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Published: August 14th 2006
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volcano exploding
the volcano explodes about 20 times a day. Normally the clouds cover the top of it so you can only see the plume of ash. Hello from Ecaudor! It´s been over a week since we got married now and everything seems to have rushed by. After arriving in Quito the capital city, we have gone straight to a town called Banos, nestled in a valley between soaring hills and a massive volcano. We have just found out that the Foriegn Office website states that Banos is the only place in Ecuador that tourists should avoid! The volcano erupts about 20 times a day sending huge bangs down the valley and firing huge plumes of ash into the sky. Our hotel is out of town half way up the volcano so we get a great view of it all. We are assured that the prevaling winds are blowing in the other direction, so that the clouds of poisionous gases will miss us.
Our hotel is amazing! We have a balcony that hangs over the town so you just overlook it, feeling like some kinda royalty. It´s a tropical climate too so sometimes the clouds close in completely. The clouds get through all the gaps in the doors and swirl round the room. Mostly its sunny though but with a really cool breeze so its never uncomfotable.
It is about 450 meters above the town and there is a little bolder strewn track going down to town (or a road with a taxi). We have climbed up and down it a couple of times but is is really exhausting and has left us shattered. We haven't fully acclimatised to the jet lag and altitude yet so are living the crazy life at the moment of going to bet between 8.30 and 9.30 and getting up at 6.30 am....
So far we have been on some amazing walks and crossed huge ravines on these crazy budget cable cars that are controlled by old lorry engines. I had to keep my eyes closed all the way accross and just concentrate on keeping control of my bowels but Nos assures me the views were stunning on the way accross. We have also done some abysmal horse riding (donkey trekking). My horse hated me and decided to kill me by sprinting off down the main highway, doing its best to hit every oncoming lorry or bus it could find. In the end we just had to get off the horses and tell the man to take them back himself.
We went for a trip to a town called Puyo yesterday. It is sort of a frontier town to the Amazon basin. It was only an hours drive away but the climate was completely different. It was absolutely boiling with not a cloud in the sky. We visited this amazing biological area which was basically set up by one man 25 years ago when the rainforest first started being cut down. He went out to all the areas where the forest was being destroyed and collected seeds from the trees. He then bought 7 hecters of land that had already been cleared and has tried to regenerate it. Once the rainforest has been cleared it is an enormous task to regenerate it because the soil instantly erodes and makes it impossible for the native trees to regrow there. He has used and enormous amount of saw dust to recreate the conditons so that native trees can grow to the extent that they are able to self sustain now. Its really amazing as it is really dense forest and some of the trees are all but extinct in the wild. This one guy has done it all and now all the
great water falls
one of hundreads of spectacular waterfalls in banos native Indian populations come to him to get the leaves and shoots they need for their native medicines as they no longer exist in the wild. He has over 2000 varieties of orchids some smaller than peas and some huge ones. I might be going on about this too much but it was the most interesting thing I've seen in ages.
The food here is also great. No probs for veggies at all. Nos broke all records yesetrday with three 2 course meals and a huge bowl of pasta..So expect us to return rather rotund I reckon. Anyway thats it for now adios amigos..
p.s. I have now added a video message to another site which can be viewed by
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Becky B
non-member comment
Good to hear you're both well
That picture of the volcano exploding is amazing. Sounds like you are both in your element. Cant believe it is only a week since you went. I liked the bit about Banos and the foriegn office. SO good yhat Joe is technologically from a much higher species - this is a fab way of keeping in touch! Take care of each other and I look forward to the next installment.