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Published: June 26th 2012
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Well where to start....the past 10 days have been absolutely amazing! Action packed, with a group of awesome people I am hoping I can at least match the experiences I have had so far! Saturday (16th) night we all met and went out for dinner, followed by a few of us (Nik, Luke and Lori) heading out to check out the night life in Quito. We sampled some cocktails and some absolutely putrid shot (thanks Nik haha) before taking to the dancefloor. The DJ was kind enough to let me take over and put on some music, before Nik (Dark Horse) charmed a local waitress with a dance (the man can move) and I danced with one of the locals, Luke then showing everyone his worm! It was a great night out, and great way to start our week together. Sunday we got on a bus to Tena (a jungle town) a few of us a little more "tired" than others. When we arrived in Tena the humidity of the jungle hit us instantly, most of us struggling with the drastic change in climate from the fresher Andes weather. Monday we got up, had breakfast then it off the the river
for the real fun, white water rafting! We loaded into two boats, with both of the guides being great fun, and very helpful. We took off down the river,having an absolute blast tackling the rapids as we went, each of us taking it in turns to "ride the bull" (sitting up on front of the raft trying to hold on through the rapids without coming off). We stopped off and went into a bit off cave, getting our faces painted with mud by the guides. As we were getting closer to the end of the rafting trip we pulled our raft into a mono, doing it a couple of times before weflipped ourselves off. It was an absolutely sensational day! Tuesday we were again on the bus and on the way to Banos, a gorgeous, but touristy town, all about outdoor sports, where we arrived at a gorgeous hostel. During the course of the couple of days i spent talking to Luke (a football (soccor) mad English guy) i was slowly being brainwashed into supporting England in the Euro. As a result i was part of the crazy hunt for a bar/restaurant/tv in Banos that would be playing the football,
during which time we met a couple of other English guys who were looking for the same. Not looking promising, one of the guys eventually found sound somewhere that we could watch it, the catch was we had to pay the guy to open his place to watch it, which we did, and luckily England won! In the evening a few of us (Luke, Paul, Nik & myself) went and checked out the hot mineral springs where we were packed in with a whole lot of the local people. Afterwards we went out for dinner followed by a trip to a local Kareoke bar, where Nik and Luke decided they would sing Angels, by Robbie Williams. It's probably important to note here that Luke does not speak Spanish and Nik's knowledge of the language is quite basic. So when the song came up on the screen in Spanish, I thinks it's safe to say both guys shit themselves and Nik came up with quote of the night "fu$! it's in Spanish which has Paul and I in tears. The boys did persevere and ended up with the support of the bar! Hilarious night! Wednesday was back to business, we had
breakfast and then began our approximate 4 hour hike up a mountain, with some tough inclines, but beautiful scenery, eventually arriving at our campsite for the night, with a great view Tungurahua volcano, which we would be hiking closer to the following day. Once the camp was set up most of us relaxed, before we were fed a delicious dinner, after which everyone told jokes, and later a few of us (Nik, Luke, Lindsey, Kris and myself) laid under the stars as it was a clear night and listened to music, yet another great way to spend a night in Ecuador.When we woke up on thursday morning we were lucky enough to see a small eruption from the volcano, without any lava luckily 😊 after breakfast a few of us began our trek up to the refuge, a very tough climb which the 5 of us were happy to see the end of and after some lunch turned around and headed back down the slippery slope after some rain! The shower that afternoon was probably one of the best I have ever had! After a little RnR we all went out for dinner and then to a bar where our
guide Carlos taught me to salsa, afterwards I danced with some of the locals and the crew, before calling it a night. Friday afternoon we were on the bus and headed for Cotopaxi, where we arrived at a gorgeous hotel/hostel set in a rural area with a snow-capped Cotopaxi in the background! Saturday we were all up early and headed for the base camp of Cotopaxi where we were to downhill (a little uphill) bike from. The patches of snow were not such and inviting thing but once we were on the bikes and flying down the hill, the temperature was forgotten! It was sooo much fun and by the time we had all reached the bottom, we were ready for some relaxation, heading back to Quito! We went out for one last dinner before everyone was to head off the next day! It was incredibly sad to say goodbye to everyone, some especially, but I definitely plan on seeing all of them again! So a big shout out to Krisoye, Lindsey, Caitlin, Rachel, Paul (jnr), Lori, Nik, Paul and Luke who have i have been so lucky to have shared these experiences with and look forward to catching up
with soon! Let's hope Peru can deliver half the experiences and great people I have been so privileged to have been privy to in Ecuador! Lots of love to all back home, will try to be more regular with my blogs!xxx
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Grannie
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Tkankyou Sam We have not had any rain since you left.