So what I've been up to in Ecuador!

So after spending a few days visiting Quito, La Mitad del Mundo (half of the world) site and an extinct volcano, I headed off to the coast! I spent a week travelling from Atacames (a resort town in north of Ecuador), to Manta (where I took a night bus that ended up breaking down), to Puerto Lopez (a beautiful fishing village, where I did a whale watching tour and saw FIVE humpback whales - truly amazing!), and finally to Montañita. I spent a few days in Montañita because it's a really nice/touristy/party/surfer town. I didn't do any surfing because the waves were small, but I did chill on the beach a lot. lol

I then travelled with some French buddies I met back in Puerto Lopez to Guayaquil, the biggest city in Ecuador. I had really expected the worst of this city because everyone I had met during my travels had really disliked the city. But surprisingly, the frenchies and myself actually quite liked it. It has a really nice Malecon (waterfront promenade) and some cool little neighbourhoods. It was nice being in the city again, after a week in small towns, eating only Arroz con pollo (rice with chicken).

Oh ya, here you can have an almuerzo (a lunch special that consists of a starter soup, with a main dish of either beef or chicken with rice, salad and plantaines), all for the small price of 2 dollars! I've seen some as cheap as 1 dollar! Crazy eh? Ya everything here is soooo cheap! I seriously feel like a millionaire here! I'm constantly buying food because everything looks sooo good. I'm gonna be fat by the time I get back home! haha

After that, I headed back into the mountains to a small tourist town called Baños. From there I did a 3 day tour of the nearby jungle. I had such a great time. We did tons of walking through the jungle, learning about the medicinal plants and the crazy insects and animals, and checking out beautiful waterfalls! My guide was awesome, but I did get scared a bit when he would take us on trails that were untrecked for a few days and when he would have to take out his macheté to clear the path. Oh and he even got bit by a spider which had hurt him like crazy (he was jumping around in pain) haha but thankfully it wasnt poisonous, but I was still freaked out nonetheless. lol
oh and there was this weird german guy on my tour, and we shared room...and during the night i woke up to him talking in his sleep, but in German! ya, it scared the shit out of me! lol

Then I headed back to Baños and relaxed there during the weekend. I did a crazy four hour hike, during which I ended up getting lost on this mountain...trying to find a viewpoint of a volcano. I would cross cow fields to try to find my trail, and i would wave a stick in the grass in front of me to hopefully scare any snakes that may have been around. lol but ya, it was a good hike.

After that, I headed off to Cuenca in the south of the country, where I am right now. It's a beautiful colonial city in a mountain valley. I was planning on staying here a week or two to study spanish and volunteer, but I decided to leave today for Loja, a city in the south. I wanted to stay here in Cuenca, but yesterday I checked out some language schools and it's really expensive. So I figured that for the price they want me to pay, I might as well teach myself! haha and I've been learning so much since I've been here, because hardly anyone speaks english! I can't believe how patient the people are with me because my spanish is horrible! but it's getting better! :) I think I may settle down in Lima, Peru for a bit and study there. I hear it's a pretty cool city. I'll probably head out that way in a week or two.

So yup, that's about all I've done so far. I'm having an awesome time here in Ecuador...the country and the people are beautiful.

Alright, well I hope all is well with you all!
Take care!

Ciao!