A trip to Galapagos wasn´t my travel plan originally due to the costs. However, after talking with some other students at the Spanish School, I decided to book a cruise anyway and I didn't regret the decision. Day 1 - Friday 23 April - Santa Cruz Island I flew from Quito to Santa Cruz and transferred to the yacht which was to be home for the next 8 days. There were a total of 11 people on this, the first part of the cruise. There was a good mix of nationalities in the group - people from England, Germany, Holland, Italy and the USA. After a quick lunch the first afternoon was spent on Bachas beach, Santa Cruz island, where we saw sea-lions and Frigate Birds. We were surprised at how trusting the sea-lions on the ... read more

By the end of the week of studying I was ready for a break. For the weekend, the school arranged a trip to Banos - centre for acivities. The town is approx 4.5 hours from Quito. We left Quito at 07:00 on Saturday morning and after a brief stop for a coffee/food we arrived in Banos around midday. The hostel was in a quiet part of town halfway up a very steep hill. The rooms are clean and each having it´s own private bathroom. After collecting our bicycles, we cycled away from Banos into the country admiring the sights. After about an hour, we stopped for some lunch for approx 1 hour and continued on cycling for the rest of the afternoon. Around 5pm, we stopped cycling and walked through the forest to a viewing ... read more

Flew from Madrid during Friday afternoon and arrived approx 1 hour late at 20:00. The taxi to the hostal took approx 15 minutes. The hostal (L´Auberge Inn) is situated between the old and new city. The hostal is owned by a Swiss man and they are currently expanding the building to include a Swiss Bistro on the ground floor so there was quite a bit of actvity going on over the weekend. The room I have over looks the nice courtyard which the guests can sit and eat/drink in. The room is small but it has it´s own bathroom and the best bit is it´s only 11USD/night. The choice at breakfast is good - continental, americana and the healthier option of fruit juice and fresh fruit salad (strawberries, pineapple, melon and a couple of others I´m ... read more