Saturday 8th September

I go with Anna to find a hostel for me to stay in as that was the end of my tour. I catch up with Simon, Mum and Dad which is lovely and tell them I'll be home in a week!

Sunday 9th September

I meet Jim in the hotel lobby. He's a gay glaswegian who is going to Galapagos in around 4 days. He lives in Eastbourne but has a place in London Bridge. We hop on the trolley for 25c and go to the Old Town. Plaza Grande is lovely with all the colonial style buildings. We wander into a small quare just off the plaza and find somewhere to have lunch on the top floor overlooking the courtyard. We chat about life, the universe, etc and put the world to right. Then we head back to New Town and he heads to bed as the jetlag sets in.

Monday 10th September

I meet Jim and we go up the Teleferico which is a cable car. It takes you from 2,900 metres all the way up to 4,100 metres which is part way up the volcano that overlooks Quito. It would take another 3 hours to get up to the top but it's cold and we're not erally dressed for it, so we head back down after admiring the view over Quito.

There's a fair at the base of the teleferico and the sun is shining so we decide to go on a couple of rides. There is no-one there at all at the fair when we arrive, so we have the rides all to ourselves. We sit in the front row of the roller coaster and scream as we do loop-the-loop. when we get off the most bizarre thing happens - in walk a group of nuns and priests with their camcorder and they go on the dodgem cars. This is the most surreal experience ever. We go on a couple more rides and by now there are at least 6 people in the fairground as well as the nuns and priests who are now on the roller coaster! We finish off with air hockey - what a great time.

Next it's off to the Basilica. We climb up to the first floor and find the most amazing stained glass window. The light is streaming in through all the other windows in the church and hitting the ground causing the most beautiful colours to appear on the floor.

We have to walk in the eves of the roof to get across to the other side of the cathedral on the most rickety walkway ever. We climb up on ladders that are so steep it's quite hairy! Then it's back down and across the roof again to go up into the Belfry.

Again the ladders up are outrageous - health and safety has no meaning here! We accidentally on purpose ring the bells on our way down - well you shouldn't leave them so close in range and not expect someone to ring them! Then we tell the people coming up that they have to ring them too - it's tradition! Snigger. Minutes later we hear them clanging! Too funny!

In the evening we go to one of the shopping malls to meet Jules. It's so great to see her. She's really fallen on her feet with her host family who sound lovely and they have a great house too. We chat away and head home with promises to meet on Wednesday night.

Tuesday 11th September

I get up early and Jim and I meet Juan, our guide who will take us to see Cotopaxi Volcano. In the car, he talks to us about the geography of the area, the economy and the culture of Ecuador. Cotopaxi national park is fairly barren with flowers intermittently growing at the lower level. It smells of pin and eucalyptus. We've seen a lot of eucalyptus trees here - they were introduced to keep the soil from eroding.

Further up as the vegetation stops altogether as we pass the point at which nothing will grow. At 4,500 metres we get out of the car and walk up in the driving win, mist and rain to base camp at 4,800 metres. We're not far from the base of the glacier but the weather prevents us from going any further. It's something I'd like to come back and do in the future is scale this volcano. It's around 5,600 metres at it's peak.

We're thankful for a warm cup of tea and the pastries that Jim bought that morning as we shelter in base camp. Then it's back down to the car where Juan treats us to more tea. Mmm.

We go back via the museum and finally the volcano shows us herself in all her true glory as the clouds are blown away - magnificent.

Wednesday 12th September

Today we head into the Cloud Forest to a place called Bellavista. We pass the equator line on the way which is guarded by massive high steel fences and you have to pay to get in. We decline.

Bellavista is run by an english chap and you can stay in teh alpine looking lodges which are very cute. There are allsorts of walking trails around from easy to hard, horse riding is avaialble and it's a haven for bird watchers.

They have feeders for hummingbirds and bees outside the restaurant and we sit there enchanted for an hour just watching them. They are so tiny and colourful but the camera doesn't quite capture the effect of the colour and the humming sound.

We meet Iris, our guide who takes us and another couple walking in wellington boots. On the way we see a mixed flock of birds including a blue and black toucan which is just gorgeous.

There aren't many orchids in bloom as they tend to be out in rainy season which is early on in the year.

We walk down into the cloud forest and admire the plants, spider and a giant earthworm which is 1 metre long. No pictures though as it was dead and not a pretty sight! The view over the forest is phenominal. We walk down to the valley floor and then trek up through the river using ropes and ladders to wend our way up to the main waterfall. Then it's a steep climb upwards to the top to stare at the hummingbirds again.

In the evening we meet Jules and also Jim's Galapagos group. We have a lovely meal in the Gringo Square and then it's time to say good-bye to them before I know it as it's back to Blighty tomorrow. I leave with promises to meet up with Jim back in the UK and exchange photo's and wish Jules well in her study.