Hola for some very smelly Jungle explorers! We have spent the last 4 days in the Tropical Rainforest in the far East of Ecuador. To get there involved an overnight bus from Quito to Lago Agrio, another bus to the entrance to Cuyabeno and then 2 hours on a motor canoe to the actual lodge. And we were subjected to torrential rain throughout, resulting in two very soggy explorers. Rain aside, we have had a fantastic time in the rainforest. We have seen all sort...

Greetings from Quito! We are currently perched 2850m above sea level up in the Andes enjoying civilisation. As much as we loved Cuba, and had even got used to it's eccentricities, we are both relieved to be back in the land of shops, decent food, a single currency and temperatures below melting point. Not much to say about Quito - it's a big city with all the things you would expect to find in a big city, although it is surrounded by mountains and volcanoes wh...

Havana - the capital of Cuba and the zeitgeist of any trip here. The city is wonderful, with lots of beautiful old buildings of various heritage, plenty of parks and plazas in which to do plenty of sitting and restaurants serving good food. We arrived on Thursday evening and went straight to a Casa that had been recommended to us. It's right on the Malecon (the road running along the seafront) and looks very much like a derelict building. Inside, however, it'...

So, into Santa Clara we go. First impressions were that this is an actual town, as we understand the concept - with shops and restaurants and everything. Venturing out the next day we saw that it was indeed more of a town than previous places we had been - but also ridiculously busy. There are people absolutely everywhere, looking like they have somewhere to be - a rarity thus far in Cuba. And queues absolutely everywhere - a queue to get into the bank, then o...

Greetings from Trinidad! This place is so utterly different to Mantanzas that we could be in another country altogether. Named as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1988 the town is full of cobbled streets, beautiful Spanish colonial buildings, horses and music. The main activity to take place here appears to be sitting and watching the world go by. We spent one night at a beautiful Casa Particular (a private house that is licensed to rent rooms) in a colonial bu...