Blogs from Ecuador, South America - page 636

Wow. Okay, so yesterday I awoke to the most beautiful day yet in Quito - yes, I actually got to see a cloudless sky for the first time since arriving here. And the timing could not have been better, because yesterday a group of us hostel-ers were to hike Guagua Pichinchia and were to be spoiled with magnificient views in part because of the clear skies (a rarity for this trip, apparently). Leaving at eight a.m. or so, we - a group of nine packed snuggly into a kickass, old landrover - winded through some very rough roads (roads I would later bike down SLOWLY - for you mom) until arriving at our launching point at around 4100 meters. Piling out of the back of the landrover (no seatbelts, yikes) we put on our second layer ... read more

Hola, I have just returned to Quito after spending a night in the lovely market town of Otavalo. After arriving at around 2 pm with my travel party of six, under my navigating skills and a lonely planet guide we easily found our amazing hostel in the downtown. The hostel had a large cobblestone-floored, open square in the center equipped with hammocks and a firepit, making for a great social setting. Surrounding the square, on two floors, were the various rooms (all occupied by gringos, of course). After settling in to our three two-person rooms (at $6 each person, including a great breakfast the next day) we, now a total of seven people including a fellow hostel-er named Justin, from England, went for a good lunch and drinks at a nice little cafe overlooking the main ... read more

After over 2 months in Colombia it was culture shock arriving in Quito. SO MANY GRINGOS! It has been 10 years since I was in Quito and the colonial city has been painted ever so beautifully. Quito is a colonial gem and I hope you enjoy some of these photos.... read more

Where to start? We´ve just spent five days in paradise. A thousand km from the Ecuadorian coast are the Galapagos Islands, where Charles Darwin famously developed his theory of evolution. After hesitating a long time due to the very high price of the trip, we arrived at Balta airport on Thursday (one of the main islands) and quickly met up with the other passengers of the Cormorant, the boat on which we were to tour the islands. We visited around 7 or 8 destinations in total (over 4 different islands) and we managed to see most of the animal species. We saw hundreds of sea lions (or more exactly sea wolfs), possibly even more iguanas (land and marine) of all different colours. The most peculiar species are found among the birds. The Tropic Birds constantly patrol ... read more

I realize it has been a while since I last updated my journal but I have been very.....ok, I will admit it, I have been just plain lazy. Anyway, here goes an update. My spanish is coming along, slowly but it is getting better. I seem to have a decent understanding of the basic gramatical structure ad the sounds of the letters. More importantly I am gaining enough confidence to be able to ask strangers for directions etc. Now it is just practicing my pronunciation and expanding my vocabulary. I will leave the learning of the 14 (yes 14) different verb tenses for a later date. I can´t help but to compare myself to a first grader (alright, comments from the peanut gallery are not necessary!hahaha)learning how to read. I see words and slowly sound out ... read more