Hotel Villa Nancy Quito

... group to head to Cotopaxi national park for our bike ride down the volcano and through the park. It took about 2 hours to get to our starting point and as the weather was looking a bit dodgy we thought we might not even see the volcano. Again being quite lucky with the weather on the trip so far, the clouds parted for us and we got to see it and take a few snaps. There was still cloud lingering around but we felt pretty lucky to see it in the end. Cotopaxi is ...

... br>We went down a hill and the valley opened up and there were incredible views of this stark green valley spotted with wax palm trees. I won´t go into the details on these things (use wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceroxylon_ quindiuense) but they´re beautiful, and we had a great day walking in and out of the jungle, crossing sketchy bridges made from small trees and hiking upstream to a little nature preserve with ...

... anymore (Sunday afternoon). It was a really nice hike and I really like how every time I decide to go in the mountains, people decide to join me.

New volunteers

I’m happy to let you all know that I have been joined by many new volunteers. First came Emily from the states as mentioned on the 14th September. A very nice and friendly girl that has been working in two medical centers, the FEVI center for small children and as well the dining hall for elderly ...

... climbing OUTSIDE the tower. You know how people always say don´t look down if you´re climbing at some treacherous height? Yea, that doesn´t quite work when looking straight ahead is the same damn thing as looking down. After four or so such terrifying ladders, we finally reached the top of the bell tower, where we seriously considered camping out for good to avoid having to climb down. The view was, to be fair, almost indescribably beautiful. From such a ...

Ecuador is known for the avenue of the volcanoes which runs south from Quito.

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:

DAY 1: Quito – Cotopaxi National Park

It was a spectacular drive from Quito to ...

... believe. So me and Zac will be traveling with a group of other students and one professor from the school. We are also thinking about taking a camping trip with the school this weekend to a nearby city. We have to find out first though whether or not we can rent sleeping bags somewhere before deciding. It sounds great though. We will get the chance to meet an indigenous group in the area, kayak, hike, and ride mules!

On Sunday we ...

... most responsive to change." I am just now beginning to grasp what ole Chuck was talking about.

Something else I learned while backpacking is that we live in an enormous, diverse world and I now realize that I would like to see as much of it as possible before checking out. I can not think of anything I would rather be doing than traveling or planning my next adventure. Of course, making an occupation out of it is every globe-trotters dream.

Another thing ...

... glass-bottled Sprites while we watched a band play some salsa music for a dancing crowd. We caught one of the blue buses back to Quito (30 mins and 20 km for 15cents!). We got back feeling tired, but since the sun was starting to set, we made a brisk walk up a hill (bad idea when you're still acclimatizing to a city above 9,000 feet) to see the Gothic Cathedral of Basilica de Voto Nacional.

Quito, Ecuador johnnytravel

... i thought, f&%$ it, let´s do it. so, before we get to the bridge, i am convincing her that we are going to do it. and one of the last things we said to each other before climbing over the railing to the wrong side of the bridge was...at least if we die, we die together. morbid. but it made us feel better. so, now we are on the other side, and i completely freak out. meanwhile, a crowd has gathered and all i can think about is that ...

... which was another name for Plaza Grande. The woman gave a reassuring smile and said "Si....para Plaza Grande". She carried on jabbering away something else in Spanish. But the words "yes" and "Plaza Grande" was enough for me to relax. The bus did in fact take the long roundabout way to the old city as the bus seemed to be taking ages and the traffic was heavy that I even asked the lady again where we were. Soon enough the familiar roads leading ...