I´ve had a great few last days and paying for it now with muscle aches but more of that later. After arriving back in Quito I headed out to the house for one last lunch with my Ecuadorian family. I ended up spending so much time there I spent the night. Woke up Monday morning not feeling the best, having a dizzy spell, so stayed a few extra hours to sleep it off. It was then time to say goodbye and the tears were flowing. Very difficult to say goodbye. I had a q...

Another great day in Otavalo yesterday. I was up early so I could head out to the animal markets, just outside of town, on the other side of the Panamerican (major highway). Now you haven't lived until you see pigs, goats and cows being dragged across the highway and those pigs can be pretty stubborn. The locals basically stand around holding the leads of their animals and hope someone will come up and offer a price and the bartering begins. It was noisy, smelly...

Well it's pouring down with rain outside and not much to do except stay indoors and try and keep dry and warm. It was a lovely day today, full of blue skies and sunshine. I had signed up for a tour which was going to take us to some different villages so we could see some of the different artisans at work. There were 4 of us and our guide who only spoke Spanish, but spoke slowly and clearly so we understood. 2 of the others also spoke spanish and the wife transla...

I've had a quiet couple of days in Quito, after the excitement of the Galapagos. Was a bit of a let down actually, returning to the grey skies of Quito and having to wear a jacket again. Tuesday morning before I checked out of the hotel, I walked to a lookout over the valley of Gualapo and then decided to walk down to the church and have a look. Good workout for the bum that was for sure, especially when I walked all the way back up again. I didn't go inside the...

Day 4 - Santa Cruz Island After brekky we were taken ashore to the Charles Darwin Research Centre. This is where they monitor the tortoises and have breeding and release programs. Also the home of famous Lonesome George. They are also breeding Land Iguanas. This was a changeover day and Liz who was only on a 3 day tour headed to the airport which meant that in the afternoon we would have 13 new passengers join us. It was going to be weird to have the boat full. ...