Banos Ecuador

After a day in Quito we headed off on a bus to a small town called Banos. This place is beautiful, set in a valley surrounded by mountains and another stunning volcano. It is the adventure capital of Ecuador and there is so much to do here. We were planning to rent bikes for the day but ended up going canyoning down stunning waterfalls!
 

Here we are, kitted up and ready to go.

We warmed up on a smaller waterfall of about 8 metres, where we had to jump backwards into the water at the bottom. We built up progressively after that, doing 4 different abseils until we made it to the last one, a 45 metre drop!

This is Eva on the first waterfall

Initially we were behind a group of four Argentinian guys but we were faster than them so we ended up together. They were amazed at Eva. She was so brave, often going first - even down the big waterfall. One of the guys didn't even do it!

There she goes, our fearless leader over the edge

Once again my daughter has blown me away with her fantastic attitude and her ability to get in there and give things a go. The elation on both of our faces as we did our little victory boogie at the bottom was priceless!

The Galapagos Islands

This place is incredible!

I am so glad that we decided to come, the experience is like nothing else. We did a cruise for 3 nights which was ok, but ever since we left it and have been doing our own thing, it has been fabulous.

The islands are like a tropical paradise. It is the end of the rainy season so everything is lush and green and the weather has been idyllic; hot and sunny every day and the water beautifully warm. 

Baby Marine Iguanas at Tintoreras

A little penguin  on the rocks at Tintoreras

I was expecting everything to be barren and windy and life harsh, but it is quite the opposite. This is definitely a place that you could hang out in for quite some time. A very laid back island vibe! Who knew that people come here to surf?

La Loberia on San Cristobel Island - full of sea turtles, sea lions, fish and rays

Tortuge Bay  on Santa Cruz - a stunning soft white sand surf beach that stretched for a mile! We saw baby black tip sharks swimming in the shallows right at our feet!

 So, my misconceptions aside, these islands are spectacularly beautiful and the wildlife is incredible!

We have seen heaps of marine and land iguanas, giant tortoises, sea turtles, sea lions, an amazing assortment of tropical fish and birds! The blue footed boobies are favourites, as are the magnificent frigate birds!

Magnificent Frigate Birds with wing span wider than my arms.

We've snorkelled almost every day, even out on the awe-inspiring Kicker Rock in the open ocean. I wish we had an underwater camera because that was where things got most exciting. We've seen Galapagos (vegetarian) sharks, sea lions, rays and turtles all at a very close distance. Almost every time we have been in the water a world of colour has opened up before us, and despite our 90 plus sunscreen we both still got sunburnt!

Kicker Rock - The channel that we snorkelled through. Awe inspiring!

Leon Dormie - Sleeping Lion or Kicker Rock

I didn't expect it to be so beautiful. Alongside that though is the fact that there are a lot of people living here -  definitely more than I thought. Too many considering that they have only been populated since the 1920s. Feral goats, cats, rats and dogs are all problems which are affecting wildlife, as is agriculture and habitat destruction. It seems, as is typical of people the world over, they don't seem to fully appreciate just how precious what they have is.

All up this has been an experience that I am so pleased to have shared with Eva. She has been amazingly brave and able to handle everything, sea sickness, snorkelling with sharks, last minute changes & cancellations, walking for miles in the midday sun and sleeping in the worst hotel ever – called the Albatross - of course!

She has promised to bring me back here in 10 years time so I'm keen to hold her to that!

On Isla Plazas on our last day

Cotopaxi Volcano

We have left study and spanish school behind for the moment and embarked on some serious fun and adventure! Heading a couple of hours south of Quito we made it to Cotopaxi national park and a hostel called the Secret Garden where we camped with an amazing view of the enormous volcano (about 5800m).

This was the view from our tent on our first morning!

We went on a walk to a gorgeous waterfall, rode on the back of a pickup truck with the wind in our hair, and climbed almost a kilometre up Cotopaxi through snow to get to a climbers refuge at 4800m. I have to say that it was definitely the hardest kilometre that I have ever walked! It was a very steep incline, and Eva and I both were affected by the altitude, feeling sick in the stomach, tired and short of breath. The fact that I was carrying Eva on my back for quite a bit of the way certainly added to the physical and mental challenge! It was a a great achievement though and one that neither of us will ever forget! It even snowed on us on our way back down.

On the back of the truck heading up to the mountain

Here we are very keen, and about to start our walk up.

This is our small crew - we made it to the refuge

On our way back down!

The waterfall near the hostel

Today we went horse riding for 4 hours and it was amazing. Although I am in such pain right now in so many places! The horses were spirited, enjoying a trot and a canter and extemely calm as well, handling chickens, barking dogs, motorbikes, cars and tractors passing and an incredible thunderstorm, lightning and driving rain that blew in with about half an hour to go. It was Eva's first ride on her own and she loved it, especially trotting and trying to get her horse to canter! She was really brave until the thunderstorm hit, the rain poured and her fingers froze! It will forever remain a very memorable experience. All the more because a lady at the hostel paid for us to go because she thought that we were lovely....ah. They are some wonderful people in the world!

Here she is about to start the ride. Eva was a natural on a horse while the sun was shining!

All in all it feels like we are travelling now. Great fun!

And tomorrow we are heading to the Galapagos Islands for a week. It is definitely killing the budget but the deal was too good to pass up!

The Ecuator

We went to the Ecuator, stood on either side and saw a map of the world sideways! All in all a pretty cool experience. Ecuador is named after the ecuator and there is a huge monument and park to celebrate it, but they aren't t actually on the ecuator.

We went to the real thing and amazingly, there was no-one else there, except the person looking after it who gave us a really interesting presentation about it!

Standing with one foot on either side

Post Script to Otavalo

Well things didn't go exactly according to plan. The director of the Otavalo Spanish Institute, turned out to be a spiteful, money hungry bastard! There was no way that I was going to pay for things that I didn't get so I called him a liar and a cheat among other things. It is nice to be able to stand over a short man! He defintiely thought that I would be a pushover who would do what he told me to and we all know that that was never going to happen! We got what we wanted in the end. I'm just really glad that I listened to my head from the beginning and didn't give him all the money up front.Anyway, we are both trying not to let that little incident affect us too much.

Farewell Otavalo

Ah what a difference a good teacher makes. This week he has been a revelation. I'm not saying that I can actually speak Spanish yet but there has been progress!

This was our last week in Otavalo and it feels like the days have disappeared. Getting out into the mountains and the countryside has been great and we have had a couple of serious shopping sessions at the markets which have been fabulous fun, bargaining hard and having vendors follow us through the market to get a sale. We have been ripped off too, but it didn't cost us much – just a couple of fake leather belts. Eva loves getting a good deal and trying to bargain in Spanish!

I feel like the last two weeks we have been on a health farm. I didn't expect to come to Ecuador and be so healthy. Our host family are lovely, there are family members coming and going all the time, always kissing, hugging and chatting. Every day there is an awesome 2 course lunch, always soup and a main usually chicken with rice, potatoes and pasta (often all three), vegies, salad and fresh juice. Which Eva and I both devour. Other than that though, they really don't eat that much, a scrambled egg and bread roll for breakfast with herbal tea and a bread roll for dinner and another herbal tea. Strangely we have adapted to the big lunch thing and aren't very hungry in the evening. What I can't get over though is that I haven't had a drop of alcohol or a real cup of tea for two weeks. I normally don't start the day without one – tea that is ....Ah the simple life! Check out Eva doing our washing on the rooftop of the house...

The washing area on the roof of the house. This is still the most common way clothes are washed in Ecuador.

We spent our last day at the going to the animal market, which was an incrediable experience like nothing I've ever seen, and the Condor Park.

At the animal market there was everything for sale from guinea pigs, chickens, puppies, kittens, ducks, lamas, pigs, cows and horses to fresh vegies, frying pans and herbals remedies. It was a hive of activity, check it out!

Ilove this one, she has a baby tied on the back and a chicken in her hands!

The condor park was also a great experience. The eagles were so impressive, although the condor didn't come out to play.

Wood carving and indulgence

Today we caught a bus to San Antonio de Ibarra which is a place just outside of Otavalo famous for wood carving. Heaps of the works were religious, with many bleeding Jesus' and life like cherubs. But there were also many artistic pieces that were amazing, many of which were enormous. Eva bought a replica of an Amazonian Indian bow and arrow and spear set which looks great. We also saw a carved chess set which had spanish and indian pieces - a grown up version of cowboys and indians! 

  

In the afternoon I went to Cotacachi which is a gorgeous little town famous for leather work and I blew the budget on a cool pair of boots – Eva wasn't happy with me. That is the last time she is letting me go shopping on my own!

Eva's indulgence for the day was a manicure. We went to a very talented ladies house to get it done. It was great fun for Eva and the design on her nails is so detailed and lovely. And it only cost $2.

Lake Cuicocha

Sunday 8^th April

We left the house early this morning to head up to a volcanic crater lake called Lake Cuicocha – Lake of the Gods to the indigenous Kichwa indians. At 3000m it certainly close to them! It is a vast lake in the crater of a live volcano surrounded by stunning mountains, with two islands in the middle. We walked on a path around the lake being blown away by the views and the clouds rolling in towards us. It was amazing. The rest of the day was great, we took a boat ride around the islands in the lake and stopped at a place where bubbles come up from the bottom of the lake from the volcano underneath, very cool!

The track and view at the lake.

Easter in Ecuador

Easter in Ecuador is a big deal, but not in the chocolate egg kind of way. The majority of people are Catholic here and they closed off the streets on Good Friday to make a procession through the streets with 'Romans' riding horses, people tied to crosses, and others carrying statues of Mary and Joseph. It was quite amazing.

After watching that spectacle, we walked down the road to this incredible marquee set up in the street with hundreds of people milling around and eating a traditional indigenous Kichwa meal. I have never seen bigger pots or wooden spoons and I've certainly never before seen enormous plastic buckets filled with meat, tripe, chicken, liver, boiled blood – everything you could imagine. There were heaps of tables lined with people. We joined a table with our host family and ate wawamama (that's how it sounds, tho I'm sure its not spelt that way) and sague (they called it chocolate) but it was boiled blood. Oh my god! I was going okay with the wawamama, which was soup based with lumps of strange looking meat in it, until I got to this round lump of meat (??) covered in a membrane, which for all the world looked like a sheep's balls. I cut into it with my spoon and had a go but just couldn't have more than one bite! Of course the family had a good laugh at me and were happy to finish my bowl. After that, I tried the boiled dried blood, which I could handle, interesting texture! but Eva almost threw up, it was too much for her!

This is a little of what was happening...

The other traditional mestizo Ecuadorian Easter food is Fanesca. It is another soup based dish (Ecuadorians eat soup every day and they certainly know how to make it!) It was a lovely sort of creamy soup with about 7 different types of beans in it – incredibly healthy, but there have been side-effects this afternoon!

So that seems to be the main parts of Easter here – except for the protracted church celebrations which we didn't attend. We gave chocolate eggs to the family and told them about our tradition of giving eggs at Easter. The easter bunny doesn't call in over here.

Otavalo & Hot Pools

The last few days here in Otavalo have been a complete blur....Spanish lessons are muy dificil - my teacher doesn´t speak English. She is nice enough but so far she has given me list upon list of verbs and not too much else! Trying to speak with the host family is hilarious, I constantly say the wrong thing and we all have a laugh at my expense! They are a lovely bunch though, very friendly and welcoming. Otavalo is actually a beautiful place and market here is incredible. There are so many exotci fruits that we've never seen before. As well as chicken feet, sheep heads and other random stuff!

Rice, quinoa and flours.

 Today we went up into the mountains to go to some thermal pools. I was expecting one or two slightly smelly warm pools, but the place was incredible. Nestled in a valley surrounded by cloud topped mountains, there were an incredible array of pools of different temperatures even the traditional hot and cold pools as well as a steam room heated by water pouring in - it blew me away! We spent the whole day there, and were the only gringos!

That cute little buildiong up the top is the steam room, next to the hot and cold pools

Eva inside the steam room, the water is poiring in behind her, shame you can´t see it.

Check that view. It was so incrediblly tranquil