Mar 20 Walked around town today to see a few more sights. That evening we went to the cinema which was surprisingly good where we saw `Slumdog millionaire´. Juan Jose (Fiachras freind from his Mattchu Pitchu walk) showed us around the city at night afterwards.
Mar 21 We went down to the Irish bar for the the 12.30pm kickoff between Ireland and Wales. There was about 30 people there making the noise of a hundred. It was a great atmosphere helped on by the nail biting 2nd half. Afterwards Fiachras freind, Juan Jose collected us and brought us to dinner at his familys house where we met his mother, brother and 2 sisters. We sat down to a typical Ecudorian meal consisting of two dishes made with corn (corn on the cob stuff). They were delicious and topped with a home made salsa. Afterwards we went up to the `Virgin de Quito´, a 40 metre religious monument standing on the highest point looking down over the city but before we arrived a thick fog came over us and we saw little.
We ended the evening with a drink of some local stuff in the old town and then out to the new town for a few more drinks to celebrate the Irish Grand slam win.
Mar 22 A quiet day today before our flight to Rio de Janeiro this evening. At the airport we parted with a tearful Caroline as she was off to Bogota in Colombia on her own. We had travelled with her since the 16 Dec and was going to be different not having her around.
Our flight to Rio via Lima gained us a laugh when the cheese and ham sandwiches nightmare (thats all we could get to eat on buses and planes in Argentina) came back to haunt us. The air hostess announce the the catering trolley was on its way around with two options..... cheese and ham sandwich or cheddar and salami. We looked at each other and laughed.
Mar 23 Arrived in Rio at 5.30am this morning. We got the bus to a upmarket suburb of Rio called Ipanema. Frank Sinatra once sang a song about the `Girl from Ipanema´ and there are no shortage of them, with and without dangly bits. Its a beachside neighbourhood and we quickly realised it was very expensive. Everything is over 3 times the price of Equador and 5 times the price of Bolivia at conservative estimates.
In our hostel, the dorm we are in has 9 beds arranged in 3 sets of triple bunks charginging the princely sum of E15 per bed. The only bathroom serves 36 people. In Peru we were getting a private 3 bed hotel room ensuite for E5 each.
That day we walked along Ipanema beach promenade and watched the local playing soccer volleyball (volleyball with no hands allowed). It looked really difficult and were very surprised to see how good the girls were although their bikinis, known locally as dental floss, was most distracting.
Mar 24 Went on a tour of Rio today. Our first stop was the `Sugar Loaf ´, an iconic cone shaped hill at the entrance to Rio harbour. Rio is a beautiful city when viewed from afar but at street level the city is a stark contrast to its lofty beauty. There are fine old buildings and some interesting modern ones but the graffiti and the dereliction off the main street is eye opening and any number of less savoury locals hanging around. We went into a rougher side of town to see the convent stairway of Santa Tersa to a Favella (Brazilian shanty town) which links the city to one of the rougher city neighbourhoods. The stairs were of particular interest as they are completely tiled with tiles from all over the world. The artist, Jorge Seleron, is an ecentric individual but had a laugh with him as he posed for photos on his steps. Bono and U2 had shot part of one of their videos here.
After lunch we went to see the `Christ the Redeemer´ statue, the famous one with the big Jesus with his hands out overlooking Rio. It was 40 metres tall plus the pedestal and was huge. Unfortunately it was very cloudy and we saw little more than his outline and no view of the city. We drove down the hill to a point below the clouds and saw great views from there. Our tour bus was a new Volkswagen minibus van but in Brazil Volkswagen are still building the old 1970s design (with the tyre on front). It felt like we were travelling back in time looking at the old switches and pedals in brand new condition. I remember our old VW Variant that had similar fittings.
That evening we were coming back from the supermarket with 2 frozen pizzas and we were approached by a street kid and an old man on seperate occaisions asking if they could have them. Although we declined, it was striking how tough some people have it there and we were in one of the best places.
Mar 25 We booked to go on the Favela tour this morning but due to a big drugs haul by the police it was cancelled. The rival gangs started shooting each other that morning, suspecting the opposition tipped off the police. We decided to postpone the tour until we returned in a months time. We also booked our flight north to Salvador tomorrow. We intended taking a 27 hour bus there but realised that we could fly there cheaper and only taking 2 hours.
Mar 26 Headed off to the airport this morning and after a 45 min delay finally boarded our plane for Salvador. Even as we flew out of the city those damn clouds denied us of the amazing postcard view of the city, Bay, beaches, Mountains and monuments that makes Rio so impressive.
We arrived in Salvador at 6pm and took the bus to Pelourhino, the suburb where we were staying. As we drove through the city, one could be forgiven for thinking you were in Africa. The citys black population is in stark contrast to Rio (due to its huge slave population built up over the last few hundred years) and the heat is unreal.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Part 2: The wierd and wonderful Galapagos Islands
12 Mar This morning we went again with our guide to the Charles Darwin centre as part of our cruise itinerary. Although we had done this independently already is was good to have a guided tour also. After lunch we went up into the highlands of Santa Cruz island and saw more vegetation and turtles. We saw caves that were formed by lava flows and it was new to me that lava flowed just under the ground in tunnels. We had a walk around through them and then onto an extinct volcano crater.
On our way back to the island the guide got a call from the office that they wanted him to bring us around as they had some news for us. We went into the office and they explained that they had no replacement passengers for the ones that got off yesterday and they had no choice but to cancel the rest of the cruise. As we drew our breath they offered us an upgrade onto another one of their vessels the `Eden´. We were delighted as the Eden had cost $1700 for 8 days. Our cabins were outside cabins with sea view and the food, staff and space onboard was way better. We had to pinch ourselves that our luck was so good having got the other inferior cruise cheap to start with and then we were upgraded!
13 Mar We arrived at Bartolome Island this morning just before breakfast. Our first stop was Buckaneer cove for a bit of swimming, snorkeling and a walk around. That afternoon we went to James Bay to see the Gallapagos penguins and flying fish (they actually just jump out of the water). That evening we climbed to the top of a volcanic hill to watch the sunset and learned that we were looking out over one of the main sets for the Russell Crowe movie, `Master and Commander´. That night we set off for our overnight cruise to Genovese Island. As we slept we passed through the Equator into the Northern Hemisphere.
14 Mar This morning we awoke at Genovese Island, situated on the far North of the Gallapagos. It is a cresent shaped island is the top of an extinct sea volcano. We walked around and saw these birds with huge red bags under their beaks. They were the males and inflated them into a huge ball and simutaneiously flapped their wings frantically in a bid to attract a female. It was very funny to watch. We then went snorkelling (very welcome after hiking in 35C heat) looking for hammerhead sharks but to no avail. That afternoon we went on another hike to a place I cant remember.
15 Mar Our last day of the cruise today, we were up at 5.40am for a look around a remote part of Santa Cruz island where in a mangrove lined lagoon we saw mating turtles, sharks, mantra rays and pelicans. We finished up early and headed back into the main town, Puerto Ayora. We booked a scuba dive to do one of the most reknowned and scenic dives in the world, Gordon Rocks. We had a great laugh trying on various wetsuits trying to find one that fit as the Ecuadorians are so small that I had to wear XL (extra large).
16 Mar Up and out at 7am for our taxi ride to the scuba dive boat. It was a fine old timber yacht with dining area, toilets and showers. It wasnt entirely suitable for diving but was OK as they had a dinghy too. We did 3 dives, the first of which was a short and shallow refresh dive to familiarise ourselves with all the equipment and protocol again before diving to the murky depths. The second dive was a disaster as I couldnt keep down in the water and was continuosly fought against floating to the surface. The instructor was equally useless and swam off without me. I was alone in the water and for safety reasons had to return prematurely to the top, only 10 mins into a 40 minute dive. What a waste. The third dive an hour later was not much better as we were badly prepared and badly supervised when we were down below. Our dive instructor was a joke (he lost the whole group again) and our dive in the best dive site in the world was the worst Ive ever done not having seen the expected sea lions, white tip and hammer head sharks the area is so well known for. A Dutch family we were with complained to the company when we got back and they were told `Tough luck´.
17 Mar Up and out at 7.30am and off to the airport to fly back to Quito. Prince Charles had been visiting the island while we were there but we did not see him. His plane was in the airport and was interesting to watch the loading of all the royal luggage and boxes of documents, suits and endless hold all bags. His whole entourage nessitated a full on jet plane almost as big as the one we flew on. We finally got back to Quito and the St Patricks day celebrations were in full swing where we met up with our Dutch buddies again, Maiike and Stephaine.
18 Mar We took a walk around the old city today and saw the houses of Parliament, Cathedral and a few parks. Later that night we went out for a Mexican in the new town.
19 Mar Today we took a taxi to the Equator, 20km North of Quito. It is properly marked out at a centre with shops, cafes, museums where there were good photo opportunites. We had a good laugh jumping from the Northern to the Southern hemispheres and putting one foot on each etc. It probably is the most significant border in the world but we were out of there 30 mins later.
On our way back to the island the guide got a call from the office that they wanted him to bring us around as they had some news for us. We went into the office and they explained that they had no replacement passengers for the ones that got off yesterday and they had no choice but to cancel the rest of the cruise. As we drew our breath they offered us an upgrade onto another one of their vessels the `Eden´. We were delighted as the Eden had cost $1700 for 8 days. Our cabins were outside cabins with sea view and the food, staff and space onboard was way better. We had to pinch ourselves that our luck was so good having got the other inferior cruise cheap to start with and then we were upgraded!
13 Mar We arrived at Bartolome Island this morning just before breakfast. Our first stop was Buckaneer cove for a bit of swimming, snorkeling and a walk around. That afternoon we went to James Bay to see the Gallapagos penguins and flying fish (they actually just jump out of the water). That evening we climbed to the top of a volcanic hill to watch the sunset and learned that we were looking out over one of the main sets for the Russell Crowe movie, `Master and Commander´. That night we set off for our overnight cruise to Genovese Island. As we slept we passed through the Equator into the Northern Hemisphere.
14 Mar This morning we awoke at Genovese Island, situated on the far North of the Gallapagos. It is a cresent shaped island is the top of an extinct sea volcano. We walked around and saw these birds with huge red bags under their beaks. They were the males and inflated them into a huge ball and simutaneiously flapped their wings frantically in a bid to attract a female. It was very funny to watch. We then went snorkelling (very welcome after hiking in 35C heat) looking for hammerhead sharks but to no avail. That afternoon we went on another hike to a place I cant remember.
15 Mar Our last day of the cruise today, we were up at 5.40am for a look around a remote part of Santa Cruz island where in a mangrove lined lagoon we saw mating turtles, sharks, mantra rays and pelicans. We finished up early and headed back into the main town, Puerto Ayora. We booked a scuba dive to do one of the most reknowned and scenic dives in the world, Gordon Rocks. We had a great laugh trying on various wetsuits trying to find one that fit as the Ecuadorians are so small that I had to wear XL (extra large).
16 Mar Up and out at 7am for our taxi ride to the scuba dive boat. It was a fine old timber yacht with dining area, toilets and showers. It wasnt entirely suitable for diving but was OK as they had a dinghy too. We did 3 dives, the first of which was a short and shallow refresh dive to familiarise ourselves with all the equipment and protocol again before diving to the murky depths. The second dive was a disaster as I couldnt keep down in the water and was continuosly fought against floating to the surface. The instructor was equally useless and swam off without me. I was alone in the water and for safety reasons had to return prematurely to the top, only 10 mins into a 40 minute dive. What a waste. The third dive an hour later was not much better as we were badly prepared and badly supervised when we were down below. Our dive instructor was a joke (he lost the whole group again) and our dive in the best dive site in the world was the worst Ive ever done not having seen the expected sea lions, white tip and hammer head sharks the area is so well known for. A Dutch family we were with complained to the company when we got back and they were told `Tough luck´.
17 Mar Up and out at 7.30am and off to the airport to fly back to Quito. Prince Charles had been visiting the island while we were there but we did not see him. His plane was in the airport and was interesting to watch the loading of all the royal luggage and boxes of documents, suits and endless hold all bags. His whole entourage nessitated a full on jet plane almost as big as the one we flew on. We finally got back to Quito and the St Patricks day celebrations were in full swing where we met up with our Dutch buddies again, Maiike and Stephaine.
18 Mar We took a walk around the old city today and saw the houses of Parliament, Cathedral and a few parks. Later that night we went out for a Mexican in the new town.
19 Mar Today we took a taxi to the Equator, 20km North of Quito. It is properly marked out at a centre with shops, cafes, museums where there were good photo opportunites. We had a good laugh jumping from the Northern to the Southern hemispheres and putting one foot on each etc. It probably is the most significant border in the world but we were out of there 30 mins later.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Part 1: The wierd and wonderful Galapagos Islands
06 Mar Got the 9.40am bus from Alusi to Quito, the capital of Ecuador. We checked into our hostel and booked our flights to the Gallapagos at a nearby travel agency. They were also owners of a cruise company operating out there and offered us a last minute deal of an 8 day cruise for $1400 USD. We said that we´d pay $1200, but they declined. So we booked the flight anyway and decided to check out trips once we were there.
Later in the day we were in an internet cafe and I was sitting beside this lad who was wearing his headphones and singing away on his computer next to me. He was bopping his head and tapping his fingers and generally being an irritating git. I looked in his direction a couple of times hoping he would get the message that his attempt to be cool was backfiring in the extreme, but he didnt get the message. I didnt have the neccessary Spanish to convey my feelings (Oy d**khead! , shut the f**k up) so i put my headphones on but music was then required as I could still hear him. The online music was choking the internet speed so that failed too. Racking my brains and unable to concentrate on my interneting I came up with a plan. We were in a vegetarian restaurant earlier on and as a result I was farting like a volcano. Holding them in at the internet cafe had built up a large gas supply and I let them go all at once. Silent but deadlies, the green nerve gas danced and swirled its way left of my arse and entered my freind nose with devasting effect. In an instant the tapping of his fingers slowed, his face twitched and the singing stopped. His bopping head went from going up and down to moving left an right. My oblivious nature and my innocent face noticed nothing. A steady supply over the following 5 minutes had him packing and on his way. Great!
That night Frog met up with a lad he had met in Colombia and we all went out for a Mexican and beers.
07 Mar Up and out at 5am to get our taxi to the airport for our flight to the Galapagos. Our journey took us 950km west off the coast of Ecuador and over the Pacific to Santa Cruz, one of the bigger islands. We checked into our hotel in the main town, Puerto Ayora, and off down the town we went bargain hunting for tours. We went into this place that was selling the same tour we were offered in Quito and got it for $1100 each, $300 less than the Quito price. We couldnt believe that the Quito office let us walk away having offered them a $100 more each and now they have to pay that agent a commission too. Anyway, South America is full of bad business acumen. Puerto Ayora is a nice small town that is a complete contrast to the rest of Ecuador, the difference is money.
08 Mar We were due to set sail at 5pm so we had all day to look around. We went to the Charles Darwin centre where they had a historical and present day presentation of the Galapagos, a turtle conservation centre where we saw giant turtles that weighed 40 stone and their shells were as hard as rock. The conservation centre was neccessary as years ago turtles were taken on board ships as they could survive for a year without food and water thus making them an idea source of food and oil for the ships making the long journey back to Europe. They were too popular with thousands of turtles being taken and eventually brought to near extinction. The centre are incubating eggs and repopulating the islands.
That evening we got onto our ship, the Aida Maria, a 16 berth cruiser which was a nice vessel with good cabins, food and fellow passengers.
09 Mar Up and out at 5.45am for breakfast and briefing of the days activities at 6am. Firstly we went to Plazas island where we saw sea lions, heaps of birds and fish including Mantra rays. We walked around the island for a couple of hours and towards the end of our visit we came across a camera crew doing a documentary on Gallapagos finches for the `Nova Nature channel´ in the US. I posed in front of the video camera and had a photo taken with the camera man and the sound engineer playing along. Created a good laugh doing my David Attenbourough impression.
After lunch we arrived at Santa Fe island where we saw Iguanas, more sea lions and their pups which came up to us for a look. They were very funny and looked like they were doing a dance for us the way the walked and acted. They loved having their photos taken lifting their heads up and arching their backs with those big eyes looking at the camera. That afternoon we went snorkelling around some coral reefs and saw amazing shoals of the most colourful fish imaginable (no idea what they were)
10 Mar After travelling through the night we awoke to the spectacle of Espaniola island. We were at Suarez point which is a hotspot for wildlife. The amazing thing about the Galapagos is that each island is different and has different variations of animals and different ecosystems. Each island requires the animal and plant life to evolve differently to accommodate their different circumstances. On Espaniola we saw hawks, mockingbirds, lizards, Iguanas (miniture dinosaurs), blue footed boobies and sea lions. It was so amazing how close you could go up to them and they just sit and watch you in as much amazment as you are of them. We were under strict instructions not to touch them, not to use flash photography in their eyes, no food and keep at least 1 metre away (not always possible when they are chasing after you, playfully of course).
That afternoon we cruised to the other side of the island and went ashore onto Gardner bay, where we walked along the beach amongst hundreds of sunbathing sea lions. We then went snorkelling amongst schoals of tropical fish whilst dipping in and out of warm and cold currents flowing alongside each other (this creates a huge diversity of warm and cold water fish). We floated along with the fish going with the current and the tide, ebbing and flowing with them. An amazing experience.
11 Mar Up and out at 6.30am onto Post office beach at Floreana island. It was called post office beach as passing ships dropped off their mail into a big post box made from a whiskey barrel, had a look at the other mail and if they were going in that direction took it with them. Apparently it worked a treat back then and is still kept going by the tourists today. It was and still is a free service. Although nothing hitching a ride to Ireland at the time of checking. We didnt put any postcards in either as we only learned of its existence that morning.
Before lunch we went snorkelling at a place called `The Devils crown´, a rock formation about a mile off the Floreana coast. We saw schoals of fish and great under water rock formations. The most exciting thing were the white tip sharks checking us out and was great to be able to swim with them.
Later in the afternoon we walked to Cormorant point to a protected sanctuary beach where turtles crawl up on the beach at night, dig a hole and lay their eggs. It was a paradise. We set off at 4pm back to the main town, Puerto Ayora for supplies and offload some passengers that were on a 4 day cruise. Along the way we came across a family of Minke whales (up to 50ft long) and watched them come up to 20 ft off the deck. They were huge. As soon as they passed the dolphins arrived and they were jostleing each other to swim in front of the bow of the boat. They were jumping in and out of the water and seemed to be enjoying it more than we were. We got to the town and had the welcome opportunity to go to the supermarket, check internet and have a few drinks.
Part 2 due in a couple of days
Later in the day we were in an internet cafe and I was sitting beside this lad who was wearing his headphones and singing away on his computer next to me. He was bopping his head and tapping his fingers and generally being an irritating git. I looked in his direction a couple of times hoping he would get the message that his attempt to be cool was backfiring in the extreme, but he didnt get the message. I didnt have the neccessary Spanish to convey my feelings (Oy d**khead! , shut the f**k up) so i put my headphones on but music was then required as I could still hear him. The online music was choking the internet speed so that failed too. Racking my brains and unable to concentrate on my interneting I came up with a plan. We were in a vegetarian restaurant earlier on and as a result I was farting like a volcano. Holding them in at the internet cafe had built up a large gas supply and I let them go all at once. Silent but deadlies, the green nerve gas danced and swirled its way left of my arse and entered my freind nose with devasting effect. In an instant the tapping of his fingers slowed, his face twitched and the singing stopped. His bopping head went from going up and down to moving left an right. My oblivious nature and my innocent face noticed nothing. A steady supply over the following 5 minutes had him packing and on his way. Great!
That night Frog met up with a lad he had met in Colombia and we all went out for a Mexican and beers.
07 Mar Up and out at 5am to get our taxi to the airport for our flight to the Galapagos. Our journey took us 950km west off the coast of Ecuador and over the Pacific to Santa Cruz, one of the bigger islands. We checked into our hotel in the main town, Puerto Ayora, and off down the town we went bargain hunting for tours. We went into this place that was selling the same tour we were offered in Quito and got it for $1100 each, $300 less than the Quito price. We couldnt believe that the Quito office let us walk away having offered them a $100 more each and now they have to pay that agent a commission too. Anyway, South America is full of bad business acumen. Puerto Ayora is a nice small town that is a complete contrast to the rest of Ecuador, the difference is money.
08 Mar We were due to set sail at 5pm so we had all day to look around. We went to the Charles Darwin centre where they had a historical and present day presentation of the Galapagos, a turtle conservation centre where we saw giant turtles that weighed 40 stone and their shells were as hard as rock. The conservation centre was neccessary as years ago turtles were taken on board ships as they could survive for a year without food and water thus making them an idea source of food and oil for the ships making the long journey back to Europe. They were too popular with thousands of turtles being taken and eventually brought to near extinction. The centre are incubating eggs and repopulating the islands.
That evening we got onto our ship, the Aida Maria, a 16 berth cruiser which was a nice vessel with good cabins, food and fellow passengers.
09 Mar Up and out at 5.45am for breakfast and briefing of the days activities at 6am. Firstly we went to Plazas island where we saw sea lions, heaps of birds and fish including Mantra rays. We walked around the island for a couple of hours and towards the end of our visit we came across a camera crew doing a documentary on Gallapagos finches for the `Nova Nature channel´ in the US. I posed in front of the video camera and had a photo taken with the camera man and the sound engineer playing along. Created a good laugh doing my David Attenbourough impression.
After lunch we arrived at Santa Fe island where we saw Iguanas, more sea lions and their pups which came up to us for a look. They were very funny and looked like they were doing a dance for us the way the walked and acted. They loved having their photos taken lifting their heads up and arching their backs with those big eyes looking at the camera. That afternoon we went snorkelling around some coral reefs and saw amazing shoals of the most colourful fish imaginable (no idea what they were)
10 Mar After travelling through the night we awoke to the spectacle of Espaniola island. We were at Suarez point which is a hotspot for wildlife. The amazing thing about the Galapagos is that each island is different and has different variations of animals and different ecosystems. Each island requires the animal and plant life to evolve differently to accommodate their different circumstances. On Espaniola we saw hawks, mockingbirds, lizards, Iguanas (miniture dinosaurs), blue footed boobies and sea lions. It was so amazing how close you could go up to them and they just sit and watch you in as much amazment as you are of them. We were under strict instructions not to touch them, not to use flash photography in their eyes, no food and keep at least 1 metre away (not always possible when they are chasing after you, playfully of course).
That afternoon we cruised to the other side of the island and went ashore onto Gardner bay, where we walked along the beach amongst hundreds of sunbathing sea lions. We then went snorkelling amongst schoals of tropical fish whilst dipping in and out of warm and cold currents flowing alongside each other (this creates a huge diversity of warm and cold water fish). We floated along with the fish going with the current and the tide, ebbing and flowing with them. An amazing experience.
11 Mar Up and out at 6.30am onto Post office beach at Floreana island. It was called post office beach as passing ships dropped off their mail into a big post box made from a whiskey barrel, had a look at the other mail and if they were going in that direction took it with them. Apparently it worked a treat back then and is still kept going by the tourists today. It was and still is a free service. Although nothing hitching a ride to Ireland at the time of checking. We didnt put any postcards in either as we only learned of its existence that morning.
Before lunch we went snorkelling at a place called `The Devils crown´, a rock formation about a mile off the Floreana coast. We saw schoals of fish and great under water rock formations. The most exciting thing were the white tip sharks checking us out and was great to be able to swim with them.
Later in the afternoon we walked to Cormorant point to a protected sanctuary beach where turtles crawl up on the beach at night, dig a hole and lay their eggs. It was a paradise. We set off at 4pm back to the main town, Puerto Ayora for supplies and offload some passengers that were on a 4 day cruise. Along the way we came across a family of Minke whales (up to 50ft long) and watched them come up to 20 ft off the deck. They were huge. As soon as they passed the dolphins arrived and they were jostleing each other to swim in front of the bow of the boat. They were jumping in and out of the water and seemed to be enjoying it more than we were. We got to the town and had the welcome opportunity to go to the supermarket, check internet and have a few drinks.
Part 2 due in a couple of days
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Life´s a beach in Equador
24 Feb Went for a surf lesson this morning. I had tried surfing before but this want the first proper attempt with instruction. E11 for 90 mins was expensive on Peruvian standards but was worthwhile nonetheless. Carlos was eventually my instructor after a short disagreement with the other instructor about who was going to get Caroline as their pupil. Instructors, the same horndogs all over the world. Anyway with my ego still intact we started the lesson on the beach with Carlos demonstrating how to get up to stand up on the board from the lying down position once a wave was caught. We repeated the drill a few times until he was happy with my technique, and off we went paddling the board out to the waves. I was lying on the board paddling with my arms and he was in the water, holding the back and paddling with his legs. Armed with plenty of horsepower, we caught the next available wave. I stood up, but not correctly in the middle of the board, and off I fell. After a gallon of saltwater up my nose and my eyes burning we regrouped and he said `Why you not stand on the board like I f**king tell you!´ I turned around (this was the first caught wave of my life) to him and said `Here you, Im paying you to teach me how to surf, not to give me shit. So, f**king teach!´ He was all apologies and doing high fives after that and telling me I was a great student (Of course, I agreed with that bit :-) )
That night we went out to a local steakhouse to celebrate Carolines 29th birthday, kindly paid for by a nice donation from her mother.
25 Feb Booked our bus tickets over the border to Equador and had a few cocktails that night to celebrate our departure from Peru, leaving Ben and Lizzie after 2 months travelling and Carolines birthday again and all paid for by us.
26 Feb Said our final farewells to Ben and Lizzie and our 9am bus arrived at 10.30am. Bound for Montanita in Equador via Guayaquil, the countrys largest city, the journey took 12 hours and 4 bus changes. Apart from the first one being late, all the others were waiting for us as soon as we arrived. Blessed. We weren´t feeling all that well due to the late night the previous night and hadnt eaten anything since breakfast due to the immediate departure of all our buses. By the time we reached Montanita I was famished and mad for grub and a cold beer.
Everything in Equador is in US dollars as they did away with their own currency a few years ago due to rampant inflation and counterfeit problems. This makes things easy to calculate and budget but its about 50% dearer than Peru.
27 Feb Montanita is a surf orientated beachside resort and today I walked all around the town and up and down the 5km beach. Got sunburnt too. Had nice food and a few beers and did nowt else.
28 Feb Kept low today protecting the bit of sunburn. We tried to watch the Ireland - England rugby game but nobody in town had the subscription for the ESPN channel we needed. Being Saturday night we went down the town sampling the cocktails from the stands lined up all along the roads. The Mojitos and strawberry Daquiris were great as locals and visiting hippies played guitars, drums and trumpets on every corner. Dang good 2am street burgers too.
01 Mar Decided to go and rent a Boogie board ( small surfboard for shallow water surfing) but they were half the price for an 4hour rental than to buy one so I bought it and the 3 of us shared it all day. Great craic.
02 Mar Left Montanita today on a minibus, chartered by 13 stranded backpackers (didnt pre book our away tickets) for $8 each back to Guayaquil, the main transport hub in southern Equador. After a rare lunch at McDonalds we headed to the Andean mountain town of Riobamba. It was an uneventful journey and we arrived at about 10pm that night. We went to an outdoor stall type restaurant and had steak, chips, salad, rice and veg for $2.75. It was really good too, except for an annoying street kid selling sweets. He insisted on putting them on our table and demanding payment. 3 times we told him no, but he kept saying `yes´ and putting his hand out. Eventually standing up and eyeballing him I explained, as I pointed at an adjacent bin, where his sweets were going if he didnt `Vamos!´. He got the message and a few local lads sharing our table had a good laugh over it.
03 Mar Had a look around Riobamba today and although its a pleasant enough town it wasnt up to much really. We booked our train tickets to the Nariz Del Diablo (The Devils nose) an apparrent marvel of mountain railway engineering. It is reccommended by the guide book as an incredible train journey down through part of the Andean mountains whilst sitting on the roof if one wished. We wished.
04 Mar Up and out at 5.45am to get the bus to the train station in Analusi, 2 hours away. We que-ed up for 30 mins for the tickets only to discover that sitting on the roof was no longer permitted due to a backpacker falling off the roof to his death a few months ago. What a con, we only went for the roof ride opportunity and that was the first we heard of it despite our previous communication with the company. They know only too well that they would lose loads of business if it was common knowledge that the roof ride no longer existed. The journey in the train was shite. The train pictured in all their gloss was an old steam train and what we got was a `Trainbus´an old American school bus fixed on top of a railway carraige chassis. What a bone shakin´ shit heap with filthy fogged up windows allowing passengers see feck all. Anyway, back to Riobamba without delay and on the next bus to a town called Banos. Arrived there 90 mins later and it seems like a good place.
That night we went out to a local steakhouse to celebrate Carolines 29th birthday, kindly paid for by a nice donation from her mother.
25 Feb Booked our bus tickets over the border to Equador and had a few cocktails that night to celebrate our departure from Peru, leaving Ben and Lizzie after 2 months travelling and Carolines birthday again and all paid for by us.
26 Feb Said our final farewells to Ben and Lizzie and our 9am bus arrived at 10.30am. Bound for Montanita in Equador via Guayaquil, the countrys largest city, the journey took 12 hours and 4 bus changes. Apart from the first one being late, all the others were waiting for us as soon as we arrived. Blessed. We weren´t feeling all that well due to the late night the previous night and hadnt eaten anything since breakfast due to the immediate departure of all our buses. By the time we reached Montanita I was famished and mad for grub and a cold beer.
Everything in Equador is in US dollars as they did away with their own currency a few years ago due to rampant inflation and counterfeit problems. This makes things easy to calculate and budget but its about 50% dearer than Peru.
27 Feb Montanita is a surf orientated beachside resort and today I walked all around the town and up and down the 5km beach. Got sunburnt too. Had nice food and a few beers and did nowt else.
28 Feb Kept low today protecting the bit of sunburn. We tried to watch the Ireland - England rugby game but nobody in town had the subscription for the ESPN channel we needed. Being Saturday night we went down the town sampling the cocktails from the stands lined up all along the roads. The Mojitos and strawberry Daquiris were great as locals and visiting hippies played guitars, drums and trumpets on every corner. Dang good 2am street burgers too.
01 Mar Decided to go and rent a Boogie board ( small surfboard for shallow water surfing) but they were half the price for an 4hour rental than to buy one so I bought it and the 3 of us shared it all day. Great craic.
02 Mar Left Montanita today on a minibus, chartered by 13 stranded backpackers (didnt pre book our away tickets) for $8 each back to Guayaquil, the main transport hub in southern Equador. After a rare lunch at McDonalds we headed to the Andean mountain town of Riobamba. It was an uneventful journey and we arrived at about 10pm that night. We went to an outdoor stall type restaurant and had steak, chips, salad, rice and veg for $2.75. It was really good too, except for an annoying street kid selling sweets. He insisted on putting them on our table and demanding payment. 3 times we told him no, but he kept saying `yes´ and putting his hand out. Eventually standing up and eyeballing him I explained, as I pointed at an adjacent bin, where his sweets were going if he didnt `Vamos!´. He got the message and a few local lads sharing our table had a good laugh over it.
03 Mar Had a look around Riobamba today and although its a pleasant enough town it wasnt up to much really. We booked our train tickets to the Nariz Del Diablo (The Devils nose) an apparrent marvel of mountain railway engineering. It is reccommended by the guide book as an incredible train journey down through part of the Andean mountains whilst sitting on the roof if one wished. We wished.
04 Mar Up and out at 5.45am to get the bus to the train station in Analusi, 2 hours away. We que-ed up for 30 mins for the tickets only to discover that sitting on the roof was no longer permitted due to a backpacker falling off the roof to his death a few months ago. What a con, we only went for the roof ride opportunity and that was the first we heard of it despite our previous communication with the company. They know only too well that they would lose loads of business if it was common knowledge that the roof ride no longer existed. The journey in the train was shite. The train pictured in all their gloss was an old steam train and what we got was a `Trainbus´an old American school bus fixed on top of a railway carraige chassis. What a bone shakin´ shit heap with filthy fogged up windows allowing passengers see feck all. Anyway, back to Riobamba without delay and on the next bus to a town called Banos. Arrived there 90 mins later and it seems like a good place.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
