Galapagos Islands, Ecuador 28th September – 5th October 2006 The highlight of our trip so far and it’s what we’ve been looking forward to for 11 months. We can’t believe the trip is upon us, as time really seems to have flown by. Our 8 day & 7 nights trip is aboard the boat Monserrat. The Monserrat is a superior class boat with 16 passengers and we are secretly hoping that there are not too many loud Americans or Israelis on ...

Tena 22nd – 26th September 2006 We are up pretty early (ok, about 8am but it’s still early for James) and very nearly miss the 9.30am bus to Tena (which we’ve booked tickets for) as James and Mog nearly forget their passports and money. It’s a pretty bumpy and twisty ride with some very impressive scenery from the right hand side of the bus. Unfortunately the road is so bendy and the driver such a maniac that Mog feels a bit unwel...

Banos 19th – 21st September 2006  The following day we catch the bus to Banos (after the standard lie in requirement for one Mr J Marriott) at midday for a whopping 4 dorrar each. The weather is pretty cloudy so we don’t get to see the volcano Cotopaxi on the way down which is a bit of a disappointment.   We arrive at the quaint little town of Banos 3 ½ hrs later and as usual we are desperate for a branston pickle (trickle) when we ar...

Puerto Lopez 11th Sept – 17th Sept  We catch a flight at about 2pm and fly to Manta on the coast (stopping at the only decent airport in Ecuador, Guayakil) and land an hour later.   Immediately we notice the difference in temperature between Quito (at 2800m ASL) and Manta. Manta is hot, sticky and pretty uncomfortable even into the evening. We stay the night at a hotel adjacent to the bus station so that we can catch an early bus down to Puerto Lo...