Back in Quito after our excellent trip out to the Galapagos, I still felt as though I was on the boat, swaying slightly. Our plan was to visit the Equator then get on a bus and head straight north for Columbia. Well this didnt happen as we ended up in Quito another 3 nights. What kept us there? The story goes....

Visiting the Equator, we met a lovely Aussy guy Tim who is mostly to blame for putting us behind schedule. We had great fun at the equator, there are actually 2 places to visit 200mtrs apart. A fake equator line that has a monument the government built, costing lots of money before the days of gps. Then there is a museum actually on the equator that is much more interesting to visit. We hopped from hemisphere to hemisphere. We did experiments with water down the plug hole, spinning in different directions (and I do have videos to prove it works). Apparantly, good for us the human body weighs less on the equator and we are less strong! The funniest experiment was trying to balance an egg, which we all managed to do, so became the egg masters, got a certificate for it and a stamp in the passport to say we had visited the middle of the world. The museum was very educational and spening so much time there made us miss our bus. So we re-checked in to the hostel and arranged to meet for dinner. Dinner turned into drinks, cocktails and a 2am pizza!!

The next day was a footie match, world cup qualifier between Ecuador and Bolivia, we had read you must experience a game in South America , they all take Soccer so seriously, so our arms were twisted we were staying for the game. And arnt we glad we did. We had a wicked time, the atmosphere was electric, a group of 15 of us Gringos, all shouting for Ecuador, wearing the shirts and drinking beer. Drinking beer started at midday so we should of known it was going to get messy. Majority of the group did not last past 8pm, but we partied on, Karen lasting till 1am, when I decided to go out dancing. Found a seedy salsa club and danced the night away till gone 5am! Great great night.

Feeling rather jaded the next day, we really had to get going North, time is running out..

So 44 hours on a bus to try and make up some time.... Now in Columbia on the Carribean coast.

Only 11 sleeps left, some of which will be in hammocks, some on buses and finally one on an aeroplane getting back to the UK, where we look forward to seeing you all. xxxx