¡Hola a todos! In this second entry concerning the Galapagos Islands, I shall talk a little – well, perhaps more than a little – about the land animals, flora and geological information that I saw and learnt so much about: my reasoning is that by far my favourite experiences occurred in the water and so I want to save the best for last! Of course, everything truly was very special, but, I hold a particular soft spot for those fabulous aquatic adventures. I...

¡Hola a todos! I am following the sound advice of Mum and so this first blog entry concerning the Galapagos will focus upon creatures of the air. I shall endeavour to include when and where I saw the many protagonists of this piece, along with some of the mind-boggling quantity of information surrounding these marvellous beings served up to we travellers by our all-knowing Galapagean guide, Monica, who spoke flawless English. Even before we steppe aboard the g...

¡Hola a todos! After spending a week recuperating from my bout of Salmonella in Baños, I finally felt well enough to pack my bags and take to the road once more. I boarded a bus destined for Quito and settled back to enjoy the view outside my window; one of rolling green hills and steep drops down to the valley floors below. The bus journey passed swiftly, largely on account of the driver, who seemed in a particular rush to be somewhere else. Thankfully I arri...

¡Hola a todos! Well, it has finally happened, that all-too-rare occurrence last experienced far too long ago. I write to you all from the same location featured in my blog: for example, the three previous entries were all written from here in Baños, as I spent time recuperating from a nasty illness that has slowly been seeping into my narrative these past few entries, yet none of them were actually about Baños. This is, as I write, a rare and happy moment ind...

¡Hola a todos! My journey continued north then, to Cuenca. At the bus station in Vilcabamba I ran into an Irish couple that Seb and I had met and befriended during our bus ride into Ecuador from Peru. We had gone our separate ways in Vilcabamba, they wanting something a little more central than our mountain-lodge retreat offered. I was glad to see them again and even happier when it transpired that we had chosen the same bus to take us to Cuenca. We settled int...