After our amazing time in New York we headed for our very early morning flight to Quito in Ecuador. On our taxi ride there we tried to put any nerves we might have about our next journey aside, however once we arrived at the airport we found out that our flight had been cancelled due to a plane crash in Quito - needless to say this did not help our nerves much! We stood at the check in desk smiling as sweetly as possible hoping we would be able to get on a flight within the next few days. After about half an hour the lovely lady behind the desk found us a flight the next morning leaving from Miami. We jumped on the next flight and before we knew it we were sunning ourselves at quite possibly the seediest hotel Miami airport had to offer. Whilst checking out the following morning at 4am a gentleman was checking in with a bottle of JD's and what can only be discribed as some filth to keep him company.
We arrived in Quito safely, checked into our hostel and then ventured out to order some lunch. Using our minimal Spanish we managed to order a soap sandwich, as our Spanish teacher later informed us.
Over the next 5 days we visited both the fake and real equator. The fake being what the French discovered over 200 years ago and the real one which has recently been found using GPS. The real one is much more fun and we did experiments on the equator line such as balancing an egg on a nail and seeing which way the water spiralled down the plug.
We woke early one morning and started a climb up 
Guagua Pichincha which is a dormant volcano at 4,871 metres. Our day started well with our 4 wheel drive getting a flat tyre, or so we were told! We were then put in a taxi van which got stuck in the mud so we ended up walking twice as far, suddenly we wondered why we had eaten so many pastries in France. It was an amazing walk, but very slow. Apparently it is a good way to acclimatise yourself. The view is also apparently spectactular but as is usual for us when we finally reached the top after 4 hours we couldn´t see anything.
Guagua Pichincha which is a dormant volcano at 4,871 metres. Our day started well with our 4 wheel drive getting a flat tyre, or so we were told! We were then put in a taxi van which got stuck in the mud so we ended up walking twice as far, suddenly we wondered why we had eaten so many pastries in France. It was an amazing walk, but very slow. Apparently it is a good way to acclimatise yourself. The view is also apparently spectactular but as is usual for us when we finally reached the top after 4 hours we couldn´t see anything.
We jumped on a bus to Otavalo market, which is a traditional market where local people still dress traditionally and sell their colourful arts and crafts. Since we had such a chilled out day we decided that it was only right to sample the local nightlife in Quito with people from our hostel.
Slightly hungover we decided to visit Quito´s male prison with so
me friends - what else would you do after a few hours sleep! We wrongly obtained the name of a foreigner staying there but the guards allowed us to still go and visit a gringo or 5 who had been caught trafficking. We spoke with them, bought them supplies, heard their stories, visited their cells and walked around the prison without any guards and as if we were in a shopping mall. Anything goes at the prison by the sound of it but the guard did make Sarah breath on her because of the alcohol that was seeping from her pores and was under the impression that she was still drunk, which seemed to amuse the local women!
me friends - what else would you do after a few hours sleep! We wrongly obtained the name of a foreigner staying there but the guards allowed us to still go and visit a gringo or 5 who had been caught trafficking. We spoke with them, bought them supplies, heard their stories, visited their cells and walked around the prison without any guards and as if we were in a shopping mall. Anything goes at the prison by the sound of it but the guard did make Sarah breath on her because of the alcohol that was seeping from her pores and was under the impression that she was still drunk, which seemed to amuse the local women! After saying goodbye to all the people we had met at our hostel
we flew to the Galapagos. Upon arrival the sun immediately struck us as we were still wearing thermal socks and walking shoes. We were taken to our yacht but not before we got our first glimpse of Sea Lions. They were lounging around the seats at the dock and swimming in the water. We were given the first of many fantastic meals - mainly fresh seafood which was brought to the yacht by little fishing boats! We were taken through the mangroves by a small dingy and saw turtles mating and white tipped sharks. Over the next 5 days we also saw dolphins, stingrays, mantarays, sea turtles, penguins, pelicans, countless birds, marine and land iguanas but the highlight was definitely snorkelling with sea lions which came so close you could almost touch them if you could catch them and swimming with white tipped sharks.
we flew to the Galapagos. Upon arrival the sun immediately struck us as we were still wearing thermal socks and walking shoes. We were taken to our yacht but not before we got our first glimpse of Sea Lions. They were lounging around the seats at the dock and swimming in the water. We were given the first of many fantastic meals - mainly fresh seafood which was brought to the yacht by little fishing boats! We were taken through the mangroves by a small dingy and saw turtles mating and white tipped sharks. Over the next 5 days we also saw dolphins, stingrays, mantarays, sea turtles, penguins, pelicans, countless birds, marine and land iguanas but the highlight was definitely snorkelling with sea lions which came so close you could almost touch them if you could catch them and swimming with white tipped sharks.The last few days we have been in the spa town Banos soaking in hot springs, enjoying massages and quad biking through the valley to look at various waterfalls in the soaking rain - what a hard life!
We are then going to spend the next few day crossing the border to Peru where we hope to enjoy more sun and beaches.
1 comment:
Hi Sarah
Looks like you are having the best time!!! I am so jealous that you have been to Galapagos, I would love to go and see all the wildlife. Good luck with the next part of your trip - nearly home!
Love Absxxxxxxx
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