Blogs from Ecuador, South America - page 622

First full day in Banos we decided to walk up the hillside with Becky and Tim to Bella Vista - a good vantage point to see the town and the nearby active volcano "Tungurahua". The notice board in the hostal warned of a recent mugging on the same route. It described how an old lady had acted as a look out and to beware if seeing one. A later addition to this report by another guest said the walk was fabulous and no trouble. At the entrace to the path a policeman was hanging around. After 5 minutes walking we overtook an old lady, probably aged around 75, draging a small bush up the steep slope. We got a little nervous - I grabbed a rock to defend myself!! Nothing happened and we settled into a ... read more

Hello, welcome to another blog and one I have been both looking forward to and dreading writing (because of the sheer potential length). The Galapagos Islands, called the Enchanted Islands by Herman Melville in his book of the same name, certainly worked their magic on me! It was an amazing five days, starting on Wednesday at the Darwin Research Station on isla Santa Cruz, then isla Floreana on Thursday, then Isla Santa Fe on Friday morning, Islas North and South Plaza on Friday afternoon, a big journey north to Isla Genovesa on Saturday, and then a quick tour round Isla North Seymour before flying back to the mainland. The sheer number of things I saw was amazing, and I won't test your patience or memory by recounting it all, but here are the highlights, beginning with ... read more

It was sad to leave the Secret Garden as we've had a great time and met loads of interesting people. However, we were both ready to move on. The taxi to the bus station in Quito dropped us at a nearby roundabout - thanks. We wandered around not knowing where to go until an Ecuadorian familily who were also heading to Banos showed us where to wait. We had been warned that the bus station was a hotbed of crime so kept our bags close. After about 40 minutes a bus arrived and we stored our rucksacs underneath and boarded. A man walked down the bus counting people. I was sat on the opposite side to Amy checking our rucksacs were safe. I was instructed to take my actual seat and the man confirmed our destination ... read more

Ok so I have been pretty slack lately - no excuse either apart from lots busy with Spanish school. So here goes................................. 3rd June: I think I left off just before the Canyoning extravaganza. Basically, this was a day of abseiling down 12 waterfalls increasing in height from 5m to a whopping 75m absolute beast. Got up a little bit late after a night on the tiles and was I have to confess still a bit drunk!! (Not so good when you are putting your own life in your right hand as you abseil down waterfalls but nevermind!). As water flows down we first had a 40 minute hike up a pretty large hill in the baking sun - to top it all off this was done wearing a full wetsuit - not good i tell ... read more

Yesterday (6-14) After I woke and went to the school with the Loyolas, Señor Loyola and I went to the farm that he owns right outside of Guayaquil. It was beautiful! Simply breathtaking! I´ve never seen so many exotic plants and flowers at one time. The veggitation was incredible. There were so many fruits and veggies and we ate them there at the farm and more when we got home. Along with the plants, there were many amimales there as well. Cows, birds, chickens, dogs, cats, etc. No wonder my dad loved the finca so much! They call it La Finca Ormiga, and it is a wonderful sight. Today I talked more with the children at the school when we returned from the farm. The kids here are so nice and caring! It´s great to ... read more