More whales

SO went whale watching again today as I am totally enamorado with them. And whilst they failed to display the required behaviour (ie lots of jumping and showing off) we did fnid a few groups, with one group of 4 in particular displaying competative behaviour (apparently!) with some splashing and tail waving and stuff - a kind of "i can splash higher than you" show of power amongst the boys! Plus one of the groups decided it wanted to swim really close to our boat so I really got to properly understand how massive the whales are. They were literally 10m away from our TINY boat so a little scary for the 2 small kids on board, but utterly amazing for me!!!

Yesterday was also pretty cool as I took myself off on a walk trhough the national park here to 3 beaches, one of which - Los Frailes - is apparently Ecuador´s nicest beach. So i think its fair to say that the beaches of Ecuador dont quite match up to other countries, but it was nice!!! Unfortunately as there has been hardly any rain this year, the forest looked rather on the dead side, and the August wind was really picking up, so when sunbathing on the aforementioned beach, I got a rather nice exfoliation. But I did have a chat with a couple of fisherman who were fishing for octopi (one i or 2, i never know....lets go for 2) using a pointy bit of metal and a snorkel so that was pretty cool to watch. Also got to watch some octopii die which wasnt so pleasant but didnt think the fishermen woudl appreciate me throwing the octopus back in the water!

Am now wasting time before my dreaded night bus to Quito - urgh. Whoever said travelling was relaxing. Then have to catch a 2 hr bus to Lataunga and then a 4 hour bus to Chicgulan where i am going to stay in a mountain retreat type hostal for a few days (the first of which will, i think, be spent sleeping!). Wish me luck

Whales galore

Well today, after finally getting off my arse to do something, i had the most amazing day. Went on a boat trip whale spotting, snorkelling and to the isla del plata (apparently a mini galapagos) So the island was really cool (if a little brown) and saw hundreds of blue footed boobies (yes, they do have bright blue feet such is the imagination of bird namers) and as they are not afraid of humans, we could get within 1m of them which was pretty amazing. Then snorkelling was also mind blowing with huge shoals of fish (my fave, quantity always wins over quality with me!) as well as trumpet fish and these huge fish which apparently, according to the guides on the boat, were pig fish (this is assuming that my description in spanish with lots of hand gestures accurately described the fish i meant!).

But, better than all this, were the whales. So bear in mind that when i went whale spotting in NA, we saw 4 whales and they just came up for air then dived down splashing their tail one and I was beside myself with excitement. On this trip we were in a tiny boat (16 people) and on the way out the island we saw 3 groups of 2-3 whales all blowing water and splashing their tails around on the surface for ages......v exciting! Then on the way back we came across a pair who were doing some mating dance (this could be entirely wrong as it is all my translation from spanish) but i think the female slaps her tail around on the water for a while to attract men. Men then come, slap their flippers around on the water for a while and then she chooses the best man slapper (so to speak). So this all got me v excited as have never seen a whale mating dance before (unsurprisingly) and i couldnt really understand why the guides were dissappointed for us. So off we head for home. And on the way back i discover why the guides were sad. Our marvellous captain (definately had the best boat, we always were the first ones to find whales and always had the best view - hurrah) found another pair who were literally jumping out the water. It was one of the most incredible, awe inspiring things I have ever seen, to watch these huge animals (about 15m long) hurl themselves out the water and then splash down. And we were so close it felt incredibly intimate and I almost began to think they were putting on a show especially for us. You can probably tell from this that I loved every moment and wasnt even put off when one irritating american girl started to complain that she was bored!!!!! Am still way more emocionante (excited) than a 27yr old chica should be and its now at least 4 hours later!

not sure what to do tommorrow. weather v grey and drizzly so might just head for the mountains if it carries on.....was going to go walking tomorrow but no chance if it is raining! Could always go whale spotting again!!!! For the bargin price of 11pounds doesnt seem like a ridiculous idea!

Oh i do like to be beside the seaside

Ah, deep breath. it is indeed v nice to be back by the sea. After spending so much time waterlogged on my last trip, i hadnt realised just how much i had missed it. Unfortunately the garuia (big grey mist cloud thing) is well and truly over the coast at the moment as the guidebook said it would (in my own, unique way i had of course decided that the guidebook would be wrong and it would be glorious sunshine) but even the constant greyness hasnt been too bad and i have spent a lovely couple of days lazing around in hammocks, braving the wind (and small ecuadorean children) on the beach and going for long bracing walks. Rather more excitingly, i was bored whilst eating brekkie and translated an add for my favourite ice creams over here (kind of ice lollies made with just squished fruit) and turns out they are advertised on teh basis of being the ice cream that makes you healthy (or something along those lines) so feel decidedly pious now every time i eat one!!!

Really liked canoa as it was lovely and small and i was one of about 5 gringos in the entire place, so once i got used to all the stares, it was kind of fun. Plus it was so nice and tranquil after the hecticness that was quito. Spent friday night chatting to the owner of the hostal i was staying in (who could speak nearly fluent english which made a nice break). Then on saturday, i bumped into a friend from Quito who was now volunteering out here so spent sat night with her. Which was really lovely as they were having this big concert/ disco thing at my hostal so it meant i had a friend to go with. And it turned out to be a v fun evening, with at least 4 men vying to dance with me (and they were all tall, hurrah for costal men!) and a really good band playing. Highlight of the eve was being told quite a few times (normally with a faint hint of surprise) that I am a good dancer. David (my lovely salsa teacher and rachs lovely boyfriend) was worth every penny! Unfortunately the main stage was approx 2 m from the door to my bedroom so had no choice but to stay up till 4.30 when the music finally died down! Now theres a good excuse!

Unfortunately seemed like less of a good idea this morning when my alarm went off at 9am for my fun day of bus rides to puerto lopez (where i am now). lovely array of buses ranging from super delux to bone shakingly awful, with an equally lovely array of bus companions, including obligatory crazy old man who wanted to tell me why there were problems in ireland (apparently all becuase england is anglican and ireland is catholic, who would have guessed!!!). Also eaten nothign but bus food today (ie nothing but stuff sold by people who come on toe buses with plastic bowls of surprise food) so after 2 bread rolls, 2 bottles of water, a chicken empanada, a tub of chicken and rice and a bag of coconut water (hallelujah.....i love that stuff) I am now ready for a lovely healthy dinner, if i can just track one down amongst the oceans of fried fish adn fried chicken on offer!

Have made my way to puerto lopez and it is the capital of whale spotting jun- sept and as such had dutifully signed myself up for a trip tommorrow. Am more excited than a grown woman should be so keep your fingers crossed for lots of sighting.

On the road again

So back to dedicating my life to buses and thought I would kick myself off in style with a mamouth 9 hr journey today with 3 buses all of whom took Ecuadorean inefficiency to new heights. Yep, all three thought it would be a good idea to leave the bus station, travel 100yrds, and then stop for a good while for reasons best known to themselves. It took the best part of 30mins just to get away from the main bus station in Quito! And to make matters worse, none had bathrooms, so i didnt drink anything all day and am now horribly dehydrated as well as exhausted!!!! Luckily I decided at the last minute to come to the beach rather than go to the mountains, so have booked myself into a lovely hostal with pool and hammocks (one of which is my very own, right outside my room door) and tommorrow i am looking forward to lying on the beach and maybe going for a short walk! Ah, the joys of travelling again.

V strange being away from Quito and I dont think it has quite hit home yet that I have left all my friends and comfort blanket behind, but at the same time, it is lovely and reassuring to be on the road again. How am I ever going to settle back down in the UK???!!

Hasta Luego Quito

And as all good things must come to an end, so I have decided that it is time to venture out into the big wide world again and stop hiding in the comfort that is Quito and La Mariscal. Thus, tomorrow I will be on a rickety bus off to have some adventures and make this blog page worth reading again! Not sure where i will be going as yet, much to the amusment of my friends here, but will figure it out today!

Anyway, have had a fun few days in Quito relaxing and doing everything that I have meant to do in the last 6 weeks but failed to do. Amanda and I (being the only 2 left now, sob) also decided that on sunday we needed to escape and so took ourselves off to Papallacta to wallow in hot springs for a couple of hours. So off we tootled to our least favourite place in the world (aka terminal terrestre / bus station) and then sat on possibly the most uncomfortable bus ever for two hours, only cheered by the KFC we had cleverly bought for brekkie, the US mags we had discovered in our hostal and the thought that at least we werent on the bus for 8 hours as the rest of the suckers were!

Anyway, after much confusion, eventually managed to get of the bus at the right place and the first surprise was that the springs were in a completely different place to where we thought, but luckily a nice man with a truck was there to charge us a small fortune to drive us up the hill to the springs (we had thought they were down!) So bumped and banged about we, wer v happy to see the springs and spent the next 2 hours getting wrinkly and hot in lots of hot water trying not to notice that we were the only foreigners there and that everyone was staring.....nice

So then, fully relaxed and invigorated (and dry) we pottered off into the car park to find a lorry man....thinking surely if there was organised transport up to the springs, there would surely be some down again. but we were forgetting that this is ecuador and therefore land of no common sense. And so our relaxed selves were forced to walked 1.5k back to the road on a very dusty path.....grr.....and then to cap it off, there were no seats on the bus back so we had to stand for 2 hours whilst small children ran back and forth and people with seats did their best to look smug! God, tell me again why i am planning on doing this for the next 4 1/2 months!!!!!

Its good to have friends

And because of this we decided to have a bit of a dinner party at our hostal (rachel, amanada and I are currently over-running the same hostal - yippee) on wednesday night. You can probably guess that this wasnt my idea, but it turned out to be a lovely evening. We settled on fajitas as they seemed easy to cook in bulk, sent Amanda off to Supermaxi to buy her own body weight in peppers, and then had much fun chopping and mixing (those of you who have had the pleasure of cooking with me know that I stay firmly in charge of any chopping and away from any actual cooking if at all possible) and I have to say, I made a damn fine guacamole, all to the surprisingly loud reggaeton kicked out by my ipod. And amusingly, turns out that while we have a lot of friends here, they are all male! So at about 8ish one by one they all turned up to the horror of the other guests in the hostal (well, only 2 snotty french people so they dont count!) and we all then ate fajitas and cake (my contribution!) until we couldnt move anymore......and then we went dancing.....after doing all the washing up, which, our friends being your average latino guys, didnt help with one bit! But despite this minor set back, and despite my grumblings, it was a really fun evening and a lovely way to say goodbye to all the poor guys who we have molested into dancing with us over the last 6 weeks. the only down side was the absence of Eva, who we started to worry about when she was 2 hours late (a record even for he) but it turns out the embassador for ecuador had come to her family´s house for tea! Damn her and her great excuses for being late

And so on to yesterday which was spent with all of us skiving off whatever responsibilities we have (except the ever contientious Amanda) to visit the Hacienda of the father of one of our friends here (Ineyet) and it was fab. unfortunately the day got off to an inauspicious start with Eva being even more late than usual due to the fact that she got robbed on the way here (luckily she was ok, but she had her camera and some money stolen, which sucks, and rather ramdomly, the robber also took her lip gloss, which i actually think she is more upset about!). but then the day turned out to be fab. The Hacienda is only about 30mins away if you have a car but its round this big mountain so you feel miles away from Quito and it was in the most gorgeous countryside. It was so nice of Iniyet to invite us and his family were really welcoming so had a great time pottering around walking, riding horses and watching the milking (rather different to at home, and Dad, hope you are impressed, took lots of photos!). Also had a go at milking by hand (big sorry to the poor cow here) and it was a lot more difficult (and repulsive) than you would imagine! So after all that excitement, we were rather late leaving, but managed to hitch a lift in the back of another pickup and had the most amazing view of the sun setting over the mountains and then over Quito all lit up for the night. Ah, big sigh

Naturally as it was Thursday, we then went out salsa dancing and all had a fab time (especially Rach, who was high on cough syrup determined to be alive for her last night). Our favourite place has now started charging which is rather crap, but was definately worth the $2

And so on to today which has been spent eating and enjoying the sun and trying not to be too sad that everyine is leaving...booo. Taking rach to the aeroport tonight to wave her off and then eva on sunday. sob....really ready to leave Quito now but its going to take a while to adjust to not having my girls around me anymore...and am really going to miss all the gossip they generate and our lazy "ladies who lunch" lunches at crepes and waffles (yep, it does what it says on the tin plus has the best salads....great for those must have veggies moments)

ole ole ole ole

last night was football night in Quito and much fun it was too. managed to get my pockets picked on the bus there but didnt have much on me so not too bad, and apart from that, the evening was a success. We won 4-3, I learnt lots of new spanish (mostly malas palabras - or swear words to the non fluent spanish speakers out there!) and we chanted and danced lots. The whole evening wasnt quite as much fun as brazil as there was nowhere near the amount of music / noise / flags / fireworks etc, but the crowd did do a nice line in setting fire to the free newspapers and there were a respectable number of fireworks being let off far too close for comfort so they didnt embarass themselves too much!

Tonight we have somehow managed to arrange to cook dinner for all our friends here so come 6pm we will be slaving away over fajitas and guacamole....yum. Naturally I wont be taking any leading part in the whole cooking thing, but will do a nice line in chopping vegetables!

Adventures en un bosque nublo

hola chicos. This weekend has been cloud forest time, and very nice it was too. Unfortunately had an unpromising weekend when we turned up at the bus station half an hour before the bus left to be told it was full (no other buses that day!) .... ooops, maybe guidebooks dont lie all the time after all ...... However, we were luckily travelling with a quitanean (someone from Quito, anyway) who sorted us out on another bus which got us vaguely close and then we got to ride in the back of a pick up truck through this amazingly lush mountain to Mindo. Those of you lucky enough to have read my last trip blog will know how much i love riding in the back of pick ups so you can imagine how big my smile was. And this has to be some of the best scenery i have ridden in said stylee through.

Mindo itself is somewhat (read a lot) smaller than i imagined, but that was quite nice, and meant it was easy to get out in the countryside, which we managed quite well. So Sat was spent on the back of another pick up to some waterfall and swimming hole (this time the journey was made more adventurous by the presence of lots of low hanging branches and an Ecuadorean guy shouting cuidado every 2 seconds) And after a suitable length of time splashing around in ice cold water watching rachel jump off very high diving boards or come down water slides, we pottered off back down the side of cloud forest covered hill, supposdedly following a group from our spanish school (plus teacher - was an organised trip). however, somewhere along the wy said teacher managed to lose half his students (plus us), but turned out for the best as we got to cross the river on this bizarre hand pulled cable car thing and then all 12 of us hitched a ride back on some contraption which looked a bit like a metal windsurf and was pulled by a small car. then after that adventure treated ourselves to one of the best ice lollies ever made (lots of real squashed strawberries).

Sat eve was of course spent salsa dancing, made all the more enjoyable by the fact that we were with 2 salsa teachers and another ecuadorean who could dance, so we all looked super cool whilst all teh other tourists sat there and watched!

And so on to today, which was spent in much more leisurely fashion, with all morning taken up with breakfast, and then the afternoon devoted to a butterfly house and more eating (have discovered churrascos...meat, rice, chips, salad, eggs and avocado all for a barginous $3.50 ish - not great for cholesterol levels, but lurvely!)

Now safely back in quito and trying to psyche myself up to go out and say goddbye to a friend who is leaving tommorrow

oooh, and now have to start avoiding my corner shop....young owner has just asked me out whilst reeking of alcohol.....rather annoying as cheapest source of chocolate around here!

caroline.....computer whizz kid

Also, please note new links section to your right....after 6 months or so of trying, have finally figured out how to do this! Rachel is my friend here and has cleverly included photos (some of yours truly) on her site whilst katie is my friend from uni and my inspiration for both this trip and the blog.....so its all her fault!

salsa queen

went dancing last night....didnt completely embarrass myself or my dance partner.....am giving up on becoming fluent in spanish and have decided to become dancing queen instead.....feel this is a sensible change of tactic.

no work again today....hurrah....going to go and play in the park after my dance class.....maybe if we are lucky we might also go on the minature boats around the fake island!!! Ah, the joys of Quito.....bring back the culture and excitement of London, all is forgiven!

Hypochondriacism

So have spent the last còuple of days mostly in bed feeling sorry for myself and convinced I am going to die of some horrible disease. Am feeling a little better now but have been left with a cough that would make a 60 a day smoker jealous. just glad i am in a single room so i dont wake everyone up as i hack my guts up!

But that exciting update aside, had a fun morning trying to pay for my galapagos trip today. After finally finding the office, it then took an hour while they tried to authorise my credit cards....grr. but managed to save myself $50 so its all good (always seems a bit cheeky whne companies want to charge you for paying for a service) So am now all booked and paid for a galapagos adventure on the 14th September......now just have to hope that the other cruise goers are vaguely nice people. Suspect they will all be old as i have splashed out on a nice boat, but one can only hope they are old adn interesting rather than old adn stuffy and dull......hurrah

slack days in quito

So whats been going on recently then...not much really in the way of adventures but lots of random "only in ecuador" happenings. Spent most of the rest of last week studying spanish, playing with small children and searching quito for somewhere that offers slightly more in the way of evening entertainment than either bad euro pop or salsa with a heavy side order of lecherous men and ecuadorean women who may or may not be prostitutes! Unfortunately failed to find anywhere really good but still managed to keep smiling. Did go to a club that was meant to be really good for salsa but, after managing to steer rachel into the right club, realised that we prob should have gone on a friday or saturday when there would be a higher local : gringo ratio! Still danced some salsa and didn´t hopelessly embarrass myself so there is hope that i may be improving at something over here (my spanish is definately still at a stalled level, despite my lovely teacher giving me a certificate to say i am now advanced, ha ha!!!)

So what else. Managed to get out of Quito this weekend, for which my lungs are thanking me although very nearly didnt after a confusion with my friends and me thinking on saturday that they had abandoned me and didnt love me anymore! However, Quito being Quito, I ran into another friend on the street who told me where Rachel and Ava were so off i went running to track them down! So all said and done, we finally set off for Otovalo at 1pm and thanks to a helpful taxi driver, were bundled onto a bus on some random stretch of road somewhere vaguely near the bus terminal and off we went.....Stayed in the same hotel again in the middle of lovely scenery, did lots of walking, realised that when giving directions, ecuadorians will say straight on when they mean anything but, ate great fruit pie and juice, and had random night out at a bar where the owners thought it would be a really good idea to interrupt fun music with a mariachi band! Unfortunately a quick tour of the other "nite spots" of Otovalo revealed little else of interest and after a scary incident in another club where a group of 12 yr olds found it strange that we wouldnt dance with them ("but there are three of us and three of you" was their major selling point!) we bid a hasty farewell and escaped back to our hostel. Such was our weekend......

So now back in Quito for another week and have made the shockingly slack decision that even though my spanish lessons have now finished, I am still going to work part time at the centre as the afternoons are so disorganised they drive me crazy! Am also going to look into another centre this week which seems more organised and where I might be able to be more use....Would miss my new found little buddies at Salesian though....a couple of the little kids have the cutest laughs! Its just the older kids i find slightly intimidating.....especially as most of them seem to think its hilarious that i cant speak brilliant spanish and as such speak faster and use more slang than i would think strictly necessary!