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Published: August 7th 2007
We arrived in Quito with eight days to spare before the beginning of a mammoth, ten-week long tour of South America, taking in five countries and an endless list of attractions. We decided that we should have a chilled out time before its out of our hands again, so we checked into ´The Secret Garden´, one of the finest residences of the trip so far. This five-level, sprawling maze served amazing food every day, on a rooftop terrace with incredible city views. Here, Louise took some Spanish lessons, David learned a little Spanish guitar. We made friends and generally relaxed.
A day out to Otavalo to take in its famous market was an interesting break from our relaxation routine. This market was a great taster for South American goodies to come: David bought a cowboy hat and we stocked up on small gifts to send home. Stall-holders tried their best to interest us in a colourful collection of ponchos, bags, beads and musical instruments. The service was by no means pushy, and a pleasant afternoon of ambling ensued. The sound of a Latin American band filled the streets from a small cafe where we stopped for a drink. I suppose
this did make the drinks worth waiting nearly an hour for! We need to get used to the South American pace of life. Well, back for the return trip on the local bus and for another slap-up hotel dinner. A night by the wheelbarrow-bonfire on the rooftop with the sparkling city before us completed a great day. Fireworks exploded in the sky and we all chatted and drunk happily.
Quito´s old town was a charming introduction to South American life. Set amidst a hilly landscape, the quaint colonial buildings, colourful markets, churches and squares provided a backdrop for the city´s people. We sampled all of this on a walking tour of the old town. As we ambled past old men playing cards on the street, policemen chatting in the sunshine, and shopkeepers watching the world go by from their doorways, we started to become excited about exploring this intriguing continent.
David felt considerably taller than average (for a change), and Louise was able to relax in western clothing without too many stares (also for a change). The locals weren´t after our money, and the frightening crime-rate was far from obvious. Taking the usual precautions, such as not carrying
The Honchos in their Ponchos
Eddie was one of our close friends at the Secret Garden.our passports, hiding cameras, and carrying cash in our front pockets were ample deterrents in this city.
We also enjoyed the nightlife in Quito´s new town. The Mariscal is full of tourists, restaurants, bars and clubs, and we, along with a huge gang from the Secret Garden, sampled some of the best of them. ´Bungalow 66´ was the best, and on our last night with the group, we partied and danced the night away together until closing time. The Ecuadorians danced expert salsa in couples, making us English feel totally style-less and clumsy. Sexy dirty dancing-esque moves, and intricate strictly-come-dancing-esque spins left us watching in wonder.
It was time to leave, and to meet our tour group in the new town. So, with a sad goodbye, we left the comforts of the Secret Garden and checked into our next hotel. A predominantly English group, led by Nat, our Australian guide, and Drew, our South African driver, would be our companions for a good while. Joss, the co-guide, would be taking over later on. Trevor was the huge yellow truck where we would be spending a large part of our days. Fully equipped, with fridge, cooking equipment, stove, tents,
safe, stereo and a small library of used novels, we settled in for the long haul.
And guess what? First stop, Otavalo! Old hands at the markets, and with a huge truck to fill, we bought a second hammock, and David bought a poncho. We treated ourselves to fried fish and potatoes from a street stall, for a pound each, and completed our day watching a re-run of the Brit awards (from February) in our hotel room (a much needed slice of English music and wit).
Next, we were prised from our home-style comforts and transported to the Amazon Basin for a taste of the vast South American rainforest. Three nights in a basic cabin provided the backdrop for a thrilling itinerary, and also gave the group a great chance to get to know each other. The journey had been tiring, and we all let our hair down with a good old knees-up to celebrate Josh´s twenty-first birthday.
The area we were staying in was packed with cute Squirrel Monkeys and a Boa-Constrictor was kept in a cage out the back. On arrival, we were taken by boat to the local wildlife sanctuary, ´Amazoonica´, where we watched
Ocelot, Jaguanda (a small Jaguar), Capybara, Kinkajoo, Macaws and more.
The next day´s program was not designed for hangover victims. We trekked through the jungle for hours, watching our guide give us a comprehensive bush-craft demonstration at selected points. We learned how to make poison, remedies for insect bites, baskets, decorations from leaves and much more. Finally, we came to a rocky stream. In our wellies, we made our way along it. The slippery stone base was not visible through the murky water and, consequently, it was very difficult to stay upright. This part of the day was so much fun, and everyone giggled and shreiked continually as one after another we fell over in comic fashion. What felt like miles later, we arrived at the boat for a much deserved lunch, and were then given a tour of the jungle museum full of various animal traps, snakes in jars and hallucinogenic roots.
That evening, after dinner, we were paid a visit by the local shaman, who performed healing rituals on four volunteers from the group. Very spiritual man!
The next day we visited a local school where David and the boys enjoyed a game of footie
with the jungle kids. We rafted back along the river current on balsa-wood rafts that we had made together. This was a lot of fun, and the race to the finish between the two rafts brought out our competitive sides, as we sabotaged each other´s efforts. We had enjoyed our jungle escapades, and the local family coming to entertain us was a fitting finish to our rainforest experience. Next day, we left just as the rain started to bucket down. This was lucky, because a repeat performance of Borneo would have been hard to take!
The next stop on the program was a town called Baños. A place renowned, as its name suggests, for its multiple hot baths. We pitched our tents for the first time, and settled into the cosy living area. There was a fridge full of beer, a fully equipped kitchen, a guitar, board games and plenty of space to relax in. It was a good job too, because due to extreme weather conditions we would be seeing a lot of the place. News came, soon after our arrival, that there had been a heavy landslide in the area. A number of outdoor activities had been
offered: canyoning, bridge swing, horse-riding. Sadly, these were now all off the table. The worst thing about the weather conditions was that we had no water on camp at all. As a result, most of us headed for a nice warm soak in one of the luxurious baths in town. It rained all day, but we still had a nice time: Coffee, cake, and a little browsing in the shops rounded the day off.
Anna´s twenty-first birthday promised to be a night to remember, as we were going to party the night away in the bright lights of Baños. Just as we were preparing to go, news came of further landslides on ther road to town, and we realised that we would not be able to make the ten mile trip. The English group resorted to what they know best - drinking games - and before long, everyone was in good spirits once more. Then Drew (our driver), hell-bent on having the bender of all time, set about planning a night-hike, through the rain, to neighbouring Rio Verde, a sleepy local village.
The craziest members of the group (including us) donned waterproofs and head-torches, and after climbing a
high fence (some of the group fell away at this point), made our way through the puddles to wake up the villagers for a party! We thundered into a bar where the main activities were quiet card-playing and snooker, bought all of their vodka, and let rip.
Well, we certainly didn´t do much to dispel any stereotypes about Brits abroad. Beer injuries, tears, drama, arguments, moonshine and raucous renditions of Bonnie Tyler´s soft rock classic ´Total eclipse of the heart´ all created the strangest twenty-first birthday we´ve ever attended. However, this wasn´t all. Some of the group headed home, and Drew, in a dramatic finale to the evening, managed to fall down a cliff while having a wee! A tree saved his life, and a human-chain pulled him back onto solid ground. The drama continued once back at camp. Following yet more arguments, a further tent had to be erected at about two in the morning before the night finally came to a close. Phew!
The next day we were all a little the worse for wear. However, growing concerns about the weather meant that it was time to pack up camp a day early and head for
our next destination. We were on the road for only about ten minutes when we got stuck at the landslide spot. In the end, we didn´t make it across, and instead turned back to Baños to spend the night in a hotel. This turned out to be a nice evening. We took a salsa lesson, and ate burgers and watched TV in our hotel room. Lovely!
Another early start sent us back into standstill traffic, and three hours later, we were back in Baños for lunch! A new plan was made. We would have to miss out the last destination in our Ecuador itinerary; Cuenca - home of the Panama hat. Instead we had to travel back along the road we had come down, a twenty-nine hour diversion. This meant two gruesome bus days in a row; One of them lasting from 5am to 1am the following morning!
Gladly putting that ordeal behind us, we headed to cross the border into Peru.
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june&graham
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intriguingly incomplete...
Good to hear you are still enjoying the trip (we are quite worn out by it - must be our age!) This episode was interesting but the passing references to arguments and the need for extra tents has got us guessing - was this the result of a Louise and David special?