The first day we got to Banos, less than 5 minutes after we arrived Kirst was already tugging my sleeve leading us towards the nearest massage parlour. After the 8000 calorie-a-day climbs I guess we deserevd some relaxation. However my toes curled in agony, muscles set like concrete for 25 minutes where I seriously contemplated over powering the tiny massouse to stop her from pulling every muscle fibre and twangging it like a guitar string. Twingy foot syndrome was paramount...but apparently Kirst enjoyed herself. To the hot springs for some real relaxing - except like a thoushand squirming eels the pool was 95% Ecuadorians, 4% water and 1% bemused (and feeling very white) English. Humph!
The next day we hired mountain bikes to ride the ´Ruta de las Cascadas´ which turned into extreme showering as we stood beneath Palion del Diablo waterfall. This was the unstoppable force and unfortunately we were the very moveable objects. It was like having the majority of Lake Windermere refreshingly funelled into our faces. Later we stumbled upon yet another Jorge, an eccentric man who a few days previously had fallen off a cliff and feeling reckless ourselves we decided to try puenting (Ecuadorian bungee jumping). You need more balls than a Chinese ping pong tournament to throw yourself from the 150ft high bridge, and when the harness catches you, said balls become more thna a little tender. I am fairly sure that my internal organs fused together during this process forming a reddish gloop with the texture of a liquified jelly fish...still no problem eating dinner though!
On returning to Quito we quickly visited the Mitad del Mundo (centre of the world) so we could touristically be bisected by the Equator. Then following the big Charles D we headed to the Galapagos Islands, with the expense big enough to blow our wallets into smaller particles than found in the Large Hadron Collider.
We spent 5 days cruising the archipeligo on a 45ft catamaran living the life of royalty under the burning sun and snorkelling with an abundance of marine life in the turquoise sea. Our blood pressure increased as we swam with white tip reef sharks, mouths filled with water from smiling at the group of penguins darting past and we encountered complete serenity with 8 awe-inspiring eagle rays. But by far the most fun was had with the high on sugar sea lions who tugged on your flippers and appeared 2 inches from your nose show boating upside down. Our guide Edwin showed us (with more enthusiasm than I thought possible from one person) the fascinating volcanic formations, ridiculously tame birdlife and the GIANT tortoises. These magnificent creatures live their life at a speed which can be comfortably overtaken by the 7cm per year movement of the Galapagos Islands themselves - or they have smoked enough marijuana to last for 150 years.
We were joined on our boat by:
- Sagi and Goldman ( 2 wannabe Maverick Israeli fighter pilots)
- Zac (American medical student with flopsy enough hair to match Zac Efron)
- Sylvina (Swiss student who forgot her Tissot watch and missed her flight)
- Patrick (the only person I know to have escaped from Lichenstein)
- Antonio (Spaniard who gets his kicks from impersonating sea lions!)
If any of you read this then thank you for making our time on board so enjoyable. I think I would rather papershred my own fingers than spend a week on board a boat with a bunch on morons. so we were very lucky to have such great companions and guide. On our last day it was Kirst´s 18th birthday, so naturally we were travelling and she received only one very practical present (hair bobbles)...thanks Mum!!!
After one night in Guayaquil we are now going to head to Peru in search of Paddington Bear.
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