Great few days in Banos! A small town that's built up in between 2 mountains, one of which is an active volcano! I think one of the last eruptions was about 2006 (from what I've seen around town on a poster) and when it does begin to spew lava, even if it's not a full eruption, you can take a night visit to the top to see the red lava. Everyone we'd met on the trip that had been here loved the town. Laid back feeling with loads of adventure activities to do! We ...

The much anticipated Galápagos arrived and we took the first plane in months over to the islands... Normally blogs are a bit shorter but this was worth a day by day addition! Day 1: Pitched up in Santa Cruz... Almost stayed in a really nice hostel but ended up with a smelly fan room, standard! Visited the Charles Darwin research centre where giant tortoises are bred and some info on the islands is listed. Charles Darwin being the Godfather of the Galápagos! ...

After leaving Montanita we moved about 3 hours or so along the coast to one of the biggest cities in Ecuador called Guayaquil. Not a very picturesque city but it was just a stop over for a couple of days before flying to Galápagos! First major bonus was being able to sleep without the pounding music of Montanita! The music was fine when you're out but any quiet(ish) nights (although few and far between) and ear plugs were needed! The hostel in Guayaquil was nic...

After Mancora we took an over night bus into Ecuador, a new country on the trip! Had no idea what to expect in Ecuador, it's meant to be more developed than a lot of the other South American countries and also uses the American dollar. First view from the coach window it looked nice, still a bit similar to Peru but with a different culture of buildings and people. Our first 6 days in Ecuador for New Year would be spent in Montanita, unlike Mancora it was a real...

Last stop in Peru was in a small coastal town called Mancora. Popular as a party place for locals and other South American tourists it has a big resort style Loki hostel that is the main attraction for backpackers! The 5 or so days there involved copious amounts of drinking, eating and partying just like back home over the Christmas period but with the addition of great weather every day and a pool! The town itself is in a bit of a decline in terms of backpack...