Chocolate, bananas and bears

I´m starting to think that the Piana family run or own half of Ecuador.... after three days of living it up we were passed on to Camila´s niece who took us to her father´s huge farm which produces bananas for Dole (200,000 boxes a year) and chocolate beans for export. The farm also has an animal refuge which looks after everything from Crocodiles to monkeys.

We started the visit with food- patacones (plantain which has been sliced and fried and tastes better than chips) and cheese made on the farm, washed down with Coco juice made from the seed of the coco plant - very nice but it has a taste i really couldn`t describe! We also had coco jam, made from the seed which tasted a bit like honey and went very well with the cheese!

After much eating we started the tour. Have a look at the pictures...


spot the crocs

banana mania

sucking on a coco seed

the farm

one of the guests at the farm

Guyaquil and the nicest family in the world

At the top of old town

Margaret, Camila, and Luis at their home

Yep, it was really hard staying here

Jude relaxing on the patio by the river

Guayaquil's main government building



After the relaxing whale watching beachy trip, we were fortunate enough to be picked up from our first, first world experience bus terminal of Guayaquil by an old student of my mums, Camila. Not sure what to expect, a blue and white Land Rover hurtles towards us with waving hands and smiles abound. From this point on our life was not in our hands, but these lovely people that organized what we were going to do, what to eat, which other relatives we were going to meet, EVERYTHING! And all of this whilst staying with them in their beautiful mansion next to the river with many cooks, cleaners etc.

Saturday was spent eating and drinking (wine from a bottle with proper glasses!!) Sunday we went to the county club with them, where we ate an Ecuadorian specialty of raw seafood in lime juice (am drooling at the though of it now) and spotted 2 Miss Ecuador’s before shopping for a new camera in the local plaza, and then checking out the riverfront walkway and old town . Then Monday it was off to the cop shop which was hilarious as nobody ever reports crimes here, so I think the whole experience was very interesting to Luis (Camlila’s husband) especially as he looked a little white before we went in. The first thing the police office said to us after hearing we were English was Spice girls and David Beckham! Then in the evening Camila’s mother Margaret turned up to see the granddaughters as they we starting a 2 week holiday. This woman is 78 and as her niece said….. she smokes, drinks, swears, and fights…. She’s not your normal granny! The energy, knowledge, and passion this woman had was incredible, and always so funny. She gave Jude and I a 3 hour history lesson of Ecuador starting from Inca times as if she was actually there. On the Tuesday we were then throw in the back of a truck with Camila’s neice to check out her farm.

We’re still a bit fazed and frazzled from the whole whirlwind…. Though we have big grins on our faces!

The great bus robbery and boobies!

I have to start this entry by saying we have been so careful so far, we padlock each bag, we carry our personal items on us, we never leave bags unattended...so the bloody buggers that robbed us on the bus must have been professionals!

Yes it´s happened, the camera, ipod and data stick with the back up photos have all gone literally from under our feet.

We were getting the bus from Jipihapa to Guayaquil to stay with the lovely Piana family. We had the bag by our feet and for about 5 mins both of us feel asleep (we had just eaten nearly a whole banana cake so think it was a sugar crash!). We didnt notice anything had gone until the next morning when we went to get the camera to take photos. What an arse! At least we have this to remind us of what we´ve been doing for the past 8 weeks!

The last pictures we took were of the whale watching in Puerto Lopez, such a shame we don´t have those pix as it was an unfotgettable experience - at one point a hump back whale was literally 10m from the boat and me! We also saw them jumping out of the water - it was just like watching the Discovery Channel! We then went for a walk on the Isla de la Plata where we saw blue footed Boobies - what a name for a bird - which you can also see on the Galapagos Islands. The male makes a strange whistling sound, was quite confused - who was whistling at us? - until the guide explained what was making the sound!

In case you´re wondering, this is what the blue footed birds look like...
http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=es&q=blue+footed+boobies&gbv=2

Banos

the waterfall overlooking banos

a local making taffy (their local brighton rock)

jude making her way to the top. If you look closely you'll see she isnt smiling!

Banos

At the top of the mountains. On the right is the active volcano....apparently!

After Tena, Jude and I jeed ourselves up for a bit of serious jungle escape, looking to go deep deep into the forest and live with indigenous people and be one with them, or some sort of prattle. So off we bounced (literally) on a 6 hour bus journey south to the last main town. We arrived in a very dusty nothing town with about 4 people there. With no map in LP we wandered off trying to find something close to a bed. With that accomplished (we’ll say no more about the room) we went off to find our trusty guide. With all but about 5 shops closed this didn’t take too long. Sadly after a very lengthy badly spoken Spanish chat it appears that there aren’t any ‘real’ indigenous people anymore, unless we’re prepared to travel for about a week (with chances of shrunken head still on the cards). Due to the deforestation and the encroaching cities, all that is left is villages that can’t live off the land due to lack of animals, who wear similar clothes to us, but go through the routines for tourists to show what a village is like. It’s a real shame that this is what its like, but as our guide kept saying, this is the evolution of the area, which is inevitable (this is what I guessed he said anyway!) So knowing that any jungle trip involving local people will be a farce, we hopped back onto the bouncing wagon to make our way to Banos.

At 3 hours from Quito it’s the most touristy place we’ve been to yet on our trip. Its like some strangle love child of bognor and breacon beacon. Beautifully lush green mountains and valleys swoop, dip and climb all around you with the town lit up like a Disney movie. Sadly in this idyllic place all you can hear are the loud rattling’s of motorbikes, quads and mini jeeps ripping up the paradise. So the only way from this tourist mess was up! Off we went on a trek up to the top of the valley to a looking point of the active volcano Tungurahua. This was no ordinary trek though…. Pretty much 45 degree straight up for 2 hours. Stupidly we forgot to put mossie spray on so after ten mins we’re sweating all over the place and attracting bugs, so we had to go quicker to get away from them only to make ourselves sweat more and attract more. If anyone had seen us, 2 white very sweaty people flaying there arms about crazily whilst running up a rocky steep path, whilst madly looking about themselves for any laying bugs, I’d have been interested what they thought!

Finally we made it to the open top so could take a breather for 30 mins and take in the sights. Very annoyingly it was quite cloudy by the time we got to the other side of the mountain, so after the arduous climb all we got for our troubles for a misty green mass. Hump!

I won’t prattle on any more, but the return trip involved getting lost with 2 german girls, being rescued by locals who took us through very high jungle overgrowth and in the ending taking longer to come down than it did to get up. We are both nursing sore calf muscles now!

But all`s good as we’re now by the beach….hurrar!!!!
Next blog will hopefully talk about whale watching, dry jungle trips and lovely white sandy beaches!

Rafting in Tena

Tena is known for it's white water rafting so we booked ourselves on a trip on a grade 3 river. Turned out we were with a couple from France, a guy from New York called `Carter` and a family of about 12 Ecuadorians. We headed off in two rafts.

My mission was definitely to stay in the raft, whilst Tim´s was to get the family in the water as much as possible by jumping onto their raft and chucking them all in one by one. We both suceeded in our missions! Tim was very proud of himself, especially as he got the big, beefy guide in too.

After lunch the guides took us to a little cave for a mud pack! The mud they showed us is supposed to have amazing benefits for the skin so we all slapped it on.


Before we hit the rapids

stopping for lunch

the 2 tours having a facial

Hairy man, thankfully it`s going...

Not quite gone, bugger!...Tim actually liked this look and went out in pubic like this! Thankfully he saw sense by the evening.

Cotobashi, it'll chew you up and spit you out!

The beast we decide to take on

we can do it

Jude sporting an interesting type of jacket 'zip'

the sun coming over the mountains from the west

and from the east

This is a video of the point when we turned back. Note the wind and darkness!

Cotopaxi Climb

Cotopaxi is considered one of the world's highest active volcanoes and at 5897m it`s Ecuador's second highest mountain. Tim and I decided we´d have a go climbing it! ...I swear you start to believe that anything is possible when you´re traveling!

The tour operator assured us you mainly walked up at a 30 degree angle, so it `wasn't hard´. Phew, this should be fine i thought...When we started getting our ice picks, harness, snow boots and clamp-ons I started to have a few doubts. Then I heard you started the trek up Cotopaxi at 1am - Tim had just read Ranulf Fiennes autobiography so I think he was living the book - I on the other hand had just realised what we had got ourselves into.

The drive to Cotopaxi was pretty uneventful, couldnt actually see much as the weather was bad. We parked the van at the Refuge which was at 4,500m and climbed up to 4,800. It took about an hour and my legs were jelly afterwards. How was i going to climb Cotopaxi?!

It was totally freezing at the refuge. I had three layers of clothes on, a fleece, a wind breaker jacket, thermal trousers, waterproof trousers, scarf, hat, two pairs of gloves and I was still cold. After having some soup for lunch the only option was to get into the sleeping bag and try and get warm whilst we waited for dinner. 9 of us were sleeping in bunk beds in a tiny dorm, at least we provided each other with some warmth! Dinner was soup, pasta and chicken. I ate as much as I could - I knew i was going to need the engery!

At about 7.30pm we all went to bed. I couldn´t sleep, my heart was racing and I felt like there was huge pressure on my lungs. I also had a bit of a dodgy belly (something else altitude does to you apparently). At midnight our guides came and got us up for ´breakfast´and then it was time to put on all the gear (I was wearing most of mine in ded so it didnt take too long!) but my jacket zip had broken on the way up so i had to be taped into my jacket, all this meant that Tim and I were the last to leave the refuge at about 1.30am.

The next few hours were hard. Not just the physical climb (it was easily 45 degrees plus, never believe tour operators!) and dealing with the snow and the darkness but the altitude. After about three hours I couldn´t control my breathing and was unsteady on my feet, I just couldnt get my breath back and was starting to feel sick and dizzy. We were about 5,500 feet but about 3 more hours from the top. The guide told me i had to listen to my body...it was screaming ´get me off this mountain´so we turned back. It was getting really cold and I couldnt go fast enough to make it safe for us. I felt so disappointed we werent going to reach the top. But also a little comforted by the fact that three other couples had already turned back, at least we weren´t the only ones not to make it!

During the descent both Tim and my head lights went. The guide had to walk next to us instead of following the rope line which was all a little dangerous but we didnt really think about it as the sun was starting to rise and it really was a breathtaking view and made the whole experience worth it. We arrived back at camp at about 6.30am. It was a shame we didnt reach the top but it was an unforgetable experience... in so many ways! I am totally amazed I gave it a shot, not really thinking too much about what I was getting myself into before we booked it definitely helped!


Before setting off, check out the gear!

Jude taking a little rest

The sun started coming up at about 5am

In the top right corner you can just see our trail

Me sporting a very attractive look

360 of volcanic lake... note the rather english looking fields at the start

Market day

haggling over the chickens

yummy scrummy guinea pigs

walkies

and you can have your own little cow too

some ducks and a few thousand people

Middle of the world

me looking a tit

jude at the real equator line..... hahaha you silly french!

Jude trying to balance an egg on a nail head (easier to do on the equator)

The shrunken head of a tribal warrior. They last forever, which is why this one is a bit grey!

A day trip from Quito to Mitel de Mundo allows us to go to the equator line, and be in the middle of the world. We arrive in a dusty nothing town to a large gated area within which houses a very large monument and various museums talking about the scientific work that Ecuador and the French did from 18 something or other till the making of the monument. All very droll stuff, though it did allow us to stand on 2 sides of the world at the same time (and look like idiots whist doing this). Then we trotted to another museum just round the corner which the Lonely Plant says is better. Imagine my delight in finding out that the huge monument that was made with the French’s pioneering help only 20 or so years ago was actually about 300m wrong! Also during our guided tour we got to see an actual indigenous house (with live guinea pigs getting ready for the slaughter (it’s a delicacy over here which I still haven’t tried)), plus knowledge of how they lived etc. This all culminated in the piece de la resistance, an actual shrunken head with drawings of how to do it. Bizarrely, Jude and I are now contemplating boating down the Amazon to meet some of these lovely folks and maybe doing a bit of hunting with them….. we will wait and see!

Otavalo

2.5 hours from Quito is Otavalo, a largley indigenous town famous for it´s Saturday markets -where you can find anything from chickens to textiles. Otavalo is in a valley, surrounded by the peaks of various volcanoes. It´s a beautiful setting and has great hiking. We definitely needed some exercise after all we´ve been eating and drinking (we can get a litre of good red wine for $3.50 here)!

Just 15km from the town are three lovely lakes. The Lonely Planet said you could hike round them without a guide so we thought we´d give it a whirl. We flagged a taxi and negotiated, in Spanish, the price: $10 there, $10 back and $10 to wait for up to 4.5 hours for us to walk round the three lakes. All good. We were off.

Then we heard "FUCK" the driver has driven the wrong way down a street. It was so funny hearing him swear in English, we were all laughing away. Then the driver started speaking to us in Spanish again, I hadn't a clue what he was going on about and then in English he said "bring my wife?". Of course we said, and then we headed to his house to pick up...a sweater. No wife. Then we drove to a shop and we realised he was calling his wife. We then drove over the road and waited for a few mins, the wife then turned up in another taxi and off we went. We felt like we were going on a little family trip!

The lakes were amazing, we must have got up to about 4,000 ft at one point so we had some great views. The walking was a little bit more up hill then we´d imagined but our supply of chocolate got us round. Have a look at the pictures....


Us at the first lake (the fog slowly coming down from above)

The 1st and 2nd lake together

Tiny Jude on way to the 3rd lake

3rd lake

Quito´s museum and market madness

Me trying to play (quite loudly) on ancient indigenous xylophone

Jude wearing indigenous ceremonial headgear

Me eyeing up dinner

This is the 'oxford street' of Quito. Business isn't doing too well methinks!



So far on our journey, every time we pop into a museum, we are literally the only people there. On the one hand this is brilliant - you have as much time to read etc without screaming kids or pushing from chubby yanks - the only problem is that Jude and I then start to play, like naughty school kids. During our latest trip we started taking pics (see above) I’m sure something terrible will happen to us for this!

Also we’ve finally found some local markets to go to. As you’ll see from one of the pics, they don’t have to deal with the EU regulations just yet. I’m hoping this will get even more interesting as we are currently in Otalavo, which has the largest market tomorrow in the whole country!

Ecuador

Jude crossing the border

Plaza Grande, which happened to have a procession going on at the time

The angel on the hill

Inside the church of Santo Domingo during a service

La Compania de jesus. They used over 7 tons of gold to cover the church!




So we have left the surprisingly cold delights of Colombia to pass into the more touristy Ecuador. Straight away i have a major problem. In the morning i'm now used to an exceptionally good cup of coffee which costs 5p, but now in neighboring Ecuador when looking forward to my morning kick instead I’m presented with a cup of hot milk and a small decanter on the table which holds a very concentrated instant coffee glue, which I’m meant to then add to the hot milk. Yep, it tastes as good as it sounds! I’m still in astonishment that they don’t like proper coffee here, especially when in Colombia you couldn’t get away from them celebrating the little brown bean.

The coffee issues are quickly forgotten when you see the beauty of Quito. Then nearest thing I’ve seen to Rio, with mountains surrounding the old town’s cobbled streets and wonderful architecture. Plus there is a secret South American food that can be used to give you that wake up call you need. No not that, but a ‘candy’ made purely of coconut and sugar. Its white as snow, tastes surprisingly not too sweet, and gives you the biggest sugar rush I’ve even had in my life.
After a day of sucking up the lovely old town and eating a 3 course lunch for a pound, it's off to the new town (which reminds me of LA) to drink, eat gringo food, and forget that your in another country. We therefore ended up in the more grotty studenty local hangouts eating chicken kebabs or pizza slices, washed down with massive bottles of beer… yum!