Blogs from Ecuador, South America - page 642

It would be nice to have statisticians around sometimes to tell me the probability of my life's happenings. I'm pretty sure they would would say that what happened to Jacob's camera was imposible. One of the last things Jacob did before he left Yanayacu was paint a column at the station. His design was beautiful, but he got paint all over himself and his things in the process. Once he was finished with his column he left for Quito. While there he took a day trip to Otavalo, the famous market. And on the bus ride there he had his camera stolen. By the time I got to Quito Jacob had decided that he was going to go to the black market to find his camera. He had talked with some people and he had some ... read more

So, I made it!! Everything went like clockwork until I hit Ecuador. Turns out that we had a slight mix up with arrival times. Not to worry though I spent the night in the airport....where knew it was safe and early the next morning I made friends with a guy....rather flamboyant I mught add but he was increddibly helpful. He was awaiting for a friend to arrive but once he visited with his friend he and his brother (who drives a private luxury taxi) got me to the bus station and on the right bus. So, now i have a place to stay in the city and a private car at my disposal! Once i got to Montinata I hiked down the baeach (1KM) with my packs(which are way too full)....and by the way cheryl I ... read more

We´ve just arrived in Baños having spent our first week in South America. Our first couple of days were spent exploring Quito where we stayed at a lovely little hostel in the new town where no-one spoke a word of English. Despite being somewhat thrown in at the deep end, we really enjoyed our time in Quito. The people were all very friendly, smiley and relaxed, except when they got behind the wheel, road rage is rife. Quito is renowned for its beautiful architecture, so much so that we spent the first day wandering around the Basilica thinking it was the cathedral. We eventually found the real cathedral and the old town and celebrated with a meal at a strange art-deco restaurant - pork with banana and popcorn? On the Sunday we met up with our ... read more

Hola amigos! First things first. I´m still alive mum! As the title suggests i´ve made it to the jungle. I´ve just finished the first two weeks teaching the kids in the jungle. However its not quite the proper jungle as you can get to places by car and bus. But all being well and if we can get enough people we´ll be off to the deep jungle in the middle of December. To bring you guys up to date. I finished spanish school a couple of weeks ago. Came straight to Baños after to meet up with Marcelo aka Jesus, the guy whos running the fundation in the jungle. He is a cool guy and showed me on the first day a waterfall. After that day it was straight to work. The grounds are amazing wth ... read more

There are few if any volcanoes in Teddington. In Ecuador, however, they are very popular. Almost as popular as shops selling religious tat and taxis that try to kill you. The inhabitants of Baños live right underneath a 16,500 footer called Tungurahua that began erupting in 1999. The government evacuated the town and surrounding area, fearing the worst. By January, nothing had happened, so the townsfolk, by now becoming unpopular with the relatives they had been staying with, forced their way past the military blockades and returned to their homes. When they got there most of them found their homes and businesses had been looted. ¿Tough, eh? Another interesting volcano fact: the Galapagos Islands are composed entirely of them. One island alone (Isabela) has five, and each one is host to a different subspecies of giant ... read more