Guatemala City /Antiqua

We had one hell of a bus ride from Granada/Managua in Nicaragua to Guatemala City. This 17 hour bus journey involved three border crossings (into Honduras, El Salvador, and eventually Guatamala) and a bus change. But we arrived safe and sound in our hotel in Guatamala city. Bernard and I couldn't get over how much Guatamala City look and feels like little United States, with locals speaking English with distinctly American accents. We had a quick bite to eat at an Italian restaurant, then slept soundly for 10 hours in our wonderful business class hotel – it was worth every penny for that kind of comfort.

The next morning we set off for Antigua. It rained pretty much all day – so although we explored a little of this charming town on foot, it wasn't until the next day when the clouds disappeared that Antigua showed us just how quaint and charming it really is. We bought more souvineers, and I even salivated over some of the great quality jewellery they had in stock. Last night we had a lovely evening talking to the manager of a Thai Restaurant who also played the piano for us (and other diners of course). Today we came across an awesome looking wine bar, so we're heading there for dinner and drinks tonight. Antigua is a great little town – understandable why people stay longer to learn some spanish or some other activity. The ruins are lovely and when the clouds eventually lift from the Volcanos, the views are quite something. Tomorrow afternoon we fly to Flores to see the ancient Maya Ruin of Tikal. I'm very much looking forward to that.

Isla de Ometepe

This island is pretty unique place, formed by two volcanos in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. Its only just over an hour's taxi ride from Granada – and another hour by ferry. We stayed in a fabulous cabin just outside the main town on the island. The German owner was quirky, as were other guests there, but we had a lovely time. The sun was shining on our full day of activities – so much so that Bernard and I got rather burnt. (It still surprises us that despite our fantastic tans, we can still burn so easily.) We hired scooters and set off to explore the island – 16km into our ride, mine broke down, so Bernard stayed with the scooter whilst I drove back to town. An hour later problem was solved – the owner's brother was to be our guide for the day, so he took me on his motercycle and Beranrd continued on the scooter.

We saw lots of stunning birds, capuchin monkeys, howler monkeys, iguannas, lizards and butterflies. We went swimming in the “Eye of Water” water natural spring which was great fun, had a lovely lunch on the beach between the two volcanos, and finished off the day looking at a green lagoon and a sandbar that has created a natural pier with great views of both the volcanos. We enjoyed a few beers, played cards with others, and were pleased that the weather showed us a little kindness whilst we were there. Because for the four days after Isla de Omtepe it rained constantly – to such an extent that we even bought an extra half-day accommodation in Granada whilst we waited for our 3am nightbus to Guatamala City.

Granada

Couldn't help but sing the song Granada in my head whilst wondering around the streets (even though the song is about Spain, not Nicaragua). Lets be honest, Nicaragua is cheap, the countryside is lush and gorgeous, though if Bernard and I hadn't become such seasoned travellers, I can safely say that at times I would be quite unnerved by this country. There is still an edge here – the kids beg in the streets because they want to buy western food, not because they are hungry. And they are strong, if you say no, they just stand there and ask again. If you are forceful they will mock you and sometimes even swear “F**k you” to your face. You get looked at with distrust and some degree of jealousy. But, on the other hand, a smile and friendly “Buenos Dias” from us would evoke lovely big open smiles from so many locals. Where there is tourist infrastructure it is clearly influenced by the States – understandably when you see many American retirees living here. We spent a full three days in Granada – probably more than we needed given it rained a lot of the time were were there.

Our one sunny day we went to Masaya, a lovely market town about half an hour outside of Granada. We took a local (chicken) bus which took forever as it slowly ambled through the streets looking for passengers. But we did get to watch Hellboy in Spanish so it was quite a novel experience. We bought lovely hammocks and wondered around the streets soaking up everything. The one memory that will stay with me of Granada is the “family of rocking chairs”. There are no sofas/lounges in people's homes – rather every member of the family has their own rocking chair. So in every house you'd pass you'd see about five or six rocking chairs clustered around the coffee table. At night time you'd see families rocking away whilst watching a novella (soap opera) or chatting over the day's gossip.  

Monteverde

As mentioned before, the sun shone the morning we left Arenal so on the jeep-boat-jeep connection to Monteverde we got a great view of the volcano and the surrounding area. The road to Monteverde was a little bumpy and hilly, but was just wonderful when we arrived, if perhaps a little American (as is the rest of Costa Rica though). We stayed in a nice little hostel, met a lovely English couple who in so many ways were carbon copies of Bernard and I. We went on night walks in the forrest and continued to see amazing wildlife – more sloths, glowing fungus, tarantulas, vipers (snakes), amazingly bright fireflies. We went on the most amazing zip line – the distances were so long that a few times Bernard and I went together (when that happened we went incredibly fast). The highlight for me was doing the Tarzan swing – scary and exhilerating.

We also went to visit a wonderful butterfly garden – on the way there we walk through a lovely misty forrest area and saw a large family of capuchin monkeys. They were so playful and curious about us! When we arrived at the butterfly garden it started raining and my heart sank – butterflies don't tend to fly when its raining. But the lady was great – she showed us around the bug collection first (and boy are some of these bugs HUGE) and by the time we made it to the butterfly enclosures the rain had stopped, it warmed up and the butterflies were floating around so magnificently. As with all things in the cloud forrest area, by the time we finished our tour, we had a few moments to admire the hummingbirds before the rain started again. Monteverde was just lovely – we ate at a local style restaurant a lot and occasionally ate western food – though our hostel cooked delicious pancake breakfasts which can make any stay feel a tad more luxurious. When it rained we watched the spectacular lightening displays coming in from the pacific. I'd recommend this place to anyone in a heartbeat.

Volcan Arenal

We haven't really had good luck when it came to volanco climbing/watching. We've seen so many wonderful pictures of friends standing close to lava, and had hoped that Costa Rica's most active volcano would step up and show us what its all about. However, it wasn't the case. We arrived in beautiful mountains of Costa Rica and weren't entirely sure there was a volcano nearby – in actual fact, Arenal hides in clouds so much that we only saw it for a brief moment on the final day as we were checking out of our hotel. Arenal hasn't had an eruption since early October 2010 so there was no lava for us to see. And, like our time in the mountainous area of Panama, it rained pretty heavily for a lot of the day. We pottered around town buying wooden souvineers, eating in American style restaurants – I had my first proper salad for some time – quite the luxury.

On our day trip, we visited hanging bridges reserve and had a fantastic morning with mother nature. I spotted some howler monkeys (we heard them later on), we saw many species of birds, Costa Rica's famous blue jean frog (its tiny and red with bright blue legs, like its wearing jeans), snakes, Peccory (wild pigs) and sloths. After lunch the heavens erupted and it rained well into the night. So our walk on the edge of the volcano was sodden but interesting, and the luxurious hot springs were fantastic, but felt tepid as the cold rain fell. The moment the rain stopped the hot springs definetely felt hot. The springs were fantastic – they were certainly the poshest version we've ever been to - we had a drink poolside (and yes, they were pricey too) and then had a lovely dinner before returning to our hotel and then our jeep-boat-jeep connection to Monteverde the next morning.

San Jose

We flew from Bocas del Torro to San Jose because of the difficulties we had flying into Panama without a proof of onward journey. It seems to be somewhat of a catch 22, for we had the same problem trying to fly into Costa Rica – therefore we bought another flight from San Jose to Nicaragua right there at the airport so we could land in Costa Rica. These sorts of things don't seem to be as problematic at bus border crossings, that's for sure.

So we arrived safe and sound in San Jose. Not much to say about San Jose – we stayed two nights a week apart in a darling hostel owned by this adorable Nicaraguan gay guy called Frederico. The hostel was just wonderful – art deco interior and full of great people. A whole bunch of people (including Bernard) watched the final NBA match of the playoffs – thankfully Miami lost. We soaked up lots of hints from travellers who had already been further north. We didn't really do anything in San Jose but it was a convenient place to visit as part of your onward travelling.

Bocas del Torro

Ah, wonderful Bocas del Torro. After crossing over the continental divide to the Carribean coast, we had days and days of glorious weather in Bocas del Torro. We stayed in another guesthouse on the outskirts of the main town. Bocas is a bit on the pricy side so we made thorough use of our superb kitchen most days. Ham and cheese toasties with hot sauce has certainly become a favourite. Bernard was quite at home at the guest house, watching hummingbirds buzz around the feeders whilst sitting lazily in a hammock. The first few days took a little getting used to the intense sunshine and heat. One afternoon we rode for 40 minutes on the guesthouse's pushbikes to a lovely surf beach. The bike ride was magnificent, following the coast most of the way, spotting birds and listening for other wildlife. There was no surf – just dead flat – but a great afternoon regardless.

We spent two of our days snorkelling amongst the reefs and islands. We saw lots of vibrant corral one day, and the other day, swarms and swarms of fishes. Bernard was even lucky enough to see a shark and another large sting ray. We went sloth hunting and even saw one moving. We spent to Red Frog beach - saw the Red Frogs courtesy of the young boys selling viewings for a dollar. Had a beer/wine relaxing whilst the sun went down. We dined over the water a few times and the rest of our time relaxed in what was Panama's little slice of heaven. Bocas del Torro has definetely been one of the highlights of my trip thus far.

David/Boquete

OK, I've done it yet again – not kept up with my blogging and so now have to write at least ten entries all at once. All I really remember of my time in the highlands of Panama was rain. It rained when we were on the incredibly cramped bus from Panama to David City – it rained when we arrived in Boquete and pretty much rained every day from 11am to dawn. We stayed in a lovely guesthouse just out of town, owned by an American who married a lovely Panamanian woman. The guesthouse was an extremely comfortable place to be for a few days of wet weather, in that we were very fortunate.

We did our first zip lining experience here – which was very good fun. We met a lovely Californian couple on their honeymoon and enjoyed bumping into them in Boquete and again in Bocas del Torro. One morning, it was raining very lightly so we walked up into the cloud forrest. We didn't see any wildlife to note, but it was great being in the great outdoors for a bit. After getting our feet completely soaked crossing our third huge puddle/impromptu creek, I gave up trying to avoid them and enjoyed (with childlike enthusiasm) walking directly through every subsequent puddle/creek we came across.

Apologies for absence in writing

I write this blog for my own purposes, but also to let friends/family know of my travels.  Given I have had such a prolonged absence from writing, I must admit to others and to myself that May was an emotional month for me.  I have been terribly homesick for England - especially so since parting ways with Mark back in Cusco. Everything kept me thinking of the UK - the Royal Wedding, people I met on the road, Harry Potter (!!!), even my dreams were full of England.  So I avoided emails and internet for some time.  Instead I buried myself in wedding planning and trying to enjoy being on the road.

Colombia soothed with its friendly locals and wonderful travelling without being saturated with extranjeros (foreigners).  Even still, I started to hint to Bernard that I am getting tired of travelling and want to go back to Australia sooner than later. About two weeks later, Bernard his this plateau in his enthusiasm and we decided to move more swiftly, much to my relief.

Every time I tried to write my blog, I had to be reminded of how I felt in Ecuador and so I gave up pretty quickly. But now, after nearly three weeks of good fun in Colombia & Panama I felt ready to write again.  I can't wait to get back to Australia - to see everyone again, proper time, not rushed visits, and to no longer live in a suitcase.  I can't wait to cook in a kitchen, to go vegetable shopping, to drink really good wine again.  I can't wait for time to go quickly so our wedding will finally arrive and I can see some of our mates from the UK again.

So I promise to myself to write more frequently because we're in the home stretch - in less than two months we'll be finished, so I must make the most of every moment, be patient when buses run hours late, when people party in the hostel outside my room on Fri/Sat nights. Because it will be over before I know it.

Lots of love to everyone.

Panama Canal

This was on my “must see” list for central america. Such an amazing feat of engineering, it was just awe-inspiring to turn up to the canal at 9.30am and see three huge Northbound vessels lining up to enter the Miraflores dock. We were fortunate that we read the guide books beforehand and found out that between 9 – 11am and 3-5pm are best times for viewing. We spent nearly three hours at the canal admiring the process – the largest of the ships was charged $40KUS to enter the canal – apparently this is ten times cheaper than the alternative sailing up to 21 days to circumnavigate south America. We viewed the muesum at the visitor's centre and noted how little was mentioned about the environmental impact of the canal and their expansion plans (which were passed by majority of 77% in a referrendum). But you can appreciate the economic imperitive to allow the canal to expand – after the US reaped the benefits of their initial investment, you can't blame the Panamaericans to want to benefit as well.  Well worth the visit.

After the canal we went and saw Que Paso Ayer? II (The Hangover II) for the bargain price of $3 - this was great fun being in air conditioned comfort after a few steaming hot days in San Blas.  Off to David/Boquete region tomorrow to chill out in the cloud forrest before heading to Bocas del Torro for some more snorkelling/island experiences.

San Blas Islands

Early start that's for sure. We got picked up at 5.15am for our 4x4 journey to the pick-up point for boats in the San Blas. Along the way we stopped to pick up more passengers – not usually a problem but these Israeli's were not particularly sensitive to the needs of others and they kept us waiting for over half an hour (without apology) because they weren't organised enough to go shopping beforehand. We eventually left and then took the rollercoaster ride on the new road through the jungle into Kuna land (Kuna are the people of the San Blas region and have complete Governance over their land) and eventually found ourselves on our boat, the Sailing Koala.

Fabian is a Colombian capitan who has been sailing backpackers and other tourists between Cartagena in Colombia to San Blas islands in Panama for 14 years. He is professional, polite and gets along well with the Kuna. It was hot hot hot on the water with little breeze and clouds, so Bernard and I were eager to get into the water – after an hour or so crusing we were taken to this lovely island where we were based for most of our trip. We snorkelled for hours around the reef using our new camera, realised we were getting burnt so tried to hide from the sun. We ate lobster for dinner that night, prepared by the Kuna on the island. We tried to sleep in our cabin, but it was just too hot with both of us in there, so I ended up sleeping outside underneath the stars. It was just lovely – then the sun rose and it got hot again. We saw dolphins – the first time I was swimming and they were about 3 metres away from me – the second time we saw a mother and baby swim right beside our boat.

We went diving off old ship wrecks (very cool), kayaed around the islands and ate fish, seafood, rice, chips and lentils for nearly every meal. When weather turned we enjoyed the comfort of the boat, sleeping well whilst it stormed outside, the gentle rocking motion soothing rather than disruptive. We visited a traditional Kuna village and bigger modern township of Carti – both lifestyles remarkably impovrished but resilient – the Kuna are in desperate need of better waste disposal (sewerage and rubbish). The traditional dress of the women is just lovely and the sense of community in this area is very strong.

Arriving in Panama City

After being checked very thoroughly by Colombian police at the cartagena airport (presumably for drugs) we arrived safe and sound in Panama City. After repeatedly trying to give directions to our hostel, (they are extremely complicated) we eventually arrived at our hostel. A slight problem with our booking but the hostel owner was so lovely and we had air conditioning in the room so we were happy enough. Went to an American influenced restauruant for dinner and ate really well for cheap and slept soundly that night.

Next day went to the biggest shopping mall we've encountered for many many years with quite competitive prices – much better than buying goods in South America. Our taxi journey was a bit difficult – the guy picked up other passengers along the way and so Bernard gave him less money – and he went wild. It upset me a bit, but all the locals were laughing when Bernard said “son of a bitch” to him in Spanish, so the guy drove off and the matter was resolved. Took me a few moments for my heart rate to return to normal, but once it did I thoroughly enjoyed myself shopping. We bought a camera we can use under water, I bought a new bikini and flip-flops, Bernard bought board shorts. Spotting a theme here? That's right, most of our highlights throughout central America is the snorkelling and beaches, so we have equipped ourselves appropriately.

Whilst at the shopping mall the heavens opened and monsoonal rain started (and lingered for the rest of the day) so no other sight seeing for us. We made our way to another hostel to pay for our tour to San Blas islands, then got another cab back to our hostel. On the way the wheel came completely off its axle and so we were stuck in the pouring rain in the middle of Panama City. Fortunately it wasn't really a problem – the city is pretty safe, we hailed another cab without too much difficulty and made it back to our hostel to dry off. The guests at the hostel were super lovely, so we ended up chatting to them for the rest of the day, we ordered pizza for dinner, packed our bags for San Blas.

Cartagena

Cartagena old town is just lovely. It isn't nearly as impressive as the walled city of Debrovnik, but it is very livable and remarkably modern. By that I mean that the spanish colonial architecture has been well maintained but also turned into modern comfortable living. The old town is expensive, but well worth staying in that part of town. We arrived mid afternoon in town, got ourselves comfortable in our charming little hostel before exploring some of the town for dinner. We paid over the odds prices but had a wonderful meal and coctails. The next day we headed off to the port to try and find a boat to sail to Panama.

The only boat leaving during the next week that wasn't full was small and operated by guys who didn't give the appearance or behaviour of professional captains – more like guys who just want to have fun sailing around on their boat and took backpackers with them to make some cash. Not what we were wanting for 2 days crossing the open seas. Other boats were being cancelled here and there, so it all seemd easier and more reliable to arrange boats to San Blas from Panama (which thankfully we managed to). We booked (expensive) last minute flights to Panama City and onward flights to Costa Rica.

We drank beer on the city walls whislt the sun set, and cooked ourselves up storm in the best hostel kitchen we've ever experienced – Risotto one night, fajitas the next night – I tell you we felt so at home in Cartagena – we would have loved to have stayed longer except it was prohibitively expensive to do so. Did we do anything in particular in Cartagena – well no. Its just a great place to wonder aimlessly for a few days.

Santa Marta and Tayrona NP

Welcome to the tropics! Most people come to Santa Marta to organise hiking tours to visit Cuidad Perdida (The Lost City) or to visit Tayrona National Park. We skipped the 20 hour bus journey and flew as flights were under $100US. We arrived it was hot hot hot and hadn't rained for days. Our hostel was great – a bit of a party place, but actually enforced its rules of 12am music off and bar closed. We met some nice people there and had a fantastic air conditioned ensuite room so we stayed a few days longer.

Bernard really wanted to do the lost city, but so many people said that walked in the wet season (ie May – September) made it a very difficult and at times quite miserable trip (ie hiking in soaking wet clothes/boots for 6 days). We understood why – two out of the four days we were in Santa Marta it rained quite heavily ALL day. But in between those days we had lovely hot weather. On those days we went to the cinema (watched the Fast and Furious 5) and went to the Tayrona NP to enjoy their isolated and pristine beaches. We even bumped into our Slovakian friends on the local bus which was a pleasant surprise. Santa Marta is a pretty grim town – getting home from dinner in nearby village of Taganga the road was blocked by burning car tyres. Even the taxi driver was aprehensive at this point, half expecting the car to be held up on the back streets we took to get back to the hostel. Nothing happened of course. Our few days at the Dreamer Hostel were really great and we were excited to be making our way to Cartagena and onward to San Blas.

Bogota, in all its wet glory

Poor ol' Colombia is being hit with one of its wettest winters in last fifty years. Never was that more evident then being in Bogota where it rained pretty much every day, and some days violently hard for the entire day. At that altitude (2700m) the town can get pretty cold and miserable in that weather. But Bernard and I made the best of it. We did a tour with our hostel of the local fruit market (lots of different fruit in this part of the world) then went to play Tajo which we had watched in Salento with some amusement. Its very hard to play and it took me at least my first beer to hit the clay pit – but by my second beer I had the knack and was beginning to play rather well.

It was a little bit diconcerting being in Bogota – our safety briefing when we arrived at our hostel was pretty severe with neighbourhoods you simply must not visit – don't take you passport outside the hostel unless you absolutely must, and don't flash your camera around too much. Walking around we felt safe enough during the day, but didn't stray far from the hostel for our evening meals.

We visited the Museo de Oro (Gold Museum) which is overwhelming with the vastness of the displays. You can see the craftmanship going from skilled to damnright impressive over the centuries – and the wealth of some of these indigenous tribes is incredible. After that we visited the Museo de Moneda (Money Museum) which had a lot of old machinery and currency – some of the Spanish coins from 18^th century were very impressive. Finally we visited the Botero Gallery right next door and particularly enjoyed the Mona Lisa – complete with an active volcano in the background. But we both agreed that the Museum of Antiquolla in Medellin is far superiour a collection.

Day trips in Salento

Our two big day trips included visiting a small organic coffee farm and were impressed that we understood the tour given in Spanish (he did speak slowly for us) and the coffee was lovely. The farmers drink up to 6 cups of their strong coffee a day – one cup was enough to keep me buzzing for hours. The walk to the coffee plantation was part of the pleasure – it was downhill on the way there, and quite a bit harder walk uphill back to the hostel. On the way we bumped into some locals who had their music turned up and were playing this weird game on their Sunday afternoon. They were throwing 2kg stones from 20 metres into a clay pit trying to hit a target. I squeeled rather loudly (much to the amusement of the locals) when one lad hit the target and the gun powder exploded with such a loud bang. I was not expecting that. We were enchanted and watched the game for a further 15 minutes before heading down to the coffee farm. On our way back a few hours later they were still at it – but this time everyone was drinking beers and a crowd of men were watching. So we stayed for another half a hour to watch them. It was a wonderful afternoon.

Our second day trip (well afternoon trip) was to visit the Valle de Cocora – incredibly impressive sight – this valley contains the worlds tallest palm trees, and they are the second tallest trees in the world after the Redwoods/Sequollas in California. It had been extremely wet in the region so the bridge to cross into one of the paths was washed away – it was being re-built as we were there. That meant we took a steep hike onto some farmer's land (as everyone other visitor, Colombian and foreign, was doing) to get amongst some of the trees. We would have walked for longer except I kept slipping and lost my confidence on the trail – and a big storm was blowing into the valley. Catching the jeep back to Salento was quite an experience – the jeep was very small, so small that Bernard wouldn't fit in very comfortably so he stood holding on the back – much like how we used to hold onto the back of the ute on the farm. It made for a wonderful afternoon and fantastic time in the Zona Cafeteria.

Beautiful Salento

What a wonderful place to visit – a bit of a mission getting to Salento from Medellin – we had to wait an hour for a cycling race to finish and our weekend bus meant a 7 hour journey ended up taking 10 hours. But in the end we got to our countryside hostel without any problems. Here we encountered nothing but friendliness – we were overwhelmed by how genuine everyone was – the countryside was just gorgeous. It was the weekend so Salento was full of people from the nearby city of Armenia who were there to enjoy the food (trout) and sit by the main square drinking well into the evening.

Our hostel was run by volunteers so though they were lovely it was all a bit hap-hazard – we even had to change rooms during our stay as a favour to them. But we met some wonderful Slovakian boys (5 boys travelling rapidly through Colombia over 16 days). We bumped into them at the hostel, then later again at the Coffee Plantation, and then enjoyed their company drinking at the hostel til 1am – and yes, Bernard actually went to bed before I did!!! Would you believe it, but we even bumped into them a week later on a local bus to Tayrona National Park. Impresive. I think these infectious young (but mature) men really topped off our Salento experience with their good humor. We even managed to catch up with some other friends we keep bumping into along South America.  

The incredibly surprising Medellin

Welcome to Colombia. How wonderful it was to leave Ecuador and arrive in Colombia. Poor Ecuador – we really needed a change. We caught the local bus into Medellin town centre and marvelled at how easy it was to take the metro – so incredibly clean and efficient (and cheap). Our hostel was in a lovely residential area and we felt for the first in a very long time, like we were in a truly modern city, safe and comfortable. Funny really, because the only reason we went to Medellin is because of Entourage – a show that Jen Holdstock got me into, and Bernard and I both enjoy quite a lot. We're so glad we went.

We rode the metro cable car network over the poorer areas of town – amazing views and clearly a lot of poverty in Medellin – some of the dwellings in the slums were so precarious that we wondered how many people were swept away with landslides every year. We took the cable car up to a national park literally just on Medellin's doorstep. The park wasn't that impressive in its own right, but walking around in a big park then catching the $2.50 cable car back into town was fantastic fun. Later we visited what has to be one of the highlights of my trip – the Museo de Antiquolla had a huge wing of Botero, a fabulous artist from Medellin. Botero gave so much of his most valued works for free to the museum (especially so after the death of Escobar). He is such a clever commentator on art, society and modern life. After the muesuem we had drinks at a local bar - imagine a small off-licence that has a 4 table patio out the front – that is a local bar! Fantastic.  

Galapagos – the highlights

We spent 5 days in the Galapagos – it was wonderful to be there amongst nature that is so uninhibited around humans, though I must admit that I was expecting something different. Our time in Africa and Manu had set our expectations rather high – although we saw lots of wildlife, we kept seeing the same things over and over again (marine iquanas, sea lions, turtles, boobies, frigits, darwin finches). The best bits of Galapagos was seeing a Killer Whale swim by, seeing fur seals, swimming with sea lions, turtles, penguins and sting-rays, amongst many other species of fish, and meeting some lovely Americans (New Yorkers) on our boat. The staff on the boat were fantastic – we ended up translating for our non-Spanish speaking companions when the staff were wishing the women Feliz dia de la Madre (Happy Mother's Day). I didn't sleep particularly well several nights on the boat due to rough seas, and found myself with terrible land sickness when we landed on our final day. It took a full 24 hours for the worst of the symptoms to die down, although Bernard probably suffered with it for longer than I, a full 2 days later in Quito.

In the end we spent another few days in Quito, relaxing in the comfort of our friendly hostel. Our plans to see Otovalo market on a day trip were thwarted by unusually heavy traffic, and so we splurged on our final night with the best sushi I've had for ages. Really unique flavouring of sweet, sour and spicy. Delicious. We even had entre, main and desert – a real indulgence and a great way to finish in Ecuador.

Our Galapagos adventure

We continued to be plagued by our Ecuador curse, as we were informed the night before our departure to the Galapagos that our itinerary had been completely changed because of the National referendum on the third day of our tour – the changes ensured that all crew members were able to be near a township in order to vote. Whislt I am all for people exercising their constitutional rights, we bought our tour not 3 days before, specifically because of the yacht's itinerary. Staff would have had full knowledge at that time that the intinerary woud be subject to change, and yet we were not told anything until 6pm the day before. We were seriously unpleased and wrote a very firm email to that extent. The next day our flights were two hours late, meaning our first “day” on the cruise was already cut short. Needless to say I was a little grumpy when I arrived at the islands.

But then we arrived at our luxury cruiser and all my disappointment disappeared. The Grand Odessy was superb – our room as big as a 4-star hotel room, L'ocataine toiletries, a big shower; an entire upper deck with two jacuzzi's and 4 super-king size beds to lounge on; and an extra large sofa and dining room on the lower deck. We ate our lunch (at 3.30pm) then headed to Darwin conservation centre to see Lonesome George and all the other land tortoises in the centre's breeding programme. We arrived at the centre, and bang – there are marine iguanas in their dozens on the pier. They don't move a muscle when you get near them, so you take your photos, step over them and be on your way. At the centre we also saw our only land iguanas with their impressive yellow/orange colourings.

We met our other passengers and were only a group of 10, not 16 – whereas we bought the very last cabin. It appears that as a result of their mismanagement of the itinerary changes, three other couples cancelled their tour. As a result of our complaint and the complaints of others, the owner of the yacht made the necessary arrangements and paid the fines of the crew so that the intinerary would remain unchanged. All of us on the tour were very thankful for this move, but were disappointed at how the matter was handled.