ECUADOR ...
Our penultimate country and less than 4 weeks till we return to the UK … scary.

After an uneventful flight it was wonderful to be met by Beth and Ossie at the airport. Their 5th floor apartment is almost in line with the end of the runway and from 5:45 every morning they get the international planes taking off and landing. After a couple of days we soon got to used to the rumble and roar of their engines and it was quite pleasant to look out of the window and guess the airline as it thundered in.

Quito is known, at least locally, as “the navel of the world”. So after a couple of days relaxing we took a trip to this “middle of the world”, or “Mitad del Mondo”. There is a large monument here which was erected by a French guy who, through the use of celestial navigation and technical wizardry, deemed this to be the Equator line. Whilst the museum inside gives a fascinating description of all the various Ecuadorian cultures and history, the location is essentially wrong. If you take a walk 200m north you find the real equator line, as found by GPS, where you can do a number of experiments to prove the location is correct. One of the most fascinating is the old plug-hole experiment where water flows down the plug-hole anticlockwise to the north of the equator and clockwise to the south of the equator. This was very interesting to watch and whilst it is widely believed to be an urban myth, using the same bowl, same water and same plug, the experiment did seem to work. The other trick was balancing an egg on a nail which we've still yet to try here in the UK!

Quito, at 2700m altitude, is a very long and thin city that is sat in the base of a valley. Behind Beth and Ossies apartment is one of the mountain ranges that flanks the city at over 4000m. Looking out the back you could see a Teliferiqo (gondola) that carried people to the top to get the views. Each day we would look out and decide whether today was the day but by 9am the top was always in cloud. Finally, 4 days before we left we took the plunge and went up with Beth and Ossie. Whilst it was quite cloudy we did get some magnificent glimpses of the city below us until it started to hail and we ran for cover.

Another major touristy thing we did in Ecuador was to visit the Otavalo market where there are all sorts of Ecuadorian, Peruvian and Bolivian handicrafts on sale. We managed to find quite a few nice little pressies for people back home and some souvenirs for ourselves including a couple of hammocks!! The markets are a real hive of activity and are very bright and colourful.

We were introduced to Marlene, who is Beths Spanish teacher, and had a wonderful time with her. She took us round some of the sights and was a fantastic guide. We had lots of fun in the Spanish lessons and enjoyed picking up a little more of the Spanish language.

It was lovely to spend time with Beth and Ossie and to experience a bit of their lives in Ecuador. Their lab is coming along and we were very privileged to be able to help with a little painting and cleaning. Ossie explained some of the research they are going to be undertaking and it was really great to hear them so passionate about something that will be able to make a real difference to the lives of the Ecuadorians.
We enjoyed visiting their church too, which was really lively and felt very homely.
Ossies parents were very welcoming and, along with Beths lovely home-cooking we experienced some delicious Ecuadorian dishes. It was nice to eat good quality food too, which was rewarded by our stomachs settling down. The BBQ we had on our last Sunday was delicious and typically British – it rained, torrentially!

Unfortunately we have no readily available photos as our wretched Canon has decided to pack itself in and refuses to turn on. A disposable has had to suffice for a couple of weeks and at some point the photos might be scanned in and put on here.

So we have had a wonderfully relaxing time in Ecuador and feel ready to tackle the challenges facing us back home…