Three-Restaurant Town

And here we are now back in the cold, misty highlands, in the market town of Otavalo where we have so far spent a very pleasant three days, the only bad thing is that half the restaurants in our guide books have closed down so we are eating a lot of pizza and some giant sandwiches. This town is all about the shopping and handicrafts and we have indulged in a little shopping ourselves. Our hotel is 1 hr walk out of town, at nearly 3000m pretty cold at night but with 3 blankets and a logfire it is just about warm enough. When we arrived there were no other guests and we were outnumbered by the hotel dogs, Milky, Pacha, Rumi and Chuy, which hang around drooling whenever we eat there. We are in the totally cool penthouse apartment (in that it is the whole top floor) complete with our own balcony and everything.

Galapagos!!

Another week, another extreme wildlife experience... fortunately this time they were a much more cuddly and less poisonous bunch, it being the Galapagos Islands, home to many endemic and and extremely tame animals. We were lucky enough to get a good last minute deal on the good ship GALAXY, a first-class yacht complete with proper beds (no bunks!), hairdryer, swan-shaped towels, 5 meals a day, tv and dvd player, and Boggle! It was a 16 person capacity boat but there were only nine of us plus crew and guide Polo. Us two Brits, four Americans, two Germans, and one Peruvian via Long Island. We had four days sailing around four different islands. On arrival on Santa Cruz island I got excited at seeing iguanas, crabs and pelicans and our first sighting of a sealion splashing around in the harbour... little did we know we would soon be suffering sealion fatigue... no not really. But they were certainly the most frequently seen animal on the trip, we even had a little stowaway sealion for one day who lazed about on the deck before hopping off when the engines started. The first day we saw giant tortoises who could actually move pretty fast when they wanted. Then down to the dock to board our yacht which definitely looked a cut above the rusty rest. My sea legs were a bit slow in coming as I felt a little queasy the first night down in our little cabin, as we sailed at night on to our next destination. We arrived the next morning at Floreana Island and disembarked to see flamingos, sealions, sea turtles, and lots of little birds. Then back to the boat and off for a snorkelling trip where we saw lots of fish and some sealions. Then back on board getting ready for lunch and an announcement comes over the tannoy - "Ladies and Gentlemen this is your guide speaking, just to let you know we have dolphins circling the boat", we go running outside to see tens of dolphins swimming along with the boat, including about 6 in a row right under the bow. In the afternoon we visited a look-out point and saw a little Galapagos penguin! Which I was convinced we were not going to see. In fact if our guide had not informed us, I would have just thought it was a duck. On the second day we went to Española Island and did more snorkelling, the first part with sealions, which were supposed to be really friendly and would come up to us and play with our flippers etc, according our guide, but we only had one come up really close, which Tanya promptly scared off with a scream of surprise. The second time we got into the water I looked down and saw two Galapagos sharks right below our feet... I even had my underwater camera with me but I was too scared of potentially kicking the sharks and angering them to take any pictures! Saw lots of pretty fish, more sealions, and a few spotted eagle rays. It was cold water though even with a wetsuit. In the afternoon we visited part of the island with huge marine iguanas, yet more sealions, and lots of birds - the famous blue-footed boobies, albatrosses, nazca boobies, all nesting right on the rocks and you could walk right up to them. We were sitting watching the waves crashing around the rocks when our guide points out a Galapagos Hawk just hovering a metre over our heads. On the last night we sailed all evening to the next island, either the sea was very choppy or our captain was in a hurry or drunk as we hurtled along at full speed with the boat rocking madly. Unsurprisingly everyone started to feel a little seasick, fortunately they waited until we had anchored before serving dinner otherwise none of it would have stayed down. The next and final day it was back to the airport via an uninspiring trip to a visitor centre. Only consolation that we were leaving this animal paradise after four short days was that it was grey and rainy.

I have a friend!

On monday night Tanya arrived in Ecuador to accompany me on my travels in the last few weeks here! We have been around Quito a bit (mainly sorting out Galapagos), down to Ambato to visit Maria Teresa and Gonzalo, and the children at the school, now back in Quito and off to Galapagos for a 4 day cruise tomorrow!!
Tanya has conveniently brought 4 stripey tops so we are going to rock the nautical look. After my camera breaking we almost had a disaster in that she didn´t have an adaptor for hers... qué desastre... there is no point going to Galapagos if you don´t have a camera! Fortunately we managed to get hold of one so there will be photographic proof we have gone!

Welcome to the jungle!

So while I was working away at the school and planning my travels for my last 2.5 weeks in Ecuador, I started thinking it would be fun to go the jungle. The Amazon... how can you not go to such a famous, exciting, exotic place when it is so near... think of all the amazing animals and plants you could see... so I plan at the last minute to visit a place called Sani Lodge, in one of the deepest part of the jungle you can get to in Ecuador bar chartering a helicopter. I decide to splash out on taking the plane part of the way, saving myself a gruelling 10 hour overnight bus ride from Quito. The little plane takes me to Coca, a hot and humid town of little interest other than being the stop off point for most of the jungle tours. At Coca I am met by my guide (an english-speaking guide who has been begrudgingly cut his holidays short just for me, as the travel agency forgot to ask if I actually spoke Spanish) and we get on a motorboat for a 3 hour ride down the mighty Napo River, a big murky swirling mass of water most definitely home to man-eating hypnotic anacondas and other bugbears, nearly 1km across, always the fear that if you fall in if you don´t get eaten by something you will float through the wilderness and wash up months later in the Atlantic.... After this we transfer to a little motorized canoe, leave the big river and head down a small waterway for about half an hour to the lodge... en route being involved in a CANOE CRASH, don´t worry nobody was hurt, I captured it all on video but sadly will not be able to upload until back in the UK!
I arrive at the lodge to discover that I am the only tourist there... that my sleeping arrangements (I chose the much cheaper camping option over the private cabin) is literally a 1-person tent on a raised platform with a palm-thatched roof. The campsite is on the other side of the lagoon from the main lodge are and I have to be rowed across the black-caiman infested lagoon in order to get there. We go out on a night hike the first evening - a walk from the lodge after dark, with flashlights, to see all the exciting night activity... the first thing we have pointed out is a big hairy tarantula... we also see some tiny frogs, a psychadelic caterpillar, some very impressive stick insects, a few less-threatening looking but more dangerous than tarantula spiders, and lots and lots of huge millipedes. I return to my tent a little shaken.
The next day we are up at the crack of dawn to visit the canopy tower, a 30m wooden observation tower built around a giant capoc tree. We go up with the telescope and spend about 2 hours watching parrots, macaws, toucans, and many other really beautiful birds.
We then take a hike through the jungle with the guides pointing out all the insects and birds and explaining all the medicinal plants they traditionally use. We eat some lemon ants which unsurprisingly are little tiny ants, which taste like lemon. Hear a few stories about anacondas and their hypnotic powers. Just like in the jungle book... I am not sure if this is actually true... if anyone can shed any light please let me know!

We take another hike in the afternoon and go and wake up some noisy night monkeys. The guides know exactly which trees they live in and take the telescope, so we get fantastic views of two little yawning monkeys.
In the evening we go hunting for black caimans in the lagoon. We see one about 3m long... they are apparently scared of humans though so not so dangerous. They hang about at the edge of the lagoon waiting for fish or something to swim into their mouths and they have reflective eyes, so you can shine your torch around the lagoon and see all these red eyes staring back at you...
The next day we canoe right to the other end of the lagoon, through the mangroves, and take yet another hike. It is raining when we set off so we take rain ponchos, mine comes down to the ground and I look like the worst witch. We see yet more plants and insects and the biggest giant capoc tree ever with buttresses about 6m high.
On our return to the lodge our guide suggests a swim in the lagoon. Ok so I know there are black caiman there... but have been reassured they are scared of humans, not the other way round. However then one of the other guys starts asking him "So are there anacondas here?" Guide replies "...yep."
"Are there manta rays?"
"Yep."
"Piranha?"
"Yep."
"Electric eels?"
"Yep, and a local boy was killed 2 months ago by one".
(Liz moves swiftly out of lagoon).
In the afternoon our guide takes us to his house where we try some traditional jungle food (fish and plantain wrapped in banana leaf and smoked over a fire), play with his 2 pet black tamarind monkeys and observe 2 tiny feruginous pygmy owls which are living in the roof of his kitchen.
Another night hike in the evening and we see the BIGGEST TARANTULA EVER, about 20cm across and with huge grey hairy legs. Very happy to get back into my little tent all zipped up and safe.
The next morning there is a tiny frog in the shower as a huge thunderstorm outside has forced it to seek shelter from the rain. I am wondering how frog and I are going to shower together then fortunately discover there is no water, so problem solved. (It was my last day and I had been wearing the same clothes for 4 days... decide I will just wash back in Quito!)
The boat rides back to Coca are less eventful but I am still fairly unnerved when we set off in the middle of a big electric storm. No-one has ever been struck by lightning, gracias a dios, the guide says reassuringly. At Coca I get the plane back to Quito and have the 2nd most appreciated hot shower of my trip (no. 1 was following the cold and wet ascent of Puñalica). I have never been so happy to get back to civilisation.

Last day of school!

Thursday was a very sad day as it was my last day at the school, after 7 weeks working there. Looking back I´m not sure if many of them have learnt any more English than they knew already with me... but we have had fun. At least in the art classes.
They put on a "banquete" in my honour which consisted of their normal school lunch, plus a plate of goodies including popcorn, biscuits, cheese, ham and fizzy drink. They gave me a little straw bag as a leaving present and I gave them each a copy of the class photos I had taken the previous week.

Puñalica Ascent no.2

We took the children on an exciting school trip last week up the mountain Puñalica, of wet and misty fame from the ascent a few weeks back. We only took the 6th and 7th grades (10-11 year olds) as there were only 3 adults accompanying them: Me, Gonzalo and the headmistress Delia.
A few Puñalica statistics: Its summit is just under 4000m and is pure páramo (moorland) on the highest part. It is apparently an extinct volcano. The lower slopes are gentle and cultivated then the (long) last part a steep climb. The school, our starting point, lies at around 3100m.
We set off around 9.30, taking fortunately a camioneta (pick-up truck) from the school up until the road ran out: unfortunately leaving us on a side of the mountain Gonzalo and Delia don´t seem to know. So we start off at a lively pace along a track though the children are desperate to go off the track and just run/climb straight up. Which after about 15 boring minutes on the track, we do.
They all go running ahead leaving me (accompanied by my little friends Luz and Jessica) and Gonzalo struggling in last place. We find all sorts of plants. Rabbits. Treasure-filled (allegedly) lagoons. A little frog. A talking log (an invention of Gonzalo´s). The mist chases us uphill and threatens to envelop us but never succeeds. After about 2 hours we reach the giant cross on the summit and have well-deserved lunch stop. Popcorn, potatoes, rice, biscuits and jam, even the extra-special guinea pig has been brought for the occasion.
It starts getting cold and we pack and head down - straight down! As the descent is steep the path zigzags all the way down... but the children run and jump (and fall) in a straight line directly down the mountain. The first ones are nearly at the bottom when I am not even halfway and my legs are like jelly! We make it back to school around 13.30. Me and Gonzalo exhausted and the children as if it was just a gentle stroll.

Breaking the silence...

I have been away for the last week and unable to update blog properly! Also camera is misbehaving so not able to upload any pictures, or take new ones... just in time for my once in a lifetime Galapagos trip!! Since last entry I have been to the deepest (in Ecuador) Amazon jungle, come face to face with tarantulas, snakes (well 1 baby one), plus some cuter animals like monkeys, owls and tiny frogs.
In the meantime please enjoy this video (if I can manage to upload it) of a fun blindfold directions game with the children on my last day of classes!