Secret Garden Quito naar hostel Secret Garden Cotopaxi (= vulkaan). Een [View Full Entry]

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I am writing this blog now for a second time due to the fact that I had my laptop stolen on a bus travelling from Quito to a small village called Mindo. I have not had the best luck so far on this phase of my travels as a few days ago I was bitten by a dog and, as a result, have had to undergo a series of anti rabies vaccinations. I am just hoping the third thing won’t be contracting swine flu! However, the good things so far have counteracted the bad as Ecuador is a beautiful and exciting [View Full Entry]

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Ultimi giorni in Ecuador, trascorsi nella sua cittá piú bella e vivibile, Cuenca... l'antica Tomebamba incaica. Ingapirca: i piú importanti resti inca (e pre.inca, cañari) del paese... Cajas: brughiera, laghi, montagna (oltre 4000 m.) .... e tanta tanta pioggia. Mañana Perú [View Full Entry]

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Quito What a country! A New Zealand of the Americas, Ecuador is packed with everything you could want: moutains, beaches, volcanoes, lakes, cities, farmland. It is absolutely breath taking, although that might have something to do with the altitude. Even though it sits on the equator (yep that´s where they got the name Ecuador from), its mostly high and chilly. Thermals, beanies and gloves have been the norm. Which is such a relief coming out of steamy hot Central America. This has definately been the country for me!! First stop in Ecuador was Quito - the capital but only second [View Full Entry]

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The first place we visited in Equador was Quito. Initially we planned to stay there for nearly two weeks to complete our Spanish course. However, we changed our plans after we had been robbed. That happened about 10 p.m. in the center of the ´gringolandia´. Three guys jumped on us and grabbed Anna´s bag. There were too quick too catch them. Standbyers did not react when whe shouted for help. I know it might sound silly, but DO NOT underestimate the robbers in Quito. This is nice city otherwise, but I would not go there again unless they solve their problems [View Full Entry]

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Hola allemaal, Even een kort berichtje op de vroege ochtend vanuit Quito. Deze keer vanuit hostel Belmonte, omdat ik de Secret Garden gisteren ¨uitgezet¨ ben... haha, nee hoor, niet omdat ik me misdragen had of zo. Gewoon omdat ze helemaal volgeboekt waren en allerlei reserveringen hadden, dus ik moest verkassen. Zit nu in een wat minder net hostel ding, maar heb wel een prive kamer (en is goedkoper), dus ach ik red me wel. Gisteren na al het verhuisgedoe met de bus naar La mitad de Mundo gegaan = het midden van de wereld, oftewel het 00.00.00 graden punt op de [View Full Entry]

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