Upon finally leaving Ecuador, there is time to reflect on our 39 days in this country, and some of the political aspects. Geographically it is a countryside of great diversity with many different eco systems and micro climates. We really enjoyed these aspect...The countryside is suffering from the degree of westernisation that has so far occurred. Many people use only biodegradable products. Food is bought locally and there is little waste. However, the countrysi...

More on the Galapagos, I hear you cry? The human history of the islands is pretty sad. Their first recorded discovery was in 1535 by a Spanish monk, whoose expedition got caught in the currents I outlined before. They were nearly starving and had no water, when they reached land. At the time, the monk was on his way back to Spain to report to the King on how the conquests were progressing! After the discovery, the islands were used by whalers, traders and pirate...

Swimming with sharks, manta rays and beautiful tropical fish. The clear warm water that you slip into just to keep cool, the golden sun sets and the relaxing pace of the boat.Impossible to count the iguanas, the lava lizards and impossible to express the wonder of swimming with fully grown sea turtles in the wild. No trip to Ecuador could be complete without a visit to the Galapagos. We trawled around Quito to get the best deal. We wanted a boat trip for 8 days, ...

Not really big fans of Riobamba. The high point of an otherwise grim day was opening an e mail refering to the antics in the house of Hubbard! We stayed in the Hotel de Estation in Riobamba. To cut a long story short, a passport, round the world flight tickets, cash card and spending money for the Galapagos were removed from their hiding place in the room - probably by the cleaner. We had to visit 3 police stations, and still got no sense from the police. In the ...

After Cotopaxi we headed to Teña on a 5 hour bus journey, largely on dirt roads to Tena. We were on the edge of the jungle and the heat and humidity were a shock after the incredible cold of the mountains. We again felt fairly safe, the people seemed more interested in us and less interested in exploiting tourists, and it was a much more relaxed place to be. Before we arrived we decided how much a canoe trip would be worth to us, in dollars. We are very je...