Day 15 Sat 8th April - Up at 5.15 for Jeep ride to Cotopaxi Volcano. We were very lucky as this is the rainy season here so normally you can't se it, but as we got closer we had wonderful views of the snow covered peak at 5800m at it's highest point. We stopped at around 4500m and set of at speed, the guide crashed 3 times and was a nutter and I managed to sort of keep up and was the first of the guests. Came third on the 2nd leg, behind the guide and a English g...

Day 14 Friday - 07/04/06 Up at 6am to go to the Tropical Cloud Forest and a very small towñ called Mindi, where I tubed (a collection of inner tubes tied together to form a raft and you hang onto ropes) down the Mindo River, it was only a small river but very fast flowing helped by the torrential rain, freezing but great fun, my guide came with me even though she didn't have a change of clothes, so we both got drenched ;o) Visited a butterfly santuary an...

Day 13 Thursday 06/04/06 Up early for a visit to the mountains and hot springs. Saw some wild Lama on the way, see pics and climbed to 4,000m for some spectacular views, but completely out of breath, but good training for the Inca trail. The hot springs we fantastic 5 pools of differing heat up to 50 degrees, some you could lay in like a jacuzzi and others that showered you with warm water. It was raining and I was laying there looking up at the mountians an...

Day 12 Wed 05/04 Visited the Famous Darvin Centre and saw the giant tortouses including Lonely George who is 100 years old (they can live to 175) and was found on one of the islands all alone, but despite their best efforts will not mate or make friends with anyone, he looks happy enough though. Saw all the baby tortouses in their breeding program and then back on dry land for a mad bus ride and ferry ride to the airport for 2 flights (total 10 flights) back...

Day 11 Tues 04/04/06 Sailed to Espanola over night and again very rough but getting used to it now and slept much better. This is the southernmost Island and probably the most beautiful. We saw masked and blue footed boobies, which are the famous local birds which just stand their when you go next to them and named after the Spanish name for stupid. Saw a Albatros, at what the locals call Albatros airport, where they all take off. Sailed to Garner Bay in the...