Casa Iguana Mar Y Sol San Cristobal

... Rock. This is an awesome looking rock about a kilometre fromSan Cristobal. It has shear vertical sides rising 30 metres or so, and at one end it is split leaving a narrow 10metre wide estuary running through it. We were dumped at one end while our boat sped around to the other end waiting for us to swim through. Where we were dumped the sea was rough. I kept close to Niamh, while Christie stayed with Jody. Niamh was keen to swim through ...

... about what else we would do this afternoon and decided to go to La Loberia, a beach passed the airport. We took a taxi for $2, and then had a short walk to the beach. When we arrived we found about 35 Sea Lions camped out on the beach, no other visitors except us. We also noticed four heads popping up from the surface of the water only metres from the beach. Realising that they were turtles, Jody and I put on our goggles and waded in. The clarity of the water was ...

... many of the others at first, but its eyes were open and there were my flies around it. We walked inland to where Christie on her run had seen a soccer stadium. I was keen to see what they did here and we could hear the sound of a crowd. As we approached we could see the tail fin of an aeroplane about to take off. The airport was right in town and it seemed weird to have it so close. It was a full size stadium, and there was a game on. It looked like the whole population of 5 ...

... be. Our landlady has been encouraging us to stay. She has offered a reduced rate for the apartment if we stay longer and has contacts at the Darwin Research Station for volunteer work. There is a new Sea Turtle Project coming up. Jody and Niamh have even offered to go to school here for a few weeks. It all seems very tempting. The complication is that we have left our luggage all over the apartment in Quito. How are we going to vacate that apartment, shall we get someone to pack for us ...

... even suggested seeing a nearby crater, which was vast and breathtaking - wispy clouds danced around the edges, revealing mountain tops opposite our vantage point.

Two days later, Karen picked us up again in her trusty Honda CRV and this time we ventured north to Otavalo, an Indian city from where our hostel got its name. Karen tactfully maneuvered the mountainous roads to deliver us at a colorful Indian craft market. I purchased a bracelet ...

... s sphere and therefore have less gravity to contend with - equals a 2lb loss, result!

Have also wandered around the Botanical Gardens and the Museo del Banco. The history geek inside me loved this place as it had loads of artefacts from the pre-Columbian and Inca people. Also told you the story from the first people right through to the Spanish and independence.

My next entry will involve lots of sightings of giant tortoises and blue-footed boobies (hopefully!)

... us pick up the language faster.

Day 2:
Today we woke to a late breakfast with Nancy and Elsa (she is a woman who lives in the house and takes care of the cleaning...Nancy described her as a second mother to the children. So she is basically another member of the family.). I had coffee from Colombia (yum yum although I am not a huge fan of coffee).
Me and Zac wandered around the area for the majority of ...

... in the equator, the northern & southern hemisphere) and also how resistance is less on the equator than it is a couple of feet either side of it. A mixture of history, anthropology and science and well worth the visit.

Here are the pictures…

Next stop (and potentially the highlight of the whole trip) the Galapagos Islands. Let’s hope that it can live up to its reputation!

... us some guinea pigs. Itīs been a bad few weeks for the animals... A tepee is taking shape on the horizon, the Laguna still has holes and the hot showers are rarely hot. Always more work to do.

During an off-day in Quito, I went and scrambled up a 4700m peak with some awesome ridges. It really brought back the pre-basejump feelings and watching planes coming in to land far below me confirmed it is certainly not out of my system - far from it - but god knows when ...

... one night at the roach infested Best Western. Not a great place but my eyes were firmly on the prize that is the Galapagos..... Next day I flew into Baltra, a small island just off Santa Cruz and headed for the port to get the boat over to Isla Isabela and my host family. Everything went as smooth as poss except for the fact that our host family was expecting a couple so when me and Steve rocked up they assumed we were gay.... nice start ...