Why are Panama Hats called Panama hats...

...when in fact the centre of their production is in Cuenca in southern Ecuador?
The answer is (of course) that they were worn by workers on the Panama canal in the 19th century to protect them from the sun. So despite being woven in and exported from Ecuador since 17th century, travellers to the Panama area came to call them Panamas.
They are made from the toquilla palm, which grows best in the humid, hilly inland regions of the Ecuadorian coast. The fibres are prepared in the coastal villages, then transported to Cuenca where they are woven and shaped into hats for tourists like us...


(don't worry, we resisted the temptation to buy!)

Quilotoa to Banos

After Cotopaxi, it was time to say goodbye to Quito once and for all and start heading south. We do after all have to make it all the way down to the bottom of Chile by Christmas (a mere 3000+ miles) so we had to make a move in that direction at some point!
Our next stop was a tiny little place called Quilotoa, famous for its dazzlingly blue volcanic crater lake, tucked away in the hills south of Ecuador's capital. A stunning sight by all accounts, which was just as well, as the journey to get to it would have tested the metal of the most hardy road traveller. Without going into too much detail, having seen the road, and the bus which was to transport us on the 3 hr journey to our destination of the village of Chugchilan, you would not have believed it possible. Still, as I kept telling myself, the bus drivers (most of whom could give Lewis Hamilton a run for his money) do this route every day, and several hundred heart-stopping moments later, we arrived in one piece.

The next day we were able to get a better look at the road (which I had previously only caught brief glimpses of, when I could bare to look) from the back of the pick-up in which we rode up to the volcanic lake, which was indeed stunning. The hike back to our hostel took most of the day and took in some amazing mountain scenery en route.

The next day we were off again, this time via the slightly incongruous mode of transport - the local school bus (in South America, as you quickly learn, any vehicle with a basic minimum requirement of 4 wheels (road-worthiness optional) is fair game as public transport!). But it did the job, and soon we were on our way to our next stop, the chilled out town of Banos.

As suggested by the name, Banos is a spa town, the waters being heated by the local active volcano, which puts on a regular show of spouting smoke and ash for those lucky enough to be there when its not raining... unfortunately this didn't apply to us. For the 5 days we stayed in Banos, the rain was pretty much incessant. Luckily rain is no object to an enjoyable white water rafting trip - quite the contrary - the fact that the river was about 3 m higher (and hence a lot faster) than usual made for an exciting (if quick) paddle down the river under a thunderous sky. We also managed an outing to the baths themselves - very theraputic.

Cotopaxi Trek

After a couple of days in Quito driving ourselves crazy trying to get hold of 'obvious' things like maps and stove fuel, we needed to get out of the traffic fumes and off the beaten track. So on Sunday we headed off on a trek around Cotopaxi - at 5897m the 2nd highest mountain (volcano) in Ecuador, still technically active, although hasn't errupted since 1904.

The first leg of the journey involved a bus south on the Pan American highway, to a small town called Machachi, where we caught a pick-up up the valley to Pansaleo, another smaller village.

We set off with a certain amount of trepidation, as we had been warned by a fellow traveller that one side of the volcano is notoriously boggy, and I had visions of sinking up to my waist, never to be seen again. We also knew that the maps we were using were printed with water-soluble ink, and traditionally didn't show all of the geographical features (sometimes choosing to omit paths, tracks and rivers...) Still, not to be discouraged, we started walking at arond 9am that day, and sweated our way up an ascent of over 1000m (that's the height of Snowdon), which at a starting height of 3160m, with 30lb packs, was no joke! At 4000m it definitely takes more breaths to get the required oxygen to the lungs!

Still, we were well rewarded by the magnificence of our eventual destination - a sheltered camp, under an imposing cliff, with what later turned out to be our best views of Cotopaxi for the whole trip...

For the next 4 days, we worked our way around this magnificent volcano, up and down over the extinct lava flows - at moments we were treated to tantalising glimpses of the cone, with its permanent snow fields, but for the most part it remained obstinately covered in cloud! (Nej - memories of watching Mount Fuji to clear!) The weather apart from this, though, was amzingly kind to us. Considering that we were at a height which in Europe would constuitute glaciers, snow, howling wind and sub-zero temperatures, we enjoyed conditions more similar to the Lake District at home!

As this is a route seems rarely undertaken, we were totally on our own for most of the trek, (bliss, after the chaos of Quito!) with some of the more rewarding moments coming when we met a few Ecuadorian 'campesinos', complete with traditional dress, ponchos, the works.

At one point, when we were struggling to ford a river, we heard a whistle, and looked up to see a mounted Ecuadorian, (probably from the hacienda several miles away) looking down bemusedly on our attempts to make progress. (Who knows how long he had been watching us, laughing to himself!) After offering us some local insight into how we should tackle the river, he then then kindly gave us directions for the next part of our route. The locals were entirely befuddled by what a pair of Gringos would be doing trekking around their local countryside in all weather, with huge packs, apparently just for the sheer hell of it (our explanations were met with confused smiles), but they were friendly encounters.

After 5 days of hard walking, we finally made it back to Mulalo, the town at the far end of our route, and again made it back to Quito for a well earned beer and hot shower, the elusive Cotopaxi remaining hidden to the last!

Don´t want to go....

Delayed our flight by another day. James went surfing with great enthusiasm but not much success. Petra went diving and was hugely happy to see flocks of rays and several hammerhead sharks. Don´t want to go back to nasty smelly noisy Quito!!

Galapagos Tour

Our final few days on the Galapagos were spent on a tour of some of the other islands with some other volunteers. Here´s what we got up to:

Day 1: Floreana (Santa Maria)

Floreana is one of the more southerly islands has a very checkered history with European settlers in the 1920s and 1930s disappearing in mysterious circumstances. In addition to looking around the island we did a couple of snorkels - we saw all sorts of fish, a few turtles and a white tipped reef shark. Also saw lots of bird life, including the ever amusing blue footed boobie!

At the end of the day we sailed to Isabella, the biggest island and our favourite. There are some wet lands which flamigoes visit at dusk but we only saw 1 - nevermind the sunset was stunning.

Day 2: Isabella

A trip had been organised to head to the top of Volcan Sierra Negra. We rode horses for about 1 hour - a novel experience for Petra and I. My horse was highly competitive and Petra´s was intent on squeezing between other horses only to drop back to the back and repeat! Sierra Negra has a huge 9km diameter crater. We then left the horses and walked over a volcanic landscape to Volcan Chico. The scenery was crazy and caused by eruptions in the 1940s and 1950s. The horseride back only took 30 mins as we cantered most of it - the guide was very happy as he normally barely gets to trot. Due to Petra´s horse´s insistance on being at the back she got so dusty that she ended up looking like an Oompalompa!

The day ended with an exploration of Isabella´s stunning natural harbour. We saw penguins and loads of iguanas but unfortunately shark alley didn´t live up to its name. In a brief snorkel we saw loads of turtles that we got to swim along side - made Petra very happy!

We would highly recommend Isabella and its small town of Puerto Villamil to anyone visiting the Galapagos.

Day 3: Santa Cruz

On the way to Santa Cruz we stopped for another snorkel. We swam into a cave in the rock - got increasingly spooky as the light faded and we knew that sharks hung out in there (only small ones Mum!). Outside we saw loads more fish and did see a couple of white tipped reef sharks (or same one twice?).

Puerto Ayora is the biggest town in the Galapagos and was a bit of a shock to the system. Spent the afternoon looking around the Charles Darwin Station where giant tortoises are bred. The famous lonsome George is there - the last of his type of tortoise (when he dies only 10 of the original 14 species will remain). We then headed into the highlands and walked through a huge lava tunnel. These are created by the outer section of lava setting but the inner still flowing. Gases eventually force all the liquid out leaving an empty tunnel.

Day 4: Santa Cruz

We had the morning off so went to Tortuga Bay (Turtle Bay) , which is made up of a stunning 1km long white sandy beach and then a small sheltered bay seperated from the former by a rocky outcrop and some mangrove trees. In the bay we hired kayaks and pottered around. Saw several turtles (boy can they swim fast!) and loads of sharks that we think were black tips. I had two swimming around my kayak at one point.

After lunch the others headed back to San Cristobal via Santa Fe but we stayed in Santa Cruz to catch our flight the next day.

All in all a great end to our trip and proof that you don´t have to book a tour before you go to the Galapagos.

Most frustrating day yet.....

Well yesterday was a real pain in the backside!! All we needed to do was buy the relevant maps and white gas for our stove before we started trekking.

I suddenly have a new respect for the Ordnance Survey; in Ecuador the only place to buy topographical maps is the Institut Geographical Militar in Quito. The only useful ones are 1:50,000 and have been made from aerial photos taken between 1985 and 1990. You need to leave your passport with the army security guard to get in and head to the map department. You then hand the lady at the first counter with a list of the maps you want. She then copies them down by hand onto a new list. You then wait for 5-10 mins before you are summoned to another desk. They then provide a list of the maps now typed in duplicate and you pay for them. One copy goes to the print desk and you keep the other. After about 30 mins the maps have all been printed and you can go to a final desk to check them and collect them. After all this they are not waterproof and we have been told the ink runs on them when they get mildly damp!

We shouldn´t complain though, in Bolivia apparently you have to place your order and then return the next day to collect!

The white gas for our stove was even more frustrating. We compiled a list of all the camping shops that we had seen recommended anywhere. Every one we went in told us it was hard to get hold off and they didn´t have any but why didn´t we try........ We kept trying in camping stores and hardwear stores with out luck. We even got a taxi out to an out of town shopping centre but no luck. Even in a huge hardwear store with a camping section drew a blank. We went back to our hostel very frustrated and started to work out what else we could use in the stove - thinners, meths, unleaded petrol, diesel, kerosene or a mix of the above.

Frustratingly and happily we refused to completely give in and I asked this morning in a small shop next to the internet cafe we were in yesterday and low and behold they had some! Not sure if this makes it all better or worse but off to buy another bottle for them to fill up for us.

In the end, it is a happy tale: we have all the maps we need in Ecuador and white gas and got some good high alltitude training in during our treks around Quito!