Discovering what lurks beneath

Hola Amigos,

Being over a week since my last update, i guess it is long overdue for the latest installment what with this supposedly being a weekly blog and all.

Today we are tired, (altogether now, ahhhhh) its a shame for us, i know. The reason for our flagging bodies is that yesterday we spent from 8am until 11.30pm on three different buses, as we weaved, or more precisely zig zagged our way, from the coastal haven of Puerto Lopez, back centrally into the mountains to our current destination, Latacunga. We expected the journey to be a little awkward as its not really a common route, but i´m not sure i was expecting quite such a long time staring at the back of somebodies head. Thankfully all the buses were reliable and motored along without problem, the only annoyance for us was the young girl in the seat behind, who couldn´t keep her hands off our hair, for roughly 6hours. At first you smile and giggle, then you try to ignore, then you plead with the mother, and finally you just block out all existence or sense of being on a bus at that particular point. Personally i chose to fully immerse mind and body in the calming waters of Carribean waters, with a cool beer in my hand and only the worries of Derby County and Steve McLaren to occupy my mind. It was bliss. I imagine Maya picked a similar spot, although maybe without the tactical conundrums.

Anyhow, moving on, our time on the coast was incredible. All in all i managed to fit in three or four days surfing, which is like a totally far out scene man. Its such an addictive sport, similar i suppose in satisfaction to ski ing or more directly snowboarding. Its sufficiently hard to be challenging, but still achievable. I could quite easily have spent a few weeks, with the days consisting of a relaxing morning, surfing in the evening, then a few socialable drinks to while away the evening. Quite pleasant i can assure you. And in a seemless link, that was exactly how my birthday was spent. Tackled the surf and then got drunk with a group of Irish. Was a good giggle.

The next day wasn´t too bad considering. Which was a good job really as firstly i had to endure the bumpiest bus journey imaginable. It was similar to spending an hour and a half on a bouncy castle with Andy Fordham and Jo Brand for company. Holy moly. But the reward for making it to Pueto Lopez with last nights frivolities still firmly rooted in my stomach was the first day of our scuba diving course. I´m not sure if i´ve explained this fully, but basically myself and Maya decided to tackle a diving course as a wee treat for my birthday and with Ecuador being a known hot spot for the activity, it seemed like a good time to see what lurks beneath. It was a three day intensive PADI course (normally it is usually spread into at least 6 or 7 days), and ultimately it was pretty knackering. On completion you become a fully qualified scuba diver, which in practice simply means that we are now able to arrive anywhere in the world, hire some equipment and toddle off on our tod in the great unknown. In reality i think both myself and the Maz would like to have at least a couple more supervised dives before we venture off on our own.

Over the three days, we completed a practice session in a hotel swimming pool and four dives of between 30 and 40 mins at roughly 10-15 metres in the Pacific Ocean. The dives were so amazing, you left the water feeling so privilidged as well as with bundles of excitement and exuberance. The tiring part of the course was just trying to learn all the theory, as we had daily tests and a final exam to pass on the sunday night. The final days dives were spent at the island de la plata, which is known as the ´poor man´s galapagos´. It was absolutely incredible. I think the highlight for both of us was diving with a group of turtles. The were quite inquisitive and not in the least bit afraid of us, meaning we could get a great view of these perculiar creatures in their natural habitat. We were diving around coral which was just packed full of life. There were moray eels hiding in the rocks, sea snakes and stingrays on the sea bed, and countless different types of fish, in all shapes and sizes and packed with all the colours of the rainbow. Puffer fish were fantastic to see, as the inflated and just floated about. Shoals (sp?) of fish would come wizzing by as your just floating about trying to take it all in. It was just a fantastic experience, and since we both passed with flying colours, its something we would both love to tackle again sometime, with Columbia being our next posible dive site. I can´t wait.

That was passed on the sunday, and we basically spent monday just chilling and catching our breath back before we headed on. From here in Latacunga, tomorrow we are going to head to the Quilatoa Loop, which is basically a scenic road that circles around some supposedly beautiful lagunas and volcanoes. We are probably going to try and stop off at a wee town along the way somewhere and spend a couple of days doing some walking to see if it lives up to its reputation. That should take us to the weekend when we are going to head back south a short way to explore more volcanoes and slowly work our way east to wards the jungle. I´m really excited about that actually. Also pretty soon we will be in Quito, hopefully at a time when it is the cities annual festival, much like the one in Cuenca only on a much bigger scale. It would be nice if we can be there for that to see some more crazy antics, there also a big bullfighting festival apparently, so there might be a chance for me to satisfy my curiosity.

All in all, we should probably have another two or three weeks in Ecuador, especially if we take another spanish course in Quito, which i would like to do. Another three weeks in this particular country suits me just fine. In the words of Ronald McDonald, `im loving it!`

Hope all is well back home. I´m off now, hopefully to watch the England game so long as ESPN stick with their planned schdule and don´t just decide to throw out whatever they fancy as they have done before.
All the best
Rob