And finally, Brazil

Landed in Manaus, the state capital of Amazonia. A dirty, crowded and frenetic city of some millions, set in the middle of the Amazon rain forest and totally dependant on river transport for food and goods, usually from Belem at the Amazon estuary. Stayed 2 days too long in the stifling heat before boarding a ferry down the Amazon to Santarem, a journey of 36 hours. The ferry was full to capacity, and more, with barely room to tie your hammock. This forms the main transport for the local people up and down the river and not surprisingly I was one of only two English speaking people on board, but the compensation was the time I had to watch the river glide by and I gained a rapid appreciation of the sheer size of this great river and the volume of traffic using the waterway.
Stopping off at small ports on the way demonstrated, as I was later to find out, how far behind in its development this area is compared to most of Brazil, particularly the eastern seaboard towns and cities.

Five days in Santarem, on the Amazon passed quickly and finally arrived in Natal where I enjoyed the beach and had 2 more surfing lessons as well as experiencing my first capoeira lesson. The hostal was very friendly and I spent many evenings with fellow guests visiting local restaurants and also a rock concert.

The final diving opportunity came on Fernando de Noronha, an archipelago 300 km from the Brazil coast where I was able to spend 3 days diving, despite the rough seas, and exploring the beautiful bays and beaches around the main island. Though expensive, Noronha was well worth visiting.

Christmas was in Salvador with its street celebrations of the nativity over the Christmas period, and visiting it's many fine churches. I was able to spend Christmas Day on the beach, and even attend a service where Bach's Christmas Oratorio was being performed - a real bonus!

Two days in Rio de Janeiro completed this 14 month journey, before flying to Paris with a 10 hour stopover (took the opportunity to visit Notre Dame followed by a shopping expedition to purchase some winter clothes).

Arrived in freezing London on the 31st December and back home to Lincolnshire on the 9th January, despite the heavy snowfalls, having spent a week in London and Dorset meeting friends.

This ends my blog....

Based in Quito and visiting Banos and Otavalo

The last week in Ecuador was spent taking local buses and visiting first Banos, four hours south of Quito and secondly Otavalo, 3 hours north of Quito, whilst staying in Quito between times at the Travellers Inn, a small, friendly and pleasantly civilised hotel in the Marischal district of Quito.

Bus journeys in Ecuador are incredibly cheap (about one to two pounds for each journey!) and the buses fairly comfortable. The highlight is always the vendors leaping onto the bus to sell icecreams, local foods or ´cheap´watches etc, this is closely followed in popularity by the onboard movie, which is always in Spanish, always violent, and despite the language barrier there´s no problem following the plot!
Banos is a popular tourist destination due in part to it´s recently erupting volcano, Tuahanau, in 2006, and the hot springs, for me always popular. Only 2 nights there staying in an inexcreble hostal with bed bugs......needless to say I gave a pretty dreadful review on the hostelworld website. The hike up to the viewpoint of the volcano was blocked after a 2000 ft climb so consoled myself by stopping off at the Runtun hot springs and spa for the rest of the day. Very enjoyable it was to, and for relatively little I had all day in the springs followed by a full body massage and 2 excellent meals. Returning to Quito the next day by bus I threw everything into the laundry, sorted through emails and then set out for Otavalo on Friday, the next day.
Otavalo has one of the largest street markets in northern South America, held on a Saturday, so I had time to orientate myself to the town, check in to the hostal (a great improvement on Banos) and find a great little restaurant (Lonely Planet recommended) where I had the best sea bass I´d tasted for some time. 3 nights there gave time to visit the market and the cathedral, as well as get a chance to meet some local people who, as in Bolivia, dressed in traditional costume. The second day I was able to hike (with guide and a Dutch girl) the volcanic Lake Coicocha, about 30 km from Otavalo. The 5 hour hike was truly worthwhile at this time of the year with many flowering shrubs and flowers, including orchids, and also a number of lizards at the higher points, sunbathing on the rocks. Sadly we failed to see a condor, but were assured by our guide there was a family nesting higher on the hillsides around the lake. It was great to be hiking again, particularly as had not hiked for 3 weeks or so, since Pasachoa.
The journey by bus back to Quito was straightforward with the usual competetive scrum by ticket vendors at the bus terminal to persuade you to buy a their company´s ticket! Back in Quito I prepared to fly to Manaus, Brazil, after taking a second yellow fever vaccination, having left my vaccination certificate in England......

Photo 1. Otavalo Market vendor dressed in traditional dress, the blouses were exquisitely embroidered and trimmed with lace.
Photo 2. A lizard egg at Lake Coicocha
Photo 3. A lupin-like flower at the lake.
Photo 4. A pink orchid on the higher hillsides around the lake.
Photo 5. Lake Coicocha from a high vantage point.
Photo 6. With Jaime, our guide.
Photo 7. The main plaza in Otavalo, the head is one of the Inca kings, with the cathedral in the background.
Photo 8. Early morning on the lake hike, as it warmed up the clouds dispersed.
Photo 9. One of the 4 hot pools at Runtun.
Photo 10. The cloud covered recently- active volcano at Banos.
Photo 11. Banos viewed from the hot pool!

Ecuador and over to the Galapagos Islands

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pretty lively











A 3 hour flight from Quito and I reached Baltra Island airport on the Galapagos Islands and for the next 4 days was based on the Amigo, a tourist class cruiser which I shared with 12 other tourists. Given I was the 13th I was fortunate in having a cabin ( with bathroom) to myself so was able to retreat there when sharing a boat with a total of 18 (including crew) others became too much on a small boat.
The food was of a high standard and included most of my favourite foods, and the company at meals and other times was very entertaining. I met a Danish couple, Claus and Mette, and Wojcheck and Elizabeth from Poland, all of whom were very welcoming given they had already been on the boat for 4 days. The remaining tourists from Holland were in a group of 8 and apart from the odd occasion stayed together as a quiet and closed group. The last night of the cruise the intrepid 5 went into Puerto Ayora by dingy and sampled the delights of tequila and pina colada etc and used the water taxi to return to the Amigo, much later.

The days were spent either hiking and seeing the flora and fauna unique to the Galapagos, as well as climbing or walking on volcanic soil or lava deposits, in amazing formations. When not hiking we were able to go snorkelling in the bays on the islands we visited in the 4 days. The 3 or 4 currents that meet around these islands bring with them many fish seen at the Great Barrier Reef, Australia and from elsewhere. Some of the islands with mangrove forests on the shoreline are where green turtles are to be seen in large numbers, in fact their mating grounds areas also shared with white tipped reef sharks. Other fish seen when snorkelling include: damsel fish, stingrays, sargeant fish, parrot fish, lizard fish, king angel fish, sunset wrasse, and the dramatic Pacific Burr fish (also known as the puffer fish) and many more. Sea lions would often join us, swimming alongside when we were snorkelling, they are the most amazing creatures when in the water. Other animals seen from the dighy were the smallest penguins in the world, though their name escapes me.

Claus and I made a habit of diving off the boat and swimming before breakfast, a highly ennervating way of starting each day!

Dealing with the typical South American scrum at the airport when flying back to Quito was part of the experience though I was sad to leave this very special place.

Photo 1. The first sunset viewed from the boat.

Photo 2 (and 3!). A land iguana on Santa Cruz island. All animals here have no fear of humans so it is possible to get quite close, though we were continually warned not to touch any animals.

Photo 4. The Amigo viewed from Bartolame Island.

Photo 5. A pelican on the laval rocky outcrop.

Photo 6. The mangrove forest and a view of a green turtles´ back.

Photo 7. The pinnacle (the classic landmark of the Galapagos) and bay viewed from the summit of an extinct volcano on Bartolame Island.

Photo 8. The phototake on the summit.

Photo 9. The lava rocky beaches, great for snorkelling !

Photo 10. Red `Sally´crabs, seen on all the islands shores.

Photo 11. The formations of laval deposits on the younger islands (a joyful moment!).

Photo 12. The captain of the Amigo, a great bloke!

Photo 13. A frigate bird following the boat, an especially noticeable presence when the chef was preparing a meal. Sadly I did not see any albatrosses, though the others had in their first 4 days.

Photo 14. A sandy and laval shoreline, where marine iguana´s could often be seen particularly in the rockpools.

Photo 15. This type of ´tree cacti´was the main plant on this part of Santa Cruz where we waw many iguana´s, both of the land and marine variety.

Photo 16. A marine iguana, seen near to the shoreline.

Photo 17. A giant turtle, probably 150 years old or more.

Mainly seen inland again on Santa Cruz as they prefer fresh water.

Photo 18. A pelican waiting for food from the boat´s kitchen, there would orten be 6 or so pelicans, usually in the water, and the same number of frigate birds, as well as a collection of sergeant major fish under the boat!

Photo 20. Our final night on the town.