Blogs from West, Ecuador, South America - page 9

Walked the city of Guayaquil all day in 42cel heat! Lovely colours, buildings, and iguanas. In the midst of being drenched with sweat we got interviewed in Santa Ana for a Chinese TV station about our experiences there-funny. City is always busy and crossing the downtown streets a wild gamble. Our hostel (casa Romero) was nice and staff very helpful. Off to Galapolos now. Just got through the very efficient and helpful airport. Photos to follow. AdiOS!... read more

Blog time again, Its Ben this time, Shelly is on Photo duty. I thought i'd better get cracking before my memory starts fading again. Well its been two weeks now since we left Nica Spanish School with our Pidgeon Spanglish to help us on our travels! We are definately alot more able to make ourselves understood but when they answer the question or ask one, this is when the problems begin, usually because they talk so quickly and miss the endings off most words!!! Paul Whitehouse doing the impression of the Spanish weatherman comes to mind!!!!! El Scorchio!!!! So, we finished our last week at school and we were both chomping at the bit and raring to be back on the road again! We decided to head to Ometepe which is a small island in the ... read more

Well what to say about Montanita? Would have been a much more pleasant stay if the weather had been a little bit nicer! Had some fantastic weather the first couple of days, was able to lay out in the sun, get my tan on :) but of course, me being me, got sun burnt the first day. I obviously suck at putting sun cream on.. Random patches of sunburn on my stomach and my knees. Made laying on my tummy to sleep quite painful! Spent the first 2 nights at a hostel in town, but too noisy so found a hostel down at surf point, about a km walk along the beach into town. So nice and peaceful, hardly anyone hangs out this end of the beach during the day, and you can fall asleep listening ... read more

So have finally made it! Arrived in Guayaquil after a massive 36 hrs, trip made very much longer by being stuck in the middle seat! First time though, that I have stayed awake the whole time and pretty much watched tv non stop.. 5 year engagement, the lucky one, what to expect when your expecting, friends with kids and get the gringo.. rom com anyone? Had the unexpected 8 hr stop over in Santiago (well unexpected to me anyway) which is not the most exciting airport in the wrold. Though it is pretty, surrounded by the snow capped andes. Tried to do the traveller doze across the airport seats, think I may have dozed a liuttle, but not enough for my poor body that was thinking it was night time.. Then the 5 hr flight to ... read more

We have covered a variety of landscapes and cultures in this backpacking adventure. International travelers, indigenous mountain folks, kichwa Indians and now hippies. Montañita, is the party mecca of Ecuador popular by surfers for the breaks, young backpackers traveling through and hippies alike. The streets are lined with hippies touting henna tattoos, piercings and dreadlocks, selling artwork to earn a living. Folks beating drums and dancing around the streets, nightclubs, restaurants and ceviche stands, are all the norm here. Quite a different scene than the coastal town we just departed of Puerto Lopez. We were hesitant about visiting as we were told the streets and clubs are intense with sound from the raging partiers into the early hours of the morning. Sleep in this town would be hard to come by. If rest and relaxation is ... read more