Blogs from Ecuador, South America - page 14

Dear All Greetings once more from the Galapagos Islands! These little gems of land in the Pacific Ocean are just stunners, and I’ve really had the most amazing time here. I am currently writing this one from my fantastic eco-hostel I’m staying in here, about 2km outside of the main town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on the island of San Cristobal, the Cucuve (Mockingbird) Eco-Hostel, surrounded by lovely Galapagos nature and overlooking a beautiful garden with fruit trees. I have indeed found an idyllic lodging in which to spend my four nights on this other main island of the Galapagos, purposefully chosen for its serene and back-to-nature setting. I plan to upload this text onto my blog and publish it when I’m back in Guayaquil tomorrow, however, as the Internet connection here is really not good. ... read more

Dear All Greetings from Ecuador! This is my country number 80 – yay! Quite a significant number really! And as I believe I mentioned in a previous blog entry, if you don’t count the three little countries in the north-east of the continent, this completes my visit of every country in South America!! It is great to be in a new country again, as although I explored new parts of Peru, it didn’t count as another country for me due to my previous visit. It’s hard to believe that although this is quite an epic trip for me, it only adds one country to my list. Still, the Travellers’ Century Club counts the Galapagos Islands as a separate territory to Ecuador, so my total with them will be at 94 – not long until my provisional ... read more

In 2008 I spent a night in Guayaquil before finding a last-minute flight to the Galapagos Islands. My only memory of the city is my bewilderment as I ventured into the raucous, bustling concrete jungle on a Friday night. A friendly local approached me and I had little choice but to let him help me navigate the chaos. So the only thing I was looking forward to this time around was finding some warmth after the relative cold and rainy Cuenca. I had two days to wait for my homeward flight, so I tried to make the most of it. ISLA SANTAY It's worth the visit just to get some peace so close to the city itself. There is a walking-biking bridge across the river from near the malecon. It's free to enter, but take a ... read more

This entry is just a list of snapshots of Cuenca, one of the most comfortable spots in South America. Except for the traffic. And I mean that it's comfortable if you're a tourist and not one of the many Venezuelan refugees flashing their useless Venezuelan currency, which is actually a pretty effective way to evoke sympathy. They have money but it's useless. We spent nearly a week there, which gave us plenty of time to walk around and witness some interesting scenes. *A weekday evening and Peggy and I stroll toward Parque San Sebastián. The faint melody of 'Barbie Girl' crescendos as we turn the corner to find dozens of locals aerobic dancing, led by instructors atop the church steps. We sit outside at the adjacent Jodoco Belgian Brew to watch. *Through the showcase window of ... read more

Another early morning and a day packed with adventure. Kirsten as always sets an alarm on her phone and we were set to get up at 6:30. This was not a shower day for Chester, so 30 minutes is all that is needed to get ready. Except, the alarm did not go off this morning, and Kirsten woke up at 6:40. No matter, we were both ready by 7 and had 15 minutes for breakfast before our first pick-up. Today we were hiking an active volcano. The hike was 16 KM, which is about 10 miles. We had all our gear: hiking boots, rain jackets, water, sunglasses. Thankfully, there were only 8 of us on the hike with our guide. Everyone was young and fit, except of course the two of us. We get shuttled every ... read more