Atlantic Suites Guayaquil

... to Quito, the mornings are cloudy and the afternoons bright. It is warm and humid but much cooler in the evenings.

We thought we would splash out on a slap –up meal in a Spanish restaurant. It was not very Spanish at all. An attempt at a Spanish ambience, a few Rioja wines and food that had Iberian flavour in its description only. This must be how Indians feel back in the UK when dining at the local Taj Mahal.

Tomorrow - Galapagos Islands - we can't wait!!

... a botanical garden.
There are museums, cinemas, cafes and restaurants too.

The other very pretty area is the old town barrio called Las Penas. It is a steep walk up to the top of the hill (444 steps) but is worth it for the views from the top where there is a restored lighthouse and a church. The houses have all been renovated (some have photos outside to show what they were like before) and look very quaint. The area is supposed to be full of shops and restaurants ...

... of small stands filled with various piles of produce, flip flops, pirated movies and whatever else you may ever think you need. Afterwards, we went to a park downtown where iguanas crawled all over and filled the trees. There was also a laguna with tortoises and schools of tilapia swimming around. I wondered if the iguanas ever escaped, but Diana said they were happy there. Still, I wish I could see what ...

... that his son, Carlos, had a baby sister who had been born just weeks earlier. To this day, almost ten months later, not a day goes by when I don't think of Erwin, his family and their situation. This story defines the reason I went to Ecuador.

When I first saw Erwin and his son, our group was on a mission to unload the walls, roof and door of the prefab, bamboo house that would become our fourth home build; to measure the ...

... is geweest tot nu toe. De stad Cusco, Machu Picchu en Huacachina waren zeker ontzettend gaaf, en waarschijnlijk beinvloed het gestolen tas verhaal mijn mening ook nogal maar toch... Peru is in mijn beleving een beetje het toeristencentrum van Zuid-Amerika en dat feit wordt ook nogal uitgebuit. Give me Patagonia anyday!!

... es que cada vez que veo un edificio bonito, le tomo foto porque sé que te gustará mucho ver arquitectura diferente a la de las casas con las escaleras por fuera de Cali. Según nos han contando, ha llovido de seguido en Guayaquil por los últimos tres días. Pero, todo eso cambió cuando nosotros llegamos! jejejeje, cuando caminabamos por el malecón, habia un resto de sol, luego fuimos a un mercado artesanal y ahí empezó a ...

... the sun at the centre of the park, unmoved by the tourists´ pokes and prods, stooping over them, grinning for photos. One toddler in particular seemed to enjoy dragging the poor iguanas around by their tails, unphased by the fact that they were roughly the same size as him! A more daring older girl decided to feed the iguanas, and ended up with four hanging from her arms and legs! The following day, we walked through a colourful ...

... to go, was to trek in the Cordillera Huayhuash. I was familiar with the Cordillera Huayhuash from reading Joe Simpson's book, Touching the Void, and always wanted to visit it, but when Tessa, a kiwi girl we met trekking Salkantay, told us trekking the Huayhuash was the highlight of her visit to South America so far, seeing it suddenly became one of my top priorities. Cordillera Huayhuash... The classic route ...

... by far Im sure this is the best place to find a girlfriend, wife, belly warmer or what have you. Th women here ar generally very modest and not too bragadocious which I like, thy are "low keyd beauties". Im travling with my novia from Iquitos as we speak. (read past post) The bad: There is nosun for 7 months. Due to the fact of the place it falls on the earth near the andes mountains there is a fog for 7 months of the ...

... when I arrived at the hostel. How could someone have stolen it?

Maybe I left both the bag and my camera in my hostel in Cuenca? Unfortunately, it was a no-name place that I happened to run across. No way of calling....so.....I'm back on the bus tomorrow morning to Cuenca in the off-chance that I left it there.

Another five hour bus ride....hopefully for something. UGH!