Ecuador has it all

---

Amy ( i have just reread this and seen all the spelling errors- please excuse, my brain has given up!)

Hi everyone, having been very lazy, we are back! and i promise to make ben put some more photos on here soon. we´re now down to 3 weeks before we are back, and it feels very very weird! but back to vilcabamba..
..which was beautiful! we did plenty of walking, though nothing very hardcore and also plenty of relaxing in the excellent rendez vous hostel. on our first walk we were scuppered by the spiders. we got to a turn around the edge of a mountain and were faced with about 20 thick yellow webs strung across the path, with a full complement of big fat spiders. after looking at this from several angles and trying a few different routes we gave up in disgust- found out afterward that though massive they were completely harmless- wusses!
next we hit cuenca which is a completely beautiful colonial city and just hung out for a couple of days, enjoying the surroundings. next was puerto lopez on the coast, and banana pancakes from the blue whale- i can still taste them! we did some snorkelling there which was so so good- saw lots of tropical fish and sea birds. we also had a really interesting (and hot) walk in the forest where we saw some howler monkies (i think)- they were really close and we got ages to look at them- a mom, dad and baby!
after puerto lopez we travelled to latacunga and went around the quiatoa loop after visiting the sacisili (spelling?) market on saterday. we did some horseriding and walking.. where we managed to get lost within 5 minutes of leaving chugchilan and had to spend the rest of the time asking for directions- many "stupid fools" looks, but always with graciously given intructions, thank goodness! the lake was so fantastical! well worth the walk! after that we headed to Quito just long enough to buy some airoplane tickets to Cuba, and got the bus to banos. lots more walking in banos- it´s a good spot, and just as we were heading out to tena, a guy came and asked us if we were interested in volunteering for a while in salasaka, a little village about 30 mins from banos, at a school. having discussed it for 5 minutes and asked all sorts of ridiculous questions, we decided that we would give coca a miss, and stay in the very pretty salasaka for a week. what a fabulous choice! we had an absolutely fantastic time breaking up concrete (ben) and trying to teach english (me) and were very very sad to leave. everyone was so kind and the kids were marvelous fun!! it was a trip highlight for me! we dragged ourselves away on sunday afternoon after trying out an underground oven cooked meal (delicious!) and a visit to quisapincha where we broke the budget on the great (and very cheap- we bought a lot!) leather stuff. we arrived in tena late that night, and did some kayaking the next day- which was magic, a few skills, a lot of water and some great waves! today we´ve been white water rafting with the same company (river people, i think- they were fantastic!!) and had insane amounts of fun! the water was really high with all the rain and we got flipped once, i got genuinely washed out once and chucked out countless times- so a rough ride but loads and loads of fun. sadly ben kneed me in the face when we went over- oops- so may be waking up in the morning with 2 black eyes.. keep you posted! much love xx

---

Comments

[Chris Peacey]

no waaaay! Ecuador is mint - you went white water rafting with the same company I went with - little shop by the footbridge over the road? - that was such a good day! did they put on an amazing lunch for you in a small idyillic spot where two of the main rivers meet? tena was really nice - enjoyed it there lots! it was our place to unwind after 5 weeks in the jungle with no beer or pizza! you didn't miss out much by not going to Coca though - it's a bit too big a smelly, not much to see or do. looking forward to seeing you guys and all your pics! i'm well jealous that you're off to Cuba - wish I was there! cya soon!!!