We arrived in Latacunga with perfect timing, because for the next few days it's carnival time! Lantunga's major annual fiesta is 'La Mamá Negra', it involves processions, street dancing, costumes and fireworks. We found a good spot on the main square and watched the action unfold. As the procession passed, a young lad, (dressed as a witch) ran over and shoved a bottle containing a curious brown liquor to our mouths. It was 'aguardiente' (sugarcane alcohol) - ...

Baños is located next to an active volcano 'Tungurahua' (throat of fire). The town gets it's name from the steaming thermal baths bubbling up from the ground. At an elevation of 1800m it has a refreshing climate and we decided to spend a few days here exploring the surrounding mountains and soaking in the thermal pools. The walk up to Bellavista was a tough 40min climb but well worth it for the fantastic view over the town. We continued to climb another 2km ...

Bus drivers in South America are pretty crazy at the best of times, but the driver taking us from Coca to Tena was on a suicide mission and he didn't care if he took all his passengers with him! The road climbed into the mountains with steep drops at every bend, however this driver was keen to take every corner at break neck speed! After 3 hours on this white knuckle ride, we arrived in Tena grateful to be still alive. The following day we planned to visit Par...

Back in Coca, we checked back into hotel Auca. The hotel is famous for it's garden wildlife. With parrots, tortoises, capybara and monkeys roaming the hotel grounds, we took to opportunity to get some photos. Steph fed the friendly monkeys a banana supper. We then headed out to meet our translator Marco - he'd offered to take us out to a few bars in town. He explained that beer in Coca is expensive at $1.50 compared to $1 in Quito, but still pretty cheap com...

Our journey to the amazon rainforest took 14hrs. We traveled by road for the first 3hrs (until the tarmac finished), then boarded a canoe and traveled along the Tiguino River - a gruelling 11hr journey because the river was so low (not much rain lately). The boat constantly got stuck on logs, rocks and sand and we had to get into the water to help free it. All good fun for the first few hours, we saw an anaconda snake and countless birds. But as night fell we...