Mindo Lago

... issue for Ecuadorians.  Ecuador's position on the equator means it gets a lot of direct sunlight.  For this reason, the days are exactly 12 hours long.  The sun comes up at 7:00 AM and the sun sets at 7:00 PM all year.  The sunlight is very intense and very bright everyday.  It is very important you wear sunscreen here because you can get burnt in just a couple of minutes.  Sunglasses are also very important!
Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador bessinecuador

... like lychees. Another fruit, which is about the size of a softball, is green with brown stripes, tastes like honeydew and has the same name as a cucumber ¨pepino¨.

You should hear Abigail rattle off in spanish now! The kids go out daily and play with other kids in the complex, on some days, from morning til sunset. All this exposure to spanish kids has made Abby absolutely fluent now. And when spoken to in Spanish, both Sam and Zoe ...

... of hail and rain just prior to the game. Our raingear was great for keeping us somewhat dry and for protecting us from the sloshing of beer in the aisles behind and above us. It was an exciting match with spectacular goaltending on Ecuador's side. The crowd cried, 'Yes, it's possible!' and 'He cries, cries, Maradona,' mocking the famous Argentinian coach and ex-player. Ecuador, the underdog, won 2-0, prompting the following day's headlines to ...

... only half of everyone was paying attention. As the instructors gave out directions it began to look more and more like an Abbott and Costello routine with everyone wondering who said what. “What do we hold on to?” “What is this strap for?” “How do I stop?” “What did he say?”
It turned out to be pretty safe as those who didn’t figure it out before they jumped figured it out as they went, and nobody plummeted out of the canopy ...

... Quito, pretty place but we much prefered Cuenca, Quito is just another capital city where most of the locals try to rip you off etc

More importantly we were totally fed up of the food in Ecuador, the thoughts of more rice and chicken was making us feel physically ill, 3 weeks of basically nothing else was taking its toll... time to move to Colombia...

... kernael are extremely large and have significantly more texture. It is are to describe, but it is very tasty. Old Town has a very colonial feel. The buildings are painted beautifully, with vivid colors & white trim. We walk through Old Town to our next site, Basilica del Voto Nacional. It is baiscally a cathedral without cathedral status. Instead o fgargoles on the outside they have put the animals found in the Galapagos. It is ...

... teachers from the local school how to speak English so they could teach it! Comedy. I was effectively writing their curriculum for them! It also renewed an itch that I´ve had for some time, that maybe teaching is the correct vocation for me. Food for thought.

All in all, I had a fantastic time. Five or six hours a day with some of the friendliest and most gracious people I could ever have hoped to meet. By the time I left, I felt I ...

... weather. Our early start bought us relative few species and the only high light was a broad billed mot mot - a member of the Kingfisher family, this was a beautiful multicoloured bird. We took a break for lunch and met later in the afternoon. As the rain started to fall so did our spirits. Our guide picked us up and we expected a wet and uneventful afternoon. We were very wrong - the birds came out with the rain ...

... Zealand and the Great Barrier reef. I asked about a multi-destination route with miles and found out about the Around the World Plan by American. ¨What a great idea I thought!¨ I figured out that I could use my mileage and travel around the world in business class and figured it was the perfect opportunity to take a break from a bad economy and gain some new perspective on life. After staying up all night ...

... legs, the annoying little flies just seem to appear from sand fly-city and go on full attack! In less than a minute, while bartering with a local over how much it would cost to rent broken down bikes for a few hours, both of us had at least 15 blots of blood covering our legs where the lovely sand#$ers had done their dirty work. Wait, ten seconds, Namaste, Oh Shanti Om. OK. Thank you for the bites my little friends, I will itch them in peace. So, supposedly ...