Hostal La Iguana Ferreisen Quito

... ev**ything, its s* relaxed. Anylu is a English / Spanish teach** which is brilliant f*r me learing. I´m getting bett** each day...p*c* a p*c* (little by little). Pedr* is v**y funny, he can als* speak english and thinks that saying ************* is the m*st hal*ri*us thing he has ev** heard! When its said in a thick Spanish accent I d* have t* agree.<br><br>Its been a while since I have traveled t* a c*unty like this and I f*rg*t all the daily rituals...turning ...

... it is where Mathilde were brought up. I was going to stay with Anitas boyfriend Marselo in his nice two room apartment in Ibarra. Anita and Marselo were both visiting our house in Lumbisi some time earlier and that's how I made friends with them.<br><br>Ibarra is quite a bit city, surrounded by mountains higher than the ones around Lumbisi and as such stunning to behold. The Friday I arrived there it was the 'Pregon&#8217; of the city, which is an annual celebration of the ...

... dangerous at night. We decided to pass. <br><br>We took a wander around the first day, had a look at some churches and struggled going up the many, many hills in the city, wondering why until we realised that it was the altitude making us wheezy. Smokey Joe found it particularly tough going. Still didn´t stop him having more though. We managed to eat for $1.50 each. These ´menu del dia´s are the business. We got soup, a main meal ...

... Im staying at is amazing, and they have a fire going in a wheel barrow every night. Perfect set up for a few quiet beers before bed.<br><br>Tuesday 22nd September<br>Ok, off to today to so something so touristy that it disgusts me. I didnt plan on going, but off I went to the equator. It costs bugger all to go, but I had sort of decided to give this thing a wide berth. Anyway, after hearing all week off people from the hostel you have come this far you might as well go, off I went ...

... a priority. One wouldn´t really be able to get anywhere super-dangerous or risky. In Quito, no one really cares.<br> To get back on track, we arrived at the basilica (which, from what we can gather, is an extra-special cathedral) in just a few minutes from our hostel. The face of the basilica is stunning to say the least, although we had been able to see the front from our hostel, up close we were able to circle the godly behemoth. The architecture and ...

Ecuador is known for the avenue of the volcanoes which runs south from Quito. <br><br>While we could have done a number of traditional treks up a few volcanoes we instead opted for a 3 day mountain biking trip which saw us riding down the two largest volcanoes. Our tour company, the Biking Dutchman, ensured we had an incredible 3 days:<br> <br>DAY 1: Quito &#8211; Cotopaxi National Park <br> <br>It was a spectacular drive from Quito to ...

... our first taste of public transportation. Nancy and Elsa took me and Zac on a local bus which led us to another bus station, referred to as la metro, each only 25 cents for a ride. We went to La Mitad del Mundo...also known as "the middle of the world". There is a giant monument there and a line signifying where the equator is. So we got pictues of both of us straddling the equator, which was pretty exciting for my cheeseball self. On ...

... s hauling, he proceeded to repack his bag in its entirety. Go figure.<br><br>And thats that, for Ecuador, as we continue our slow trawl northwards - Colombia, here we come!<br><br>By the way,during the second table quiz we also watched Orlando, having bounced back strong in Game 3 where they shot a Finals record FG%, fail to close out Game 4, with Howard missing two free throws with seconds left before Lakers made the series 3-1 after overtime.<br>

... drinking some drinks at a cafe, and since I asked, we got paid 30 bucks each, haha... good times. Then, at night, we went out to the local bar area and I met up with Veronica, from CS, and danced a while with her, and met back up with Ivette at a cafe and headed home. I´m mainly writing to just catch up on my blog real quick, and I have to go in a bit. Sorry it´s brief, but I at least want to try and catch up a bit.

... Around 4 I went to the airport to pick up Justine and we got to exchange stories and photos. Galapagos seems amazing and when I get a chance to upload photos I will try to get some from Justine to put up on the blog as well. From the airport I argued with several taxi drivers until we got a $4 trip up to Monse and Nelson´s house. After spending 2 nights here, we are going to leave tomorrow morning and get to embark on some more outdoor activity.