Catching up in Ecuador

Well i guess i haven't been so good in keeping you folk at home updated on on my where abouts and ongoings for the last wee while, but it can be difficult at times to get time & space to yourself when moving around and hitting the road so much. Have been out of action for last few days as I've been bit sick. Prob got some dodgy food/drink along the way somewhere, but sure thats to be expected at stages on the trip. Anyway the last month or so was prity jam packed, so here's a brief catch up...

After recovering from rio madness we went up to northern Brazil up to Salvador, nice city, but can be quite dangerous in places. Chilled out on a few nice beaches, as we needed a timeout after Carnaval. We then hit an island off the Brazilian coast called Ilha Grange. This was amazing! Very tropical like, lots of cool smaller islands and not many people about. Didnt get the chance to stay there too long unfortunately :-(

we headed down to South America's largest city; Sao Paulo for a very short stop off to catch a flight to the west coast; Ecuador. From my very brief look Sao Paulo was just enormous. Has something like over 15million people in the city. Crime there is a serious issue. Car-jackings and red light robberies are supposedly common, and i heard its even illegal just to slow down at red lights late at night; therefor no traffic, then drivers keep going. Crazy roads in this country too.

Well onto Ecuador after our flight from Brazil..
first impressions, an interesting place indeed, Quito the capital was a v.cool city but quite cold. Its something like over 3k+ meters above sea level, so i felt a little breathless at times with the altitude, and the lack of oxygen in the air.

we went down to Latacunga, just south of Quito, to a v.very remote village called Chugchillen. It had absolutely beautiful landscapes. Stayed in a wood cabin 4500 meters above sea level, basically in the midst of fantastic mountains, rivers and generally stunning scenery. As cool as it was, i still don't think it was as nice as Tores Del Paine national park in Argentina/Chile. That still blows me away. You fall in love with the picturesque views. Just amazing. I'm trying to imagine training in these surroundings back home, instead of running around the concrete city.

Next up in Ecuador was Banos further south. A very tourist orientated place, but great night life. And a good buzz around the place, with lots to do. Banos is positioned at the base of the (currently active) volcano; Tungurahua. It had a major eruption in 2006, and only a few months ago the town was on red alert for another, so we're a little apprehensive going there, but all was well. Though smoke is still coming out of its Crater. Met up with some sound English lads, and went whitewater rafting, canyoning down the sides of waterfalls and jumping into plunge pools from roughly 10 meters high, all great laugh! Really enjoyed Banos. Would definitely go back.

Oky, over and out for now. Next stop Galapagos Islands - an animal and nature heaven. This, I cant wait for!