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Morning All
Greetings from sunny Quito. I hear that England is steeped in snow. I on the other hand have woken up sunburnt!
Have now finished my Ecuador tour and head to the Galapagos tomorrow which is exciting. I have 4 full days sailing around the east islands. Fingers crossed I won't get sea sick.
The last few days of the Ecuador tour were good fun. We spent a couple of nights in a town called Cayambe famous for the Cayambe volcano.. We stayed in a 400 year old hacienda said to be the oldest in all of Ecuador. It was an attractive place but a little on the spooky side at night.
On the first night there was the inevitable ghost tour after dinner by way of the evening's entertainment. Our guide, Giovanni , was fantastic but easily bored and needed entertaining and what is more entertaining than getting a group of sensible adults to walk around in the pitch black playing hide and seek in a spooky old church!
Not sure how but Marina and I found ourselves leading the group up and down the church tower in the pitch black. Half way down and to steady her nerves,Marina needed a cigarette which turned out quite handy really to light the way in he stairwell down.
Needless to say there were lots of screams but it was good fun.
The next day we took 4x4s but the volcano to try and see the glacier. The road up was ridiculously steep and appeared impassable in places but the local guides knew what they were doing and got us all up there. We walked up to within about 50 metres of the glacier which was pretty spectacular but it was very cloudy up there so I didn't hey to see the very top of the volcano in the end.
Our finals top was a market town called Otavallo famous for having the biggest market in S America. You can get anything from food, clothes, jewellery and art to pigs and chickens. I opted for some jewellery and a couple of pictures, easier to fit in the suitcase!
The Ecuador tour is now over and I have a spare day in Quito before flying to the islands tomorrow. It's lovely and sunny and warm here so spent yesterday enjoying the views from the top of Quito's cable car at 4100 metres.
I suspect there is no wifi for the next few days so will let you know about the iguanas and tortoises on my return and then it's straight on the Lima,Peru!
Stay warm!
Much love
E xxx
- comments
Emily Longbottom Loving your updates Ellie! Sounds amazing. Have fun!! xx xx Ps how's the Spanish?!
Yvette So glad to hear you are enjoying it out there - so jealous of you heading off to the Galapagos. Nothing but snow here and cold! Have lots of fun & take care x
Helen Aston Hi Ellie, Sian sent me your blog details - what a great read and bringing back so many memories for me - I can remember having a great night out in Banos and that fabulous market in Otovallo. Keep having fun, xx