Ecuador, Quito,09-10-1990. Nothing can distrup my good mood this morning walking through a still foggy Quito devoid of traffic at this early hour. These Ecuadorians are definitely not early risers. I feel a bit like hiking the streets of a past era, a pre-conquistadores time though the whitewashed and red-tiled houses, the many colonial churches reminding me that the times of complete seperations of the American continents from power hungry medieval European rulers are a far away reality. Leaving the Quito historic centre behind, I enter a residential area full with modern looking shoppi [View Full Entry]

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Well, the pants that I thought would hold up for a year of everyday usage finally succumbed to falling apart. About two days ago, I noticed my first whole...just near my crotch..great. Ill try to mend them , lets see if a lil stitching can hold them up for a lil while more. I´m here in Mindo, Ecuador, taking it easy while the birders head out looking for their lil precious creatures. The last two days, I have woken up at around 9ish, go grab breakfast and then come and plop my behind in front of the computer...hey, i´m on [View Full Entry]

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We´re about to leave Quito to go back to the reserve for our last week there. We came to Quito with a few of the other volunteers to go to the Ecuador vs. Uruguay fútbol game. If Ecuador won, they would have qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but sadly they lost! It was a very close game, with some unfortuneate events (getting scored on). We were really anticipating Ecuador winning for obvious reasons, but also that the city would have been crazy the entire night! It would have been quite the experience, but instead it was just [View Full Entry]

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Det er et lille stykke tid siden min sidste skrivelse, men jeg vidste jo godt at jeg ikke kunne blive ved med at opdatere hver anden dag. Nå nu er det søndag og jeg har tid til at fortælle lidt om hvad jeg har lavet. Onsdag d. 7. oktober Onsdag morgen mødte jeg til min første oplæringsvagt som tjener. Der var bare næsten ingen mennesker så lavede ikke så meget andet end at gøre rent og snakke med Carlos, en af tjenerne. Efter mit arbejde gik jeg en tur hen på South American Explorers kontor for at kigge på annoncer for [View Full Entry]

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GALÁPAGOS-SAARET 5.-9.10.2009 Los Encantadasien lumottu autius ja hiljaisuus tekevät pakostakin vaikutuksen matkailijaan. En odottanut mitään. Itse asiassa olin skeptinen, koska Darwinin ja Melvillen kuvaukset saarista ovat jokseenkin tyrmäävät. ”Ne ovat pikemminkin ryhmä sammuneita tulivuoria kuin saaria ja näyttävät suunnilleen siltä miltä koko maailma saattaisi näyttää, jo sitä rangaistaisiin polttamalla poroksi. Sopii epäillä vetääkö mikään maapallon kolkka lohduttomuudessa vertoja tälle saariryhmälle.” (Melville). Ja Darwin jatkaa San Christóbalin saaresta (englanninki [View Full Entry]

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OTAVALON VARKAUS 10.9.2009 Eilen Otavalossa minulta katosi kamera, kännykkä, kahdet reseptisilmälasit, takki, ajokortti ja 20 dollaria rahaa. Todella taitavia, nopeita ja valikoivia varkaita, pakko on ihailla. Olin menossa takaisin bussiterminaaliin palatakseni Quitoon. Taksissa minulla oli vielä kaikki tallessa, koska tarkistin, kuten aina tarkistan, että kamera, rahat, kännykkä jne... ovat paikalla. Varkauden on täytynyt tapahtua 30 sekunnissa siirtyessäni taksista bussiin, koska heti istuuduttuani bussiin totesin repun vaikuttavan epäilyttävän tyhjältä ja kevyeltä. Heti tajusin, mitä oli [View Full Entry]

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Hola once more, I´ve made it to the Galapagos and finally dipped a toe in the Pacific Ocean. My bag arrived on Wed morning at twenty passed 7am, then I hot footed it to the national airport to check in for my Galapagos flight for seven thirty so I had it in my possession for a total of ten minutes. The reunion at the airport was quite an emotional one to say the least! Much love to maria my home stay Mum who has been wonderful for Monday and Tuesday, literally nothing was too much bother and I have been invited [View Full Entry]

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I've heard people say that South Americans are very passionate about soccer, and I lived to confirm that yes... this is a very accurate statement. Left our house at 11:30am in a group of 30+ rowdy, decked out Ecuadorians in order to get good seats for the 5:30pm game. The stadium was already packed at noon, and scoring a seat all came down to who you knew and whether or not they liked you enough to spare a row or two. Those long hours of the afternoon were spent in total mayhem, and just when I thought the stadium was going [View Full Entry]

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The Achuar traditionally didn't live in communities at all but in isolated family groups. This has changed in the last 20 or so years and the main factor has been the influence of the Catholic church. Traditionally they killed each other a lot, which lead to revenge killings and so it went on .... and on and on. Now they don't kill each other, they sometimes go to church (they didn't worship a God before the arrival of the Catholics) but they maintain their own customs which are all linked basically to the forest and pachamama or mother earth. We went [View Full Entry]

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Cotopaxi is an active volcano two hours drive from Quito and the scenery is spectacular - provided you have the energy to look up from the handlebars of your bike, over which you are slumped, to appreciate it! We were cycling at 3600 metres and it was our first taste of what altitude does to you when you try and do something harder than lifting a tea cup to your lips. I found it hell - but surprisingly so did my super fit husband!!!! But it was good training for the Salkantay trail to Machu Picchu - which I am now [View Full Entry]

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