Dawn's digressions

Lares Inca Trail and Machu Picchu

dawnski — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:52:00 GMT

I'm now back in Cusco after having spent three days walking the beautiful Lares Inca Trail. It was a wonderful walk, challenging, perfectly paced and truly stunning. We encountered many indigenous people along the way and were fortunate enough to be able to visit their houses and catch a glimpse of life in the high Andes. It looks pretty tough. Camping was fun, although with night temperatures of -4ºC at 4,200 m it was pretty nippy.

The hike took us to Aguas Calientes, where we spent the night and enjoyed a much needed hot shower before rising early to catch the 5.30 bus up to Machu Picchu. What a place! It's incredible, really fascinating. It was soon swamped with tourists though, and we headed back down in time for lunch.

I would like to write more about the past few days, but I got very sick on the journey back yesterday and am not feeling on top form. I think my stomach is ok now and I'll try and eat something, but I'm still feeling very weak, shakey, cold and tired. Strange, exactly the same thing happened the night before the trek and I really thought I wouldn't be able to do it. Everything turned out alright though, so I'm hoping that this episode is just as brief and I'll be right as rain again tomorrow for our trip to the jungle.

Can't wait to come home and see you all, d xxx

Peru is great

dawnski — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 11:10:00 GMT

Since my horrible journey here I've only had positive experiences in Cusco. It's a really beautiful city, despite the throngs of tourists. I'm quite enjoying the tourists actually, as I'm ready to head home soon and they make me feel as if I'm half way there. My first day was spent shopping in and around the huge market near Plaza de Armas. I didn't mean to buy much, but I kind of got carried away, so there'll be lots of presents when I get back ;) It was great to sniff out the few family-run stalls that sold handmade products among the mostly mass-poduced things. I got chatting to a lady whose family carves gourds for a living and she gave me a demonstration of how they work and explained all the different techniques and designs. Haggling for the best prices was fun, too, and I managed to get a real bargain on a kilo of pure alpaca wool - just 65 soles, which is around €14.60. That would barely get me 100 g back home! My backpack has now swelled to ridiculous proportions though and I may have a little difficulty getting it all home. I'll deal with that when the time comes, however.

Being a foodie, a complete foodie and nothing but a foodie, I have also been sampling lots of local delights, my favourite so far being strips of alpaca meat sautéed with onion, tomato and chips, and served with rice. Sooooo tasty. I was looking forward to trying some guinea pig last night, but couldn't find the place I'd seen the day before. I'll hunt that down on my free day after the Machu Picchu trek. Coca tea has helped me tremendously with the alititude and is really very tasty. It's no substitute for a good cup o' char but it'll do. I really can't wait to make myself a proper cup of tea when I get home!

At breakfast in a fairly posh and very delicious bakery set in the courtyard of a beautiful colonial house yesterday I got chatting to a guy from Peterborough and have been hanging around with him. He's a nice bloke and I've really enjoyed having an English person around. I didn't realise how much I'd been missing my fellow brits. Anyway, the day was spent wandering around the city looking at all the wonderful architecture and stopping off for coca tea every now and then. We got chatting to an 83 year-old local man in the Plaza de Armas for an hour. He was fascinating and had loads to tell us about Cusco and the history of the Incas in the region. He taught us some phrases in Quechua, too, but I promptly forgot them. Anyway, I gave him some money for lunch after he'd told us so much intersting stuff, and then we went off to the Inca museum. It was an interesting place with loads of artifacts. However, visiting museums at altitude is not necessarily worthwhile, as i think your brain tends to shrink or something. It certainly doesn't work as well as it normally does!

Other than that, I've just been enjoying the sunshine and the views. I'm meeting up with my tour group in an hour; I'm excited and am curious to know what my room mate will be like. I really hope we get on! And then it's not long until I start the trip back to Deutschland and all my friends. I can't wait, although I tend to thoroughly enjoy all the outdoor activities in store over the next two weeks in the meantime.

Love to you all, miss you lots!
D xxxx

What can go wrong, will go wrong

dawnski — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:54:00 GMT

As I mentioned in my last post (which I forgot to switch to "live", sorry!), I'm now in Cusco. The plan was to take an 8-hour bus trip across the border to Piura, fly from there to Lima, sleep in the airport for a few hours, and then fly on to Cusco. What happened was quite different. The bus set off on time at 7 a.m., although it was oddly empty. We had been driving for about 10 minutes when we pulled up outside a military barracks. After about 20 minutes, we drove into the barracks following passport checks. This was all very strange and no one told us what was going on. It turned out, however, that we were to pick up a large group of Spanish student volunteers, but due to an organisational hitch they hadn't even had breakfast and were still wandering about in their pyjamas expecting to leave at 9. So the bus waited. We were all a bit annoyed, but hey, it's South America. So then we finally set off and all went swimmingly until we got to the border. Once there, we found out that there was a general transport strike in Peru and no one was going anywhere. Now I really was annoyed, as the strike was set to continue until long after I had to catch my flight. What to do?! A Peruvian lady named Fedora came to my rescue. She had to be in Lima by the next day and was not having any of it. She demanded half our bus fare back, reclaimed our luggage from the bus and off we went to cross the border on foot. All the formalities were completed without fuss and all we had to do was get to Piura. Easier said than done. Also waiting at the border to continue their journey, we found two young Ecuadorians who agreed to share transport with us. In the end, we managed to get a ride with a black-leg scab taxi driver and his mate. Because the road was closed, we had to drive through the desert on dirt tracks which crossed through rivers, over perilous rocks, and had us swerving to avoid donkeys and goats the whole way. As if this weren't bad enough, I had to sit in the boot of the (thankfully estate) car with the luggage for four and a half hours. It was more than a little uncomfortable. And very dirty. The driver took us as far as Sullana, about 30 minutes' drive from where I needed to be. And I didn't have enough local currency on me for a taxi. Again, Fedora saved the day and changed some dollars for me. She truly was my knight in shining pink nail polish. So I got a taxi to Piura which cost more than the mammoth trip from the border, but hey, I was just happy to be getting where I needed to be. Plus the seats were leather-upholstered and the driver was playing Credence Clearwater Revival.

So there I was at the airport, very hungry as I hadn't had a chance to eat anything more than some nuts and raisins all day. I checked in, got myself a meal and retired to the departure lounge. We boarded the plane on time and all seemed to be well. Except that we weren't going anywhere. And we didn't go anywhere for two hours. At which point we were "invited to disembark" due to technical difficulties. I was peeved. The long and the short of it is, the plane took off six hours late at around four in the morning. And Piura airport is not somewhere you want to be spending any amount of time. The restaurant and all the shops were closed and all they gave us to drink (after three hours!) was a little plastic cup of soft drink from the plane along with a tiny snack box that wouldn't fill up a squirrel.

I did eventually get to Lima though, but not in time to make my connecting flight. The airline put me straight on another flight however, and within 30 minutes I was sat on the next plane and finally heading to Cusco. It was a beautiful flight with stunning views of the sun rising over the mountains rearing up from a sea of fluffy white clouds. Ah, the clouds. Those acursed clouds. They were engulfing the airport at Cusco and after a couple of wide circles of the area, the pilot announced that the airport had been closed and we would be returning to Lima. I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried at this point.

So there I was back in Lima. A man was handing out forms for everyone to fill in with their name and phone number. The airline would call us as soon as they had organised another flight, but unfortunately all of the subsequent flights that day were full. I stood patheticly in front of him and whimpered "what if I don't have a phone?". I was not the only person in this predicament; there were two Americans in the same boat, too. Linda, a lovely middle-aged university professor from Kansas, and a beardy landscape designer from Atlanta, Matt. They were to be my companions for the next six hours as we waited for the flight that the nice man put us on later that afternoon (I think he took pity on us). The lack of food, water and sleep had taken its toll and I was in a bit of a state. That was soon put right by a big plate of rice and silly amounts of water though, and I was in better spirits in no time. Nor could I have wished for better travel companions to have whiled away the time with. Linda and Matt were very interesting, down-to-earth, and humerous people and we all agreed we'd been fortunate to have been thrown together in our various misfortunes.

The final flight of the day left on time and, thankfully, landed in a blissfully sunny Cusco. I was elated to be there and chattered to the friendly taxi driver, José, all the way to the hostel. He taught me a few words of Quechua, which I promptly forgot, and gave me a rundown of Cuscan history. Top bloke! The hostel was in the beautiful San Blas district, an area populated by artisans and perched prettily on a steep hill overlooking the city. I showered, unpacked, went and bought a banana and some water, and slept solidly from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. It had been a terrible, terrible journey and not one I ever want to repeat. I've been lucky that it's the only such experience I've had so far, but I feel that that was my fair share of misfortune all in one fell swoop!

A cabin in the mountains...

dawnski — Wed, 9 Jul 2008 05:02:00 GMT

The last two days here in Vilcabamba have been truly wonderful. It's an outstandingly beautiful place, a tiny town snuggled into the lush green Andes, which rise up on all sides. We stayed at Cabañas Rio Yambala, a handful of cosy adobe and wood cabins about 4 km uphill from the town. The place is run by Charlie and Sarah, a US-UK couple who are nice, but very quiet. It was a real escape from civilisation with no noise other than the river and crickets at night. We could even see the Milky Way, the first time I've ever seen it.

We took a walk up and over into the next valley, along the river and back again on Sunday, marvelling at just how amazing the place is. It was sunny and warm and there were lots of people enjoying a bath in the river as we made our way back. After dinner, we headed over to Sergio's house, whom we'd bumped into that afternoon. He makes drums, Andean flutes and jewellery to supplement his income, and turned out to be our guide when we headed up into the mountains the next day. A very talkative chap, he had lots to say about the area, its people and its history. And his dog is called Nokia.

Yesterday we rode up into the cloud forest on horseback, unfortunately under greyer skies than the day before. It was still a good trip though. We rode up through the paramo (prairie land) into the cloud forest for around two and a half hours, then went for a 2-hour traipse through the forest. The path started off ok but then we went a circuitous route less travelled, which proved to be pretty hard going. A machete would have been a real help, as the path was completely overgrown and we'd had enough of walking by the time we reached the refuge at the end of the horse trail again. So we said no to the walk to the waterfalls, saddled up and headed back down again. Riding a horse down steep hills is a tricky business and very hard on the legs and bottom, so I was glad to arrive back at the cabin. It was a good day though.

The next morning, we packed up and headed into town for a massage to sooth our aching limbs. For a whole hour's massage, we paid just $10 each, an absolute bargain. It was shortly after that that I started this entry. I was so relaxed that I couldn't be bothered to finish it though, so I'm now in Cusco and a lot has happened since then, which I'll tell you about in my next entries :)

The bus trip back up to Loja was uneventful and after I found a room for the night we went for a wander around the pretty colonial-style old town, then headed out for some food. Found a place that did great tamales and humitas - El Tamal Lojano - really cheap and highly recommended for a quick basic meal. Then we had a couple of beers and I saw Jenn off in her taxi to the bus station. And then there was one.

I love Vilacabamba, too.

dawnski — Mon, 7 Jul 2008 01:30:00 GMT

After a cracking few days in Cuenca, one of the most beautiful cities I've been too, Jenn and I are now in Vilcabamba for a spot of hiking and relaxation. It's a beautiful little place from what we've seen so far, nestled in the green lower slopes of the Andes in the south of Ecuador.

But back to Cuenca. We ended up going it alone in Cajas National Park, rising bright and early to get the bus out there at 7. Which wasn't really necessary, as we only ended up walking for about two and a half hours and were back in the city shortly after 12. The area is stunningly beautiful, very rugged and open. Just what I like. There are few better things, I find, than to stand somewhere high up with the wind in your face and a warm glow in your legs, and be able to see for miles and miles with nothing but nature around you. The warm glow didn't last for long once we stopped moving though, as it was only around 4ºC up there. But then that's only to be expected on a cloudy day at 4,000 m above sea level. The park holds 235 lakes, of which we saw a handful. We also saw a group of llamas, who looked as surprised to see us as we were to see them. Following the sporadically marked trail with our topographical map, we came to the road and set out to find another little path around one of the smaller lakes. Our attempts merely took us back to halfway along the trail we had just done, however. After stopping for sandwiches, we decided to call it a day, as it had begun to rain and the brief pause had chilled us all thoroughly. Plus it's a little difficult to catch your breath at that altitude, and I had tummy ache. Still, the trip was definitely worth it, even if we didn't get to walk as much as I would have liked. A free trip to the cinema to see a Spanish film as part of a European film festival nicely rounded off the evening, although by then my stomach was really causing me a lot of discomfort. It's fine now though.

Whilst in Cuenca, we also took in a free piano recital, which was very good in parts and an atrocious assault on the aural faculties in others. I am now convinced that contemporary Ecuadorian composers have absolutely nothing to offer the world, at least in terms of music. Other than that, I just enjoyed wandering around the streets and taking in the atmosphere. There are bakeries and cake shops eeeeeeverywhere, and we sampled a lot of the local specialities.

Oh, and I turned thirty. Which was nice. The day started with a nice breakfast in the hostel with the girls (Nicol and Lisa arrived in Cuenca on Thursday morning having taken the night bus from Quito). Then we faffed around until lunchtime, ate a 3-course lunch at a fantastic veggie restaurant for just $1.50, and went to the Banco Central national museum in the afternoon. It was fabulous, but far too big to see all in one day, so I concentrated on the ethnology section, which had wonderful displays and dioramas all about the different indigenous groups in Ecuador. There are so many of them! On the way back to the hostel, we picked up some supplies and made the best sandwiches in Ecuador, which were washed down with a couple of bottles of wine before heading out into town. Our first stop was Cafecito, where there was an improvised birthday cake consisting of a huge slab of chocolate cake with a candle stuck in it. The lovely waitress then presented me with a flaming shot glass of brown liquid and a straw, instructing me to drink it all in one go while it was still alight. So I did. It would have been rude not to. And very tasty my birthday cocktail turned out to be. Then it was off to another bar overlooking the river and the new town before turning in. We didn't go dancing unfortunately, so I'll have to make up for that when I get home. Although I had a good day, I really missed all my friends and can't wait to celebrate properly with you all when I get back. You have been warned!

So now we're in Vilcabamba. I was sad to say goodbye to Lisa, Nicol and Natasha yesterday. It's going to be strange travelling without them after having lived in such close quarters for the last two months. And then Jenn will be leaving on Tuesday and I'll be all on my tod. Ready to meet lots more new people for the last leg of my journey in Peru!

Much love to you all and I'll see you again soon, d xxx

I love Cuenca

dawnski — Tue, 1 Jul 2008 06:22:00 GMT

We've been in Cuenca for two days now and I love the place. The architecture is stunning, lots of beautiful colonial buildings and cobbled streets. The atmosphere is friendly and there's lots of cultural stuff going on. And the shops! Every third one seems to be a bakery or cake shop selling all manner of delicious treats. Needless to say I'm feeling a bit full up.

So far we've been to the Museum of Modern Art, which was great. Although the collection itself was small, it's housed in a low-slung white building with polished tile floors and quiet interior courtyards that is worth a visit in itself.

Then we had a look at how Panama hats are made. Contrary to popular belief, they are actually made here in Cuenca from palm fibres grown around Montecristi and Jipijapa, and not in Panama. The museum was interesting and I treated myself to a very fetching hat that will look great with a fitted shirt, jeans and heels :) Again, it was worth going just to see the building, which overlooked the river and the new town with the mountains behind. The curious little café attached to the museum was lots of fun, too.

We've been sampling a few of the bars in the evenings and my favourite drink of the moment is caneleza, a hot sugar-cane rum drink mixed with fresh orange juice and flavoured with cinnamon. Delicious. The odd carajillo - coffee laced with brandy - has also helped to keep out the cold. And cold it is! I slept in my thermals last night. It's dry though, so I don't mind it being a little chilly.

I'm hoping to go hiking in the Cajas National Park tomorrow, although I'm still undecided as to whether we should try it on our own or hire a guide. The guides cost a lot of money and I'm perfectly able to follow a marked trail myself. We shall see.

After a little sleep (we're all incredibly tired for some reason) we're planning on going to a free piano recital this evening, or possibly going to the cinema, as there's a European film festival on at the minute. Top banana. I'll let you know how things go...

Holidays!

dawnski — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:54:00 GMT

All finished on the farm! As much as I enjoyed my time there, it was definitely time to move on and see more of the country. Natasha, Jenn and I have come to Puerto Lopez on the southern coast of Manabí kind of by accident. We were headed for an eco-lodge just south of here called Alandaluz, but the journey took so long that we ended up staying here last night instead. And what a good decision it was! The last of the 3 buses we took to get here was half full of whale-watching guides, so this afternoon we're off on a 4-hour boat trip to see how many of them we can spot (whales, that is, not guides). Sandwiches included!

On the way through Machalilla (10 mins north of here) last night, we learned that there's a big festival on there for the next 3 days, so checked it out briefly this morning. Things hadn't really got going yet, so we're heading back there later. We did have time to sample a spiral-cut sausage on a stick from a street vendor while we were there - a sausage lolly if you like. Great stuff! Anyway, our tour is about to leave, so I'll update you on that later. Much love to all, d xxx

A few musings...

dawnski — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 12:53:00 GMT

It's Sunday now and I feel nicely relaxed, as I steered clear of the partying last night and went to bed at around 9. Never let it be said that I don't know how to have a good time! It seems as though I missed lots of mischievous goings on though. Still, I got to enjoy all the happenings vicariously over breakfast without having the hangover that went with them ;)

After having dined on a good breakfast of wholemeal pancakes and fruit salad, and haggled for a pretty little summer dress (my one concession to beach life over here) I now intend to spend the day in various hammocks reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma" (look it up, it's great). I'm becoming more and more enthusiastic about my plans to become a permaculture designer and have been coming up with so many good ideas on how to go about it. It's such a relief to be feeling enthusiastic about learning and working after having spent such a long time being frustrated with my work and trying to devise means and excuses to avoid it. I have a vocation! I plan to start off by aquiring a laptop and lots of reading, research and reference material to feed my new-found enthusiasm. I'll then look into finding permaculture workshops to attend in Germany and/or England, as I don't want to go through a whole course of study again. And I also plan to find people working in the same field to learn from, either through apprenticeship or job-shadowing. Anyone with a garden or even a balcony that I can experiment on, please make yourselves known and I'll come round with a tape measure, compass and note pad to give you a free design! I feel a plan forming. This makes me very happy. I can't wait to get home now and get started on reshaping my life, even though I know I shouldn't be wishing away my time here.

It was great to speak to you all yesterday - hooray for Skype and stupidly cheap phone calls. Oh and Perry - ANSWER YOUR PHONE, YOU MUPPET! Hope you had fun in Basle :)

I'll write again next weekend after my final week on the farm (thank goodness!), by which time I should have more concrete travel plans, too. Take care people and thanks for keeping in touch - it warms the cockles of my heart!

Not much to report

dawnski — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 07:08:00 GMT

Only one more week to go on the farm and I can’t wait to get going and see more of the country. One month would have sufficed really. I’m a little tired of being trapped in this tiny world consisting of the farm, Canoa – where there’s nothing to do but sunbathe and drink, neither of which really interest me – and Bahía, whose only saving graces are a cash machine and a moderately faster internet connection. I’ve certainly had a good time since I got here and have learned loads, but it’s high time I moved on, and I’m not the only one who feels that way – we’ve all had enough! This week we had a visiting teacher, Jeff, who taught us more about permaculture. He’s a fascinating guy but is by no means cut out for teaching. A waffler. Under his guidance, I believe I have, however, hit upon my future vocation: permaculture design. I love it! And am apparently quite good at it. As daunting as the prospect is, I aim to self-educate myself further on the topic when I get back and then venture into the world of sustainable garden and property design while translating part-time to keep myself fed. I’m really rather excited about the whole prospect :)

Other than that, it’s been an uneventful week and is set to be another uneventful and very relaxed weekend. I hope to have more interesting news for you soon though, so keep checking back. Take care all, miss you lots. And well done to my dad on his excellent personal best over 5 miles!

The most wonderful Galapagos

dawnski — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 15:22:00 GMT

Hello again! I’ve just been to one of the most incredible places on Earth and am really rather pleased about it. Yesterday I flew back to the mainland from the Galapagos after spending a week touring the islands on very tiny boat (the Merak – I don’t recommend it, although the food was very good). The tininess of the boat was, in fact, the only drawback of the whole trip. That and the fact that the guide was a doddery 70-year old with a heart condition who should have retired long ago. But anyway. The group, eight of us in all, was great. We all got on very well together and that really made the trip. The animals, birds and marine life are fantastic, and so unafraid of humans. The mockingbirds are cheeky, the sea lions lazy, the land iguanas wary, the lava lizards fast, the albatrosses are clumsy on land but majestic in the air, the land turtles are massive, the finches are always on the move. A baby sea lion even came and sniffed my hand! Needless to say I have far too many photos and will no doubt spend tomorrow deleting the majority of them so I don’t have too much to bore you all with when I get back. There was a great deal of snorkelling, during which time I saw huge numbers of beautiful fish, a white-tipped shark, and even swam with a Galapagos turtle. The latter was certainly the highlight of the trip and an experience I’ll never forget. It was such a privilege to have been able to see the place. This trip is really making me appreciate my life and the opportunities I have. Top banana.

I’m now back in Bahía and will be heading off to Canoa this afternoon and the farm tomorrow evening for my final two weeks of learning all about the wonderful world of organic agriculture. The last two weeks have been really good fun and I’ve so enjoyed meeting lots of interesting and lovely people. That said, I’m now ready to spend a bit of time in the same place before setting off on my travels again at the end of the month. I think I’d even be ready to come back home now, although I would certainly regret it if I did, as I still have so much to see and do. This may just be because I have another stinking cold though and want my mum (hello ma, love you!) and my boy (hello Perry, you’re pretty special, too!) and all of my friends (hello, miss you all!). No doubt I’ll be raring to go again in a few days. For now though, I intend to fill my belly, find myself a hammock in the shade and just relax for the rest of the weekend. I hope you’re all enjoying yourselves at least half as much as I am and will write again next weekend. Much love, d xx

Mindo

dawnski — Thu, 5 Jun 2008 18:49:00 GMT

Mindo is a lovely little town in the Andes and is where I’ve spent the last three days with Nicol. Just over two hours from Quito, it’s such a stark contrast to the capital. The people are so friendly and everyone greets each other in the street, regardless of whether they know each other or not. The atmosphere is incredibly relaxed and the town is set in stunning countryside in the Andes. The place is famed for its bird-watching and we took the opportunity to go on an early-morning tour with our hostel owner, Marcelo, who is a very good guide (Hostal Rubby, behind the stadium, owned by Norma and Marcelo Arias, lovely people). After an early start, we set off into the forest armed with our binoculars and were not disappointed. We spotted three different varieties of toucan, lots of different tanagers (not sure of spelling), some kites, a barred puff bird and many more. We also visited a butterfly farm, which served very good coffee, and went for a very long and arduous hike to several waterfalls in the nearby Mindo Nambillo nature reserve. My feet now ache quite nicely as a result. On the walk, we not only spotted lots of native birds, but also came across a tiny viper and an enormous tarantula. Both seemed to be far more scared of us than we were of them, thank goodness! The only downside to the trip so far has been the bites I got from some nasty little blood-sucking flies. I’ve been really fortunate that the mosquitoes have pretty much left me alone so far but I’m obviously a very tasty treat for the flies. Hope I don’t come across too many more of them.

This morning was mostly spent relaxing in a hammock and writing my diary before we headed back to Quito. I was loath to come back here, as Mindo was such a lovely place and we met some really nice people, my favourite so far being Toby from Australia, who’s just spent 5 months researching Darwin finches in the Galapagos. I like meeting people and spending bite-sized parts of my life with them. It’s fun. I’m excited to be heading to the Galapagos bright and early tomorrow morning, too. I’ll be meeting Natasha on the plane and have the feeling that it’s going to be a really fun trip with her. I’ll let you know all about it when I get back.

Donna – when are you going to Canada and how long for? Will you be at home when Perry and I come over? Hope so!

Gallery: Out and about in Ecuador

dawnski — Mon, 2 Jun 2008 00:55:00 GMT

Weekends and free time during my travels

Gallery: On the farm

dawnski — Mon, 2 Jun 2008 00:32:00 GMT

On and around Rio Muchacho Organic Farm

Shopping!

dawnski — Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:59:00 GMT

It’s been a good couple of days here in Quito. On Friday we took the TeleferiQo cable car up to Volcan Pichincha which, at 4,100 m, offers amazing views over the city. I walked up a little further and I have never felt so exhausted from doing so little before. There’s just no air! The struggle further up the mountain was certainly worth it though. It was so good to be out in the open countryside and have the sky above me. I’ve really missed that at the farm. Obviously it’s in the countryside, but there are so many trees everywhere that I hardly ever see the sky. It was good.

Yesterday we got the bus to Otavalo and the indigenous craft market. The town is nice, with a much friendlier atmosphere than Quito; as you’d expect from a small town really. The market itself covers the whole of the main square and spills over into all the surrounding streets. There was so much to see! And all the stallholders call you amiga and charge too much money. Bartering is fun though. In addition to lots of souvenirs for friends and family, I am now the proud owner of a cosy woolly cardigan, a new handbag and purse, and two original oil paintings by a nice man named Diego. I spent ages at his stall looking through all his wonderful work and we chatted for a while. He kindly offered to show me around the area if was staying longer, and even offered a bed at his house if I happen to be in town again. I politely declined. While I was there, an eccentric old man from Quito joined the conversation and it turns out that he lived in Germany for 20 years, so we had lots to talk about. He invited me for a cup of tea at an English tea room run by a bloke from Derby. He had Sainsbury’s red label tea with milk – the only decent cuppa I’ve had since April! I really enjoyed it and the company was great.

The rest of the day was spent shopping and trying all sorts of weird and wonderful street food from vendors clad in traditional dress. It was a really good day and I loved the friendly atmosphere of the place, so different from Quito. It’s a shame we were only there for a day. Still, there’s lots more to see elsewhere and I’ll tell you all about that in my next post.

Oh, I've also added a few photos and will try and add some more soon. Don’t forget to mail me!

To Quito...

dawnski — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:25:00 GMT

It’s been a short week this week, with just three days of classes. Tonight we’re taking the bus to Quito to visit an organic farm just outside the city tomorrow, and hopefully a seed bank run by a very inspirational man named Javier, who came to teach us for a couple of days last week. I don’t think I mentioned that in my last entry. The guy is only 32 but has already done a massive amount of work in saving seeds to preserve genetic diversity and help save us from the grip of the major seed companies swamping the market with weak hybrid seeds. It’s all quite complicated and incredibly scary, but basically these major corporations have control of the food chain and seed saving is a way of countering this. Google it!

For the rest of the afternoon we’re free to roam Bahía (or e-mail and phone people) before meeting for dinner and an Irish coffee or two, apparently. Marvellous.

I’ll soon have lots more to tell you, as my travels start on Saturday with a day trip to Otavalo, where I’m hoping to find lots of souvenirs to bring back with me. So if you’re nice and send me mails, I may bring something back for you ;)

Take good care everyone, and until next time…

Getting restless...

dawnski — Sun, 25 May 2008 12:16:00 GMT

Tired is the word that best describes today. As has become customary at the weekends, we piled into the back of Ruben’s truck yesterday and headed for the tiny surf town of Canoa for happy hour at Bambu followed by happy hour at Surf Shak followed by happy hour at Coco Loco and then danced until we were dripping with sweat and sore of foot. (I’d like to point out that I only actually took advantage of the first happy hour and then sensibly stuck to water for the rest of the night. I’m getting old.) The weekends certainly provide some welcome relief from the farm, which, although in itself a great experience, is very isolated and can get a little tiresome at times. I’m currently forming plans for the week after next, when I’ll be taking a few days off with Nicol before heading out to the Galapagos to meet Natasha. A trip to the craft market in Otavalo is top of the list, then it’s off to the cloud forest in Mindo for hiking, waterfalls and tubing down the river. Woo hoo!

I’m afraid I don’t really have an awful lot to report this weekend; more classes; more digging; more rice and beans for every meal; more bat poo on my mosquito net every morning. I’m hoping to have lots to tell you about next week though, so watch this space. Oh, the power went out on Tursday, so there was no running water. It was fun bathing in the river instead :) Hope you’re all well, and thanks as ever for the comments and mails!

Week two

dawnski — Sat, 17 May 2008 12:12:00 GMT

The second week of the course is over now and it was just as good as the first. Again, we seem to have covered lots in quite a short time: organic pest management, plant nutrition, fertilizers, and lots more. I’m now able to identify different plant families, which I’m quite pleased about :) And there’s been lots more poop. That’s the word you hear most often on the farm: poop. All kinds – pig, horse, chicken, cow, guinea pig, even human – it all gets used. Everything comes down to poop in the end. I never thought I’d ever have so much to do with excrement as I have done here. Anyway. There have been other fun things to do, such as making jewellery from palm seeds, harvesting tobacco chillies, hacking things up with machetes (I want a machete!), preparing strange and delicious fruits for breakfast. This afternoon five of us are taking a canoe trip out to Isla Corazon to see a colony of frigate birds and have a short tour of the mangrove area near the coast. Looking forward to that. We’ve been joined this week by a lady from New Zealand, Natasha, who I get on with very well. She’s a bit older than the rest of us, which may be why. And she’s said I can come and stay with her in NZ sometime, too, which I shall definitely do at some point. As for my travel plans, Nicol and I have decided to skip the first 2 weeks of the second month of the course to go to the Galapagos Islands. I am very, very excited about this. Then we’ll be back on the farm for the last 2 weeks of the second month, when we’ll be covering permaculture and alternative energy. After that, I’m hoping to take a trip to the mountains, do some hiking in one of the national parks and take a day trip to Otavalo for the indigenous market before heading for Peru. We’ll see how that works out. Aside from reproducing my course notes, there’s not a lot I have to report, as the days are full of farm work and classes, and we all go to bed at around 9 after reading, playing cards or watching organic farming videos in the evenings. I’m certainly feeling a lot more positive about my life now though and am confident that I’ll be able to get myself out of the rut I’ve fallen into with translation over the past few years. As I had hoped, getting some distance from everyday life is helping me to put things in perspective and realise that it’s not actually going to be that difficult to change my circumstances for the better. Woo hoo! Thanks again to everyone who’s sent mails and left comments, I really enjoy hearing from you all at the weekends. I may spend next weekend on the farm so don’t worry if you don’t hear anything from me. I’ll certainly be in touch again the weekend after. Love to everyone, d xx

On the farm

dawnski — Sat, 10 May 2008 15:59:00 GMT

I’m on the farm. And it’s soooooo much better than Quito! The bus trip from Quito was a long one, but bearable. It took around nine and a half hours in all, with stunning views almost all the way. We drove up out of the Andean valley in which Quito lies, through incredibly lush cloud forest on very windy but well-kept roads. I started to feel a little queasy when we were high up in the Andes but that soon passed when we headed back down again. The lowlands followed and were just as green but with different types of houses and towns. Then as we neared the coast it became hillier again, with lots of banana plantations and small villages consisting of a handful of bamboo huts on stilts with thatched roofs. Nicola, the owner of the farm, met Jen and I off the bus and pointed us in the direction of our hotel, where another course member was also staying. He’s an older British guy from Bristol and I can’t say I particularly like him. Anyway. The next day we had a tour of Bahia and some of the eco projects which are underway there, including reforestation of housing areas destroyed by El Niño, paper recycling, etc. Then it was off to the harbour to catch a boat over the estuary to San Vicente, from where we drove to the farm. It was a bumpy ride once we got off the road! The place is 7 km down a dirt track off the main coastal road and it’s lots of fun getting there in the back of a van! We started straight away with farm chores on Sunday morning, mine being the horses at the moment. It’s a long hard job (about an hour and a quarter) but I’ll be swapping to some other animals on Tuesday. Chores start at 6, then breakfast is at 7.30 so everyone’s worked up an appetite by then! Lessons start at 8.30 and I’m loving it. This week covered an introduction to organic farming and the principles on which it’s based, the problems with conventional farming, and composting methods, plus a little bit about moon cycles and how they influence agriculture. Everything we’ve learned makes so much sense and I’m sucking it all up like a sponge. I can definitely imagine doing something in this direction career-wise, if not hands on then perhaps teaching. There are certainly a lot of avenues to be explored when I get back. There’s been lots of practical work, to. We’ve put four different composting methods into practice, sewn carrot seeds, transplanted pepper and lettuce seedlings, harvested peanuts, lots of stuff. Of course all of this involves getting very, very dirty. I love it! It makes that shower all the more enjoyable at the end of the day There are six of us on the course altogether, four full-timers and two part-timers. The part-timers are a French-Canadian couple from Montreal and they’re great fun. Then there’s Jenn from Florida who has just graduated from high school, Nicol – a bar manager from California who’s lots of fun, and Kalandar from Bristol. I’m tolerating him at the moment. There are a couple of other volunteers here, too. Jane (from Utah) is leaving soon unfortunately, and Lisa from Canada, who’s here for 4 months and is very nice. We’re all getting on well so far, they’re a nice bunch. As for the jet lag, it’s all gone and I’m well settled into my daily routine now. I haven’t been at all homesick yet either, which is very good. We’re in Canoa, the nearest beach town, at the moment and are off to make the most of various happy hours before having a biiiiiiiig pizza for dinner :) Thanks ever so much to everyone who’s been sending me mails and comments, I really enjoy hearing from you all. I’ll report back either tomorrow or next week, so take care and hasta luego!

Off to the farm

dawnski — Fri, 2 May 2008 08:55:00 GMT

There's not much to report today, as yesterday was quite uneventful. Got up late, tried some Ecuadorian food: sweetened cornmeal dumplings steamed in corn husks with cheese melted over the top for breakfast, very tasty. And ceviche for lunch - a thin soup of chunky raw fish marinated in lemon juice with red onion and tomato, seasoned with coriander, really, really tasty. And served with popcorn and banana chips.

My trip to the botanical gardens never happened due to the rain and tasty food, so I just hung around in the hostel and read up on Ecuador.

I'm still being plagued by jet lag; was awake at 4 this morning. And my appetite is also not its usual gluttonous self. This could be a good thing though.

Another girl going to the farm arrived last night and we're setting off at around 10 today. I'm excited! My next post probably won't be until next weekend now but it would be great to hear from you all so I know what I'm missing back at home. Thanks to everyone who's been in touch so far, it's very much appreciated!

It's raining.

dawnski — Thu, 1 May 2008 12:54:00 GMT

A lot. I must have been exceptionally lucky with the weather for the first couple of days {hence the mild sunburn} because now it's coming down by the bucketload, and did yesterday, too. So I went to the national museum of Ecuador for a few hours. It was fascinating and I had a great time looking at all the art, from precolumbian ceramics to Inca gold, hispanic religious pieces and contemporary Ecuadorain art, some of which was great, some of which was utter chod. As modern art is wont to be really. Then I had a mosey round the old town again and had a look at yet another church. This one was gobsmackingly ornate and covered from floor to ceiling in gold. It was everywhere! Absolutely stunning to look at, but it makes you wonder just how many good, devout christians went hungry because of it. Isn't religion great?

Yesterday evening I met up with Jim from school. We discovered that neither of us has actually known anyone {except family} for longer than we've known each other. That is to say since we were four. Blimey. We went to a pub quiz at an English pub with his couchsurfer {everyone's got one!}, a girl from Galway who's touring South America for just over a year on a 125 cc motorbike she bought in Colombia. It was very interesting talking to her about travelling and life and all that kind of stuff. Quite an inspiring woman. It was good to see Jim, too, and we'll catch up with each other again when I come back to Quito later on. He hasn't changed a bit, and apparently neither have I. I think he was just being kind though.

It was quite a long night but despite not getting to bed until almost 4 in the morning I was wide awake at 7.30. And I haven't been hungry since I got here. I HATE JET LAG!!! I wish my body clock would just hurry up and get used to the time difference. Ah well.

Sorry about the lack of photos but I can't seem to find the actual computer I'm using at the moment. Sounds strange, I know, but it's not under the table where all the others are. I shall try and find another one soon because I've got some great pictures.

Tomorrow I'm off to the farm so there probably won't be any more posts until next weekend. Can't wait to get out of Quito and into the countryside! The bus trip through the Andes is said to be stunning, too, so I'm looking forward to that. Will be interesting to meet Jenny, the other girl who's travelling down with me, too. She's arriving tonight.

Antway, it's lunchtime now so I'm going to fill my belly with some seafood. Love to you all and hasta luego! D xx