Country number two in my journey was Ecuador and to be honest I had not done much reseach on the place. A quick referal to the trusty Lonely Planet South America bible (thanks for the present Emma) and I had a list as long as my arm of awesome stuff to see and do! First step was an overnight bus over the Peru-Ecuador border wih Guayaquil the destination.

We were meant to stay in Guayaquil for the night but once we got to the bus station there was a lot of confusion about buying our ticket for our trip out of the Guayaquil the next day. Before we knew it we had two tickets for a bus leaving in five minutes. So we were there in the middle of the massive bus station with two tickets, half knowing something about getting off at a town we never heard of to catch some other random bus to Montanita and down twenty quid that we paid for the hostel we booked in Guayaquil! It wasn't till a few minutes later sitting on the bus when I turned to Pete and was like 'feck why didn't we just stay, the bus tickets cost a grand total of five dollars'

So we were on our way to Montinita - another surf town but it was going to be our last for a while so its ok. The main reason people head there is the surf but also you can head out whale watching and take a trip to the national park (Isla de la Plata) where you go bird watching-ish. So we saw a few humpback whales and loads of birds called blue footed boobies and we were also lucky enough to see an albatros. I have a good few photos so i will try and put a few up soon! Also we got to do some coral snorkling on the way back.

We made our way inland to a place called Baños (after another twelve hours on the bus). I was in shorts and t-shirts as lowlands were dead muggy but as we passed over the mountains at about 3000m on a bus with crap windows it was freezing. Note to self bring a jumper and Ecudorian busses are extra breezy..

As we got to Banos in the middle of the night it was not until the next morning at brekkie that I actually saw the scenery. Literally a town surrounded by huge green mountians and waterfalls(blog pic). Three days here and you are still amazed by the setting.

Banos is a huge outdoor activities hub and you can do anything from white water rafting, canyoning, rock/mountain climbing,canyon swings etc. Pete and I decided on rafting as we were we are going to be doing some of the other activities later on in the trip. Rafting was class, 3+ level (out of 6) rapids and we got tossed out of the boat on the first one- great fun!

Right this blog is getting long so.. Today we are heading for Quito so will do a trip to the equator for some idiot photos of us jumping from southern to northern hemispheres and then a mountain trip on Cotopaxi. First off though time for some guinea pig for lunch..

Later champs