Blogs from Ecuador, South America - page 629

Don't be fooled by the title, Guayaquil is a huge city which holds 2.6 million people making it Ecuador´s most populated city. It centre is in the mouth of the river Guayas. The city is currently under-going a massive civil engineering project which involves the building of a new metro and new roads. All this buiding chaos just added to the busyness and dustiness of this city. The journey to Guayaquil was hair raising. There was plenty of fog and it seemed the bus driver was in a hurry. We screeched around hair-pin bends as they suddenly appeared in the mist. As the fog cleared we were out of the mountains and into the tropical region again, the temperature increased and the scenery turned from green grass to miles of banana plantations. The only break in ... read more

Well, we have once again reached Quito, for the fourth and final time, flying back to Lima tomorrow afternoon. The Quilotoa Circuit was safely negotiated, with a lovely two night stay at the Black Sheep Inn in Chugchilán. Now, back to our story. Taking it slowly, we waited until morning to pack and ate breakfast at our hostel. Though we were told to catch an early bus, our desire to do so was tempered by our desire to sleep. The compromise was an 9am bus arriving in Latacunga at 11am for a 12pm bus to Chugchilán. Once again, it seems no one in Ecuador cares to get to the terminal, as there were only 3 others that bother to show up. Instead, we got a whirlwind, 45 minute tour of Quito, driving the street while the ... read more

So, for the first time, I have put an entry location as a location we are not actually at- we have regained the high ground, literally, of Quito and ´The Secret Garden´hostel. Though we have decide to head toward Latacunga to check out the Quilotoa loop and the Black Sheep Inn, one of the first places I checked out on the web when planning the trip. Also, if you are among the few loyal readers, there is a bit extra added onto the last entry, so feel free to go back and read about Quito. After dinner and a late night talking with our fellow hostel mates (10pm!), we went packed and went to bed. We awoke early for our 8am bus to Mindo, taking a taxi to the Flor del Valle bus station. After purchasing ... read more

Our last full day in the Galapagos, on the island where the most landscape pictures are taken. Matt here again, as Sara is otherwise engaged. Going to bring the blog up to the present, which travelling can aid in as plane flights usually lead to uneventful days. We woke up with Pinnacle Rock, a famous Galapagos site, and the island of Bartolome outside our window. This day was to be occupied with sights in the early morning, snorkelling, hopefully, with penguins in the middle of the day, followed by a boat ride back to the main island of Santa Cruz to visit yet another beach. We ate at the usual time and headed out to the panga to climb up 285 steps and 120 meters to the highest point on Bartolome Island. The climb was fairly ... read more

We checked out several toury agencies in Quito, found one with real cheap fares advertised on hand-printed signs in the window, and altho’ cognisant of the old maxim, “more is better”, went in. Nancy, ah Nancy, odd name for an Ecuadoriana but she was pretty (and) helpful, full of info and this was the only place in town with a vacancy at all. At the airline office they had no seats to Galapagos for a week or more, altho’ I suspect the toury agencies book everything in sight then on-sell!. We settled on an 8 day tour on a 20 person boat, leaving the next morning. Some trepidation as all the other tour boats had glossy photos, ours a gritty old pic…hmmm, but looked OK. The tour….up at 5.30 am for a 6am airport check-in!..still raining ... read more