One week of Spanish classes left and then off to the Galapagos which I'm quite excited about. On Friday night, another student arrived to live at the house and study for a month, Dascha from the USA. Although I have been ordered by Mariana to make sure I only speak Spanish....

Last week was a quiet one. On Tuesday arvo I headed into town in the arvo to meet up with Nikki, a fellow traveller who is going to be on the big tour of South America with me. We met thru the Toucan website and arranged to meet up. Was a great arvo, talking with someone else who is going to be doing the same thing and has the same worries.... mainly are we going to be warm enough. She has headed back to the coast because it is warmer there then here in Quito. Don't blame her.

Wed night I cooked for the family, Spaghetti a la Tanya with garlic bread and apple crumble for desert. Luckily they all liked it and no one was sick the next day. Thursday morning, Frank and I headed into the city to check out the Main museum which has a great display of pottery from different cultures and years in Ecuador, lots of gold and silver, religious art and contemporary art. Great museum well laid out with good info.

Friday arvo, Frank and I were going to head to Mindo, but he had to go to a meeting at Jean Pierre's school and it went later than expected so we went Saturday morning. Our group increased though to include Dascha and Marie Jose. We arrived about midday, dumped our bags in the hotel and went and found lunch. Then walked for about 4-5kms to where the tarabita is, up and down hills and around curves. It rained a little but not too hard. The tarabita is a wire cage that crossed the forest and leaves you on the other side where there are trails to the waterfalls. We were going to do this on Sunday.

We caught a chiva back to town as the rain was getting harder and had showers. Now, it's a big deal for hotels to have hot water and they advertise this. However, the water was so bloody hot I couldn't stand underneath it. Only one temperature, no separate taps. We chilled out in hammocks while everyone showered and then found a cafe for hot drinks and pulled out the cards to play.

Had pizza and icecream for dinner and went for a small walk afterwards before having an early night. Awoken about 6am by the local chickens, roosters and birds and couldn't get back to sleep. Frank and I went for a walk before breakfast to find signs of birds. After brekky we set off back for the taribita. More of a rapid walk this time, only took just under an hour, when yesterday it had taken us about 2 hrs but we were stopping and looking about.

Crossed in the tarabita and there were two choices on the other side. One way was a 45min walk to Cascada Reina, the other way, a 20min walk to the first cascade and then a trail to 4 more. I said the 5 would be better, but Frank said we could do both. Ok.......so we hit the trail to Reina. Well, we slipped and slopped thru mud thru a narrow trail up and down, around curves, over tree trunks, thru tiny water cascades. I fell on my backside crossing one of the miniature waterfalls. Luckily I had on quick drying pants.

We finally reached Cascade Reina and there was a set of stairs to walk up to get closer to the main attraction. Once up there, there was rocks to cross. I decided not to do it as I could see myself falling on my arse once more, but Frank was determined to get me across. Well, I almost got there but then as I had foreseen, I ended up on my arse in the water, this time my shoes completely saturated. I returned to the bottom to try and get some of the water out of my shoes but the 45min walk back to the beginning of the trail was not fun as I could feel my feet sloshing around in water. By the time we got back it was 12.45pm and no chance to do the other trail so we got the tarabita back, sharing it with a guy from Germany.

On the other side we started walking back down the hill and I was able to converse in Spanish with the guy. When I think about how much spanish I do know now, I'm almost surprised. Dascha is probably basic to intermediate so have been speaking spanish to her aswell, although there are times when we lapse into english. Half way down, a ute stopped and offered us a lift back into town so we jumped in the back. Our legs were grateful for the offer.

In town, we went and bought tickets for the bus, and I went searching for a cheap pair of shoes as there was no way I could wear my boots for another 5 hours. Bought a pair of thongs (flip flops) for $4. Back to the hotel to change - boy did that feel good - and then we found somewhere for lunch. $2 for a set lunch, known here as an Almuerzo. Chicken and vege soup, followed by meat stew with rice and salad. Bargain price.

Then the bus home to Quito, where it was pouring down with rain. Looking forward to a hot shower only to find when we got home there is no water. The government had turned off the water for the day to clean out the tanks. Wet ones it was. I can tell you, the hot shower this morning was much appreciated. My back is a bit sore from where I fell but it could have been worse.

This week I am having lessons in the arvo so I can take advantage of the sun in the morning, although today didn't really feel like doing a thing. Will hit some museums tomorrow in Quito.