Blogs from Ecuador, South America - page 641

Today is my last day in Quito. Endings are bittersweet . . . I've had an incredible time traveling, but I am looking forward to being back in the US and seeing my family and friends for the holidays. This last week has been especially good since I am more comfortable with Quito and have really seen it come alive during the fiesta. We went to a soccer match and, despite rain and other logistical difficulties, the Quitenos spirits were as passionate as ever. Coming from the US, it seemed that there was an "anything goes" attitude . . vendors sell liquor and bottle rockets (I think I scared the people around me with mine!) . . . the group of dedicated fans who come to every Nacional game decked out in red can also be ... read more

Got to the hostel in Quito in time for rum and coke night. Oh sweet lord it was messy. We ended up clubbing, not gettting in till half 4 - officially over 24 hours awake! Struggled to cope with the subsequent hangover. Saturday was my one year anniversary with Al, so, unable to celebrate with said boyfriend, I celebrated by treating myself to a nice curry - my very first meal alone in a restaurant (pretty pointless eating in a restuarant alone - you forget how social eating really is). The Quito festivals were getting into full swing, celebrating the foundation of the city or something like that. Open sided trucks, or chivas, drove through the streets, fulls of people dancing and singing and blowing whistles along with bands perched precariously on the roof. Sunday i ... read more

So i caught the bus to Gauyaquil and on to Montañita on Saturday morning, Montañita is such a cool place, full of gringo hippies and surfers. Found my hostel, the sister of Centro del Mundo in Quito - a four storey timber building right on the beach. Very back to basics, my walls had gaps between the boards, and no glass in the window, just a scrap of material: i tried to ignore the animals. Met some nice Canadian guys, Jesse, Tyson and Dev plus Andy from Portsmouth. Went out to eat some seafood then chilled in the boys room before taking to my bed with bad stomach pains. I spewed and had the runs all night - not so good on my first day. Next day i'd booked a surf lesson, and was pretty tempted ... read more

So I finally made it into the waves yesterday, and failed miserably I might add, but today I am getting some more help. I am slowly picking up some more spanish words and today have made arrangements to practice my spanish with someone. In the meantime, I am "conducting" my own spanish/english lessons. These lesson consist of me going into the kitchen with two of the guys that work there and holding up items, sayning the name in english, they say it in spanish and we both repeat it. Obviously, these guys are trying to learn english. This morning we covered butter, marmalade and the ingredients for pancakes. It is always good for a laugh! Yesterday, after the attempt at surfing and meeting a few of the locals, I walked up the road to a look ... read more

If you are blonde and a girl, be prepared to be stared at constantly, have comments and blokes approach you all the time and even get followed or flashed at in places! This place is INCREDIBLY conservative and pretty hard core on the Catholic religion. Rio Tomebamba divides Cuenca and has, along its banks, old colonial buildings plus washerwomen laying out their clothes. Also, not in the guidebooks, kids sniffing glue and a whole load of perverts. The markets here are all pretty much centrally located. And there are loads of them of various sizes. Markets for fruit and veg, markets for flowers, markets for crafts and, of course, markets for the famous Panama hat. Parque Nacional Cajas A huge park (28,800 hectare) with loads of lakes, mountains to climb and no-one else around. We did ... read more